Der ruhige, cinematische Track `High Plains Drifter` geht zurück auf den gleichnamigen Film von 1973, wie der METALLICA-Gitarrist erklärt:

„Was not meant to be specifically music for that film, but it was once it was written, I immediately thought it conveyed the same sentiment as the film, so the piece was christened accordingly. The music for ‚High Plains Drifter‘ initially came from a flamenco piece I had written. It was a two-and-a-half-minute piece, and I really liked it, but it was one of those riffs that would be hard to integrate into Metallica. I knew I wanted to do something with it, even though it came out spontaneously. I had been sitting outside messing around with a flamenco acoustic guitar I’d just bought, and it flowed out in the moment. I was determined it would have a life. It would have its moment.“

Es ist die allererste Solosingle von KIRK HAMMETT. Der fertige instrumentale Four-Tracker „Portals“ wird bereits Ende nächster Woche erhältlich sein und enthält unter anderem Beiträge von Edwin Outwater, Jon Theodore (Queens Of The Stone Age) und Mitgliedern des LA Philharmonic Orchestra.

HAMMETT über „Portals“:

„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 in Salem, Massachusetts, 2017. I wanted to conceive music to play 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 the parts were there for “Maiden and the Monster.”

„The initial concept for Portals started with that one song. Following that, I realized I could create different soundtrack moments. These songs are what I call ‘Audio Cinematic;’ I’m creating sounds and pieces of music for the movies playing in my head. Hopefully they’ll create movies in other people’s heads in a similar fashion.“

Videostream:

https://youtu.be/HBdCdd5Hiqk