Kirk Hammett recently surprised his fans by revealing his first solo EP ‘Portals.’ The EP’s release date was announced as April 23.
The iconic guitarist Kirk Hammett has been on the music scene with Metallica since 1983 and has received a lot of positive feedback from critics with his influential style. He is the 11th on Rolling Stone’s list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Hammett had also formed the band Exodus, and his discography currently consists of songs with these two metal bands.
However, he recently surprised his fans with a solo project. This unexpected news thrilled his fans as it will be the first time he has embarked on a solo project. Furthermore, he is the first Metallica member ever to announce a solo project. He shared the news on his Instagram account, stating that the EP’ Portals’ will be released on April 23. Metallica also announced the good news on their website and quoted Hammett.
tAs it turns out, The idea came to him while trying to come up with background music for The Kirk Hammett Collection exhibition. The first track of the EP ‘Maiden and the Monster’ came to be with this idea. This glimmer of inspiration later turned into an EP, and according to Hammett, it will manage to create movies in the listener’s mind.
Here is how he announced the EP on his Instagram:
“Surprise! ‘Portals,’ an instrumental EP that will hit independent retailers and the Met Store on April 23 for Record Store Day!”
Here is what he said about ‘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.”
With the support of his band, Hammett is venturing off in a solo direction. His fans also showed their support in the comments section. They were mainly surprised by the news but knew that it was about time they heard some of the guitarist’s original solo work.
You can have a look at the photo he posted on Instagram below.
