Metallica must REALLY need cash! That’s the only explanation that I can come up with for the lows that they are willing to sink to these days. In their latest display of shameless corporate whoring, they appear in an ESPN commercial, shilling for the network’s show Sports Center.

Granted, the ad is actually sort of funny, but c’mon… you just know that these meat-head jock dudes are the same guys that were giving Kirk Hammett swirlys in the junior high boys bathroom.

Maybe I’m just bitter. Judge for yourself…

Metallica has performed all over the world on every continent except Antarctica — until now! The band ventured to the frozen continent to perform their very first show there, which took place on December 8, 2014 near the heliport of the Argentine Antarctic Base Carlini.

Research station scientists from various countries as well as contest winners were in attendance at the historic show, which featured the band members — singer/guitarist James Hetfield, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, drummer Lars Ulrich, and bassist Robert Trujillo — playing inside a clear dome with no amplification with the fans listening to the concert through headphones.

Check out a few photos here below the band released from their antarctic performance.

The undisputed kings of heavy metal, Metallica, made their very first appearance at San Diego Comic-Con today. All four members of the icon band – James Hetfield (vocals, guitar), Lars Ulrich (drums), Kirk Hammett (lead guitar), and Robert Trujillo (bass) – came to the convention center’s Hall H to promote their upcoming 3D film, Metallica Through The Never. Director/writer Nimród Antal (Predators) and producer Charlotte Huggins (Journey to the Center of the Earth) also appear on the panel, which revealed the world premiere of the film’s theatrical trailer and poster, as well as exclusive preview footage.

Check out the theatrical trailer and poster here below.

The movie stars the band in concert performance sequences, along with actor Dane DeHaan (from The Amazing Spider-Man 2) as Trip, a roadie who is sent on an urgent mission to pick up a bag during one of the band’s sold-out shows. Tripp’s mission gets diverted after his van crashes; when he emerges from the wreck, the city seems to have gone mad, with rioting and a masked horseman riding through the streets hacking at and lassoing the citizens. But Tripp still has his job to do and the audience is left to wonder, what’s in the bag?

The Beatles. The Monkees. The Village People. Cinema history is rife with tales of legendary music groups who made an epic stab for celluloid stardom. Many have tried. Some of them failed. Have you ever seen Can’t Stop the Music?

The latest super group to see their future in big screen exploits is Metallica. Having previously starred in the brilliant 2004 documentary Some Kind of Monster the band, which consists of guitarist and lead singer James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, and bassist Robert Trujillo, have announced that they will hired award-winning filmmaker Nimrod Antal to direct them in an upcoming 3D feature film that will blend narrative filmmaking and concert footage.

Metallica – Death Magnetic
2008
Produced by Rick Rubin
Warner Bros.
Release date: September 12, 2008

I wished Metallica would have walked away (or done the decent rock band thing and imploded in a cloud of drugs and lawsuits) after And Justice For All. The Black Album at the most. Since then their output has been pretty awful. Let’s face it: St Anger was a catastrophe. The album was shrouded in turmoil and embarrassment. Welcoming ex-Ozzy bassist Rob Trujillo into a mixture that was ready to explode, the band released St Anger, which displayed their ability to perform generic riffs to a very high standard. Gone was the boundless energy and, most interestingly, guitar solos. The documentary Some Kind Of Monster demonstrated how fragile Metallica had become thanks to, well, almost everything and as such it seemed their creativity and tolerance for each other and love for the music had vanished.

But now five years after their last studio album, Metallica is back to metal up your ass with Death Magnetic. I was very apprehensive about pushing “˜play’ on my CD player when I put this in. But one thought kept pulsing through my head: “It’s Metallica!” Whether I liked it or not, whether I was ready or not, Metallica had returned.

And what a return it is.