"There's a lot of light and shade in these songs. There's heavy, fast, nutty stuff, and then there's some slowdowns and musical interludes. It's pretty different from 'St. Anger', and it's pretty different from the 'Load' stuff. This stuff is not the one-dimensional punch in the face that 'St. Anger' was. This is probably a little more like those couple of albums back there in the decade that begins with an '8.'"

Asked whether the album's material represents a return to the "old school," Lars replied, "I hate to be that specific, because six months from now people are gonna go, 'What the fu**? Lars lied to us!' But it feels that way to me. It's been no secret that Rick [Rubin, producer] suggested to us that we use a couple of those records as reference points - more on this story

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