Ulrich gave Rolling Stone an update on the progress of the songwriting for the new album, "We are f***ing in it. We've got lots of songs, and we're honing them and tweaking them. It's pretty close."

He then defined what he meant by close. "The creative elements are getting close to being done," the drummer says. "Just remember, this is still 'Metallica time.' When I say we're close to being done, it means the next month or so. There's a lot of stuff going on as life continues with family and personal events.... But we are certainly down there [writing] pretty much every day."