This is direct from Kerrang's! website :

Metallica held a listening session in London today to preview a handful of tracks from their forthcoming, as yet untitled ninth studio album. And, we're happy to report, it RULES!

The metal kings have been hard at work with producer par excellence Rick Rubin (Slayer / System Of A Down / Red Hot Chili Peppers / Trouble) on the follow-up to 2003's St Anger. The results, predictably, are very heavy, and very metal.

"It's definitely Metallica, that I can tell you," commented drummer Lars Ulrich at a press conference last month. "There's a lot of variation, a lot of fast, slow, melodic... kind of hardcore, nutty super-fast speed stuff. It's a little more like how some of the earlier records were a little more dynamic within the songs."

Sure enough, the thrashing riffs, labyrinthine arrangements and in-your-face Metallica thrust are back with full force on the six tracks K! was played, taking in all the colours, moods and shapes of classic 'Tallica tunes like Master Of Puppets and One. And, best of all, the guitar solos are back!

There's no confirmed track names yet (or, at least, we hope Flamingo isn't a real title), but if you want to check out snippets of Metallica in the studio, head over to www.missionmetallica.com.

This sounds awesome. Almost too good to be true. The old Metallica of Master of Puppets is back? How many times have we heard this, but been fooled? Let's see, The Black Album, Load, Reload, ad nauseum. I will wait to illegally download tracks from the album to be the judge.