Metallica are currently working with producer Rick Rubin on a new record that will hopefully help us forget all about the whole ‘Lulu’ debacle. You never know with Metallica, but there’s a strong chance we will see the follow-up to ‘Death Magnetic’ this year.

Metallica has been a number of different bands over the past 30 years, and I'm not referring to the bassist situation, I'm talking about their sound. From the early thrash days of ‘Jump in the Fire’ to the more epic metal on ‘Master of Puppets’ and eventually mainstream hard rock like ‘Nothing Else Matters’, Metallica has brought several different degrees of rock to audiences and fans everywhere.

After the “unconventional” drum sounds and lack of guitar solos on ‘St. Anger’ upset some of their fanbase, Metallica made a conscious effort to return to their earlier sound — heavy, fast guitars, arrangements with multiple changes, long guitar solos, etc. Their stroll down memory lane became the 2008 album ‘Death Magnetic.’ The return to form was generally well-received by critics and fans who had felt neglected by their turn to mainstream rock around the time of the “black album.”

The new record will be Metallica’s tenth (not counting the Lou Reed collaboration ‘Lulu’) and is expected to be released in 2012. However, if you can’t hold off until then, check out the just released EP ‘Beyond Magnetic,’ which features four rough demos of songs that didn’t make the final cut of ‘Death Magnetic.’