Lars Ulrich: St Anger was almost about 'hurting the listener'

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Eight years on form its release and Lars Ulrich is still being grilled about Anger. Take a look inside to see what he has to say about snare sounds and pummeling the listener.

Ulrich told Classic Rock about the band's thinking in packing the record with lengthy tracks.

He explained: "When we heard the record from beginning to end, I felt — and it was mostly me — that the experience was so pummeling, it became almost about hurting the listener, about challenging the listener, so we left the songs unedited. I can understand that people felt it was too long."

And when it came to that pesky snare sound, he added: "That was on purpose. It wasn't like we put it out and somebody went, 'Whoa! Whoops!' I view St Anger as an isolated experiment. I'm the biggest Metallica fan, you've got to remember that. Once again, as we've been known to do, once in a while these boundaries have to be f***ed with."