Regarding the progress of the songwriting sessions for METALLICA's follow-up to 2008's "Death Magnetic", front man James Hetfield said: "Yeah, we're trying to write [new material], but gigs keep popping up that are too exciting to stay home for. We have lots of material [we've been] working on from the day 'Death Magnetic' ended all the way up until now.

"There's tons of material. Some [riffs] stick with me because the theme keeps coming back. Out of 700 riffs, there's at least three I've played 20 times."

Asked what the new material is sounding like, Hetfield said: "I don't know where it's going yet but we've got lots of different sounds, different styles. “

On the topic of how he responds to fans who want METALLICA to make an album that sounds like their old stuff Hetfield said: "Let's not do that, shall we?! It's a catch-22, because I completely understand what people want. It's like they're asking you to recreate a memory in their past and you cannot do that. It's a moment of time.

"We're one of those bands that doesn't really care what people want.”

According to BBC News, LED ZEPPELIN is among the artists expected to be in the first wave of inductees into the Music Walk Of Fame honoring music greats, each of whom will have a large disc marker in North London.

The honorees will be divided into five groups: innovative artists, influential artists, icons, unsung heroes and music industry heavies, and the inductees will be selected from a worldwide pool — not just Brits.

TheMusic Walk Of Fame’s founder approached The Hollywood Chamber Of Commerce, which runs the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, to propose the partnership. He promises that each round of inductions will be accompanied by performances, tributes to posthumous artists and reunions of disbanded groups.