Metallica Crack U.S. Top 40 with 'Beyond Magnetic' EP

Metallica's digital-only EP of tracks from the Death Magnetic sessions has entered the U.S. Billboard charts at No. 32. Beyond Magnetic moved over 36,000 copies in its first week on sale.

The four tracks on the Beyond Magnetic EP were debuted live during Metallica's 30th anniversary celebration, which included four shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco.

The band's official statement on the release read: "During the Death Magnetic album sessions in 2007 and 2008, we originally recorded 14 songs. When it came time to pick the songs for the final album, we decided on 10 songs that you've all come to know over the last three years. Some of you may have heard bits and pieces of those other songs on 'Mission Metallica' (remember 'Mission Metallica'?!) or heard rumors about them during the recording process, and wondered, 'What ever happened to those other four songs???.' We kept them in the vault and decided to pull them just for this special celebration, so here are the four leftover tracks from the 'Death Magnetic' sessions. They are ROUGH mixes, unfinished to their original degree of mixing from March '08. These four songs were released as gift to our closest fans, the members of our fan club, to enjoy. Now they're being made available to you."

Josh Hart

Josh Hart is a former web producer and staff writer for Guitar World and Guitar Aficionado magazines (2010–2012). He has since pursued writing fiction under various pseudonyms while exploring the technical underpinnings of journalism, now serving as a senior software engineer for The Seattle Times.