See Metallica Thunder Through ‘Hardwired’ Cuts in First Ever BBC Session

Metallica visited London’s Maida Vale Studios to lay down their first ever BBC session. The heavy metal legends delivered a five-song in-studio performance for BBC Radio 1’s Rock Show With Daniel P. Carter.

The session featured battering, precise renditions of Hardwired… to Self-Destruct tracks like “Atlas, Rise!” and “Hardwired,” as well as a brief interview where James Hetfield said they had about “800 riffs” to choose from for their new album. 

Hetfield added that the lyrics came from harnessing inner-turmoil that he, for the most part, tries to soothe. “I want to mature, I want to be happier in life – I think everyone kinda does – at some point I had to turn around and embrace that anger that has been with me since youth,” he said. “What I get to do is use it as a tool; I get to use music as a voice … to get whatever’s spinning in my head out.” 

Speaking to Rolling Stone, drummer Lars Ulrich talked about Hardwired‘s song-constructing process: “When we picked up on Hardwired two years ago, there were no talks. I spent the summer wading through this iPod [of riffs] to the best of my ability … Then I sat down with James and we just started going through them. Unlike Death Magnetic, we just started jamming and playing. It was almost like we were continuing where we left off with Death Magnetic.”

In addition to the Hardwired tracks (“Moth Into Flame,” “Hardwired” and “Atlas, Rise!”), Metallica played two older cuts, “Enter Sandman” and “Harvester of Sorrow,” during their BBC session. Check out the BBC Radio 1 site to hear the band’s entire set.