Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett, who has been criticized by Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine for not being as good a guitarist as many believe, announced the release of his first solo effort, Portals.
The four-song instrumental EP is being released in conjunction with Record Store Day on Saturday, April 23, and will be available at local independent retailers, on Metallica.com, and across all streaming platforms.
Song titles on the EP, including the aforementioned, are “The Jinn,” “High Plains Drifter,” and “The Incantation.” The latter two were co-written with Edwin Outwater, the orchestra conductor from S&M2.
“Initially, before I even had the idea for a solo EP, I was inspired by the need to create some sort of soundtrack music to accompany The Kirk Hammett Collection for the first ‘It’’s Alive’ exhibition at the Peabody Essex Museum,” Hammett said in a statement on Metallica’s website. “I wanted to conceive and play music on a loop in the background as people walked through the exhibit. I sat down one night with a progression and before I knew it all parts were there for ‘Maiden and the Monster.’
“The initial concept for Portals started with that one song,” Hammett continued. “Following that, I realized I could create different soundtrack moments. These songs are what I call ‘audio cinematic;’ I’m creating sounds and pieces for music for the movies playing in my head.”
We hope Hammett is getting help with that.
