VG TV conducted a five minute interview with James Hetfield. A few excerpts are below:

On the title of Metallica's new album, "Death Magnetic":

James Hetfield: "'Death Magnetic', at least the title, to me, it's… It had something to do with… It started out as kind of a tribute to people that have fallen in our business, like Layne Staley [Alice In Chains] and a lot of the people that have died, basically — rock and roll martyrs of sorts. And then it kind of grew from there. Thinking about death… some people are drawn towards it, and just like a magnet, some people are drawn towards it, [and] other people are afraid of it and push away. And the concept that we're all gonna die sometimes is over-talked about and then a lot of times never talked about — no one wants to bring it up; it's the big white elephant in the living room. But we all have to deal with it at some point. So that's kind of the subject matter."

On bassist Robert Trujillo's contributions to the new record and the band's overall sound:

James Hetfield: "I don't really have to say it, but I will — he's an amazing bass player; very competent. He can play pretty much anything we throw at him. Not only that, but obviously [Robert] playing with his fingers brings a fuller sound. He — and no disrespect to Jason [Newsted, Rob's predecessor in Metallica] — but Rob has already written more on this album than Jason had in his whole 14 years. A lot of that had to do with us not being willing, and I totally understand that, but just his material seemed to gel better. It feels as though we've known him forever, basically, is what it feels like. And there's still times when I see him in pictures with us, and I go, 'Oh, yeah! He's in our band. Dude, we kick ass even more now.' It's a good feeling."
 
Jason gets ragged on constantly. If it isn't for being the replacement for Cliff Burton, than it is for leaving Metallica in 2001. I don't think any of that is Jason's fault. Remember he left just in time for Metallica to release their worst album ever, St. Anger. Jason's name is nowhere to be found on that abomination. Thanks god for him. The record is a Metallica travesty.
 
It is also no secret that James and Lars control the writing and recording process so it was hard for Jason to get a word in about music. So he left to do his own thing where he would have a bigger say in things.
 
He is probably happier now that there are people who listen to him where can contribute to various projects creatively. He saw the writing on the wall and jumped ship. I will never fault an artist who isn't being listened to and hates the direction of the band. So stop ragging on Jason, I call him the smartest man in Metallica, with Dave Mustaine being the most talented.

Anyway, here is the album artwork for the new Death Magnetic.