Guitarist Kirk Hammett was all prepared to contribute tons of riffs to Metallica's 2016 album Hardwired… To Self-Destruct. Then he lost his phone that had all the riffs on it and ultimately contributed nothing to the record. Seriously, Hammett has zero writing credits on all of Hardwired… To Self-Destruct.
Now in an interview with Cosmo Music, Hammett said he has tons of "really kick-ass, great material" for a new Metallica record. He doesn't say exactly where he's storing all that material right now, but I'd imagine there's a few backups in place this time.
"I have a lot of stuff written that I've put aside for the band — a lot of stuff. Because last album, I didn't have any stuff, 'cause I lost most of my ideas when I lost my phone — over 500 musical ideas… It took me a long time to recover from that. And I got it into my head I had to produce twice as much — basically, I overcompensated. So, as it stands, as we speak, I have a lot of material — really kick-ass, great material — that I just can't wait to show the other guys and turn into some music, record, get the album out and have more kick-ass metal."
I wouldn't get too excited for new music from the band in 2020. Metallica recently announced they're headlining five major festivals across the United States next year, playing two sets each. During the press conference, Lars seemed to indicate there would be no new music ready for the fest, but you never know.
