METALLICA's LARS ULRICH: Getting SLAYER Into 'Guitar Hero' Was A Challenge

According to Ars Technica, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich has told Game Informer magazine that SLAYER's addition to the forthcoming Guitar Hero: Metallica game brought some headaches due to content.

"I'm super psyched we got SLAYER in there," Ulrich said. "SLAYER's got to be part of any heavy metal video game. There had been some issues with their lyrics. That gets into a whole slew of stuff like, 'Microsoft won't do it if this lyrical content is in there.' There's all this bullshit you have to deal with, but we stood up for SLAYER, and we finally got SLAYER cleared like a week ago."

Guitar Hero: Metallica is expected in the first half of 2009 for the PS3, Xbox 360, PS2, and Nintendo Wii. The group is only the second act to get its own version of Guitar Hero, following this year's AEROSMITH game. METALLICA frontman James Hetfield told The Pulse of Radio some of the reasons why his band has embraced the video game phenomenon. "A lot of kids that maybe wanted to play guitar, or even, especially adults that wanted to play guitar and never did, they're getting a chance to somewhat live a little bit of that in their living room or whatever it is," he said. "And it's a good way to get your music out there. With all the big record stores closing up, getting music to people, it's getting a little limiting. But there are many places, new places to explore, and one of them is Guitar Hero."

METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo told The Pulse of Radio about the extensive motion-capture process that the band has to go through in order to make them come to life in the game. "We're basically in wetsuits, and you've got all these little tassels, what would be like tassels on your body, that helps trigger the image in the computer," he said. "It's like a performance in a wetsuit, so you're very hot, you're up there, you're headbanging, you're under the lights, but it's a workout. You know, they usually want you to do a song, like, five times or more, so it's a lot of work."

The post at the METALLICA web site revealed that the new game "allows you to play as us in either single instrument or band career game modes in your choice of some famous settings or new venues with in-the-round staging."

The game will include 28 METALLICA songs, as well as tracks from ALICE IN CHAINS, FOO FIGHTERS, QUEEN, MACHINE HEAD and others.

According to gaming site 1UP.com, Guitar Hero: Metallica will include a new difficulty level for drummers, featuring double bass drum pedals, along with new METALLICA guitar tones.