Jason Newsted has nothing but great things to say about Metallica’s new song “Hardwired.” The band's former bassist also hinted at a possible collaboration of some sort between himself and the thrash legends.

On Aug. 18, Metallica shocked the world by finally dropping a fresh track. “Hardwired” brings Metallica back to Kill ‘em All territory, throwing out the frills while celebrating thrash’s dirtiest and most intrinsic elements. "I can't believe how wicked it is,” Jason Newsted raved to Eddie Trunk about “Hardwired.” “I heard it a couple of times. Somebody played it for me in a car, and I brought it home and listened to it a little bit. I like its nature. I like its teeth, man. It's great."

Newsted also revealed he’s been in regular contact with the guys in Metallica. "I've got a call with Lars [Ulrich] coming up on Thursday here. I've been talking to him every couple of weeks,” Newsted shared. “As they're coming out with their new record, there's a lot of stuff going on within the underpinnings of it all, or whatever you wanna call it, so we always are in touch. And now we've actually been doing voice-to-voice, which is nice, and I'm hoping to be able to get person-to-person before long. But they do have quite a bit to do here with this new record. So I'm excited for 'em, man. I'm proud of 'em."

When pressed about the nature of his dealings with Metallica, Newsted responded to whether the communication was simply friendly, business-related or about a future collaboration of some kind. “All of those three,” Newsted responded, though he wouldn’t go into further detail. [via Blabbermouth]

Metallica’s long-awaited 10th studio album, Hardwired… to Self-Destruct, will come out Nov. 18 via Blackened Recordings. Newsted, meanwhile, will embark on a September tour with his backing group the Chophouse Band. See the dates here.

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