Metallica start work on new album

On the eve of releasing their Lou Reed collaboration, Metallica reveal they're already writing and recording.

The metal gods played in Abu Dhabi for the very first time just last night, and GulfNews scored an interview with bassist Rob Trujillo.

While their arty collaboration with Lou Reed, Lulu, is out this week, Trujillo revealed that the band have already hit the studio for the follow-up to 2008's Death Magnetic.

"We've been busy writing and recording," Trujillo admits. "We've got a couple of new songs we have been working on the past couple of weeks. The writing process for the new Metallica album has begun. We've been in the studio with Rick Rubin, working on a couple of things, and we're going to be recording during the most of next year.

"We've got a lot of work ahead of us. But the great thing is that we have sort of already jumped off the launch pad and we're swimming. It's happening. It's reality. It's a lot of fun, there are a lot of ideas, and we're really excited about the new record."

He concluded, "For me, personally, Death Magnetic was the launch pad for the next record. This is the beginning of something very, very cool."

Lulu will be released worldwide on Monday 31 October.