In discussing his signature guitars in a recent interview, James Hetfield let slip some very good news for Metallica fans. “We’re recording right now, and there’s the No. 1 guitar, the No. 2 guitar and here’s the third-track guitars that just sound different," Hetfield says in a new talk with EMGtv. "They all sound different.”

Wait, recording right now? There's been a long, long journey to this point.

Metallica's last proper album was 2008’s Death Magnetic. They released Lulu, a heavily criticized collaboration with Lou Reed, in 2011, and Through the Never, a soundtrack for their 2013 concert film. Other than that, we've heard only a single new song, 2014's "Lords of Summer."

Hetfield's studio-time confirmation follows last January's photographic evidence of movement in the Metallica camp: a picture uploaded to Instagram showed bassist Robert Trujillo recording in front of a mixing desk, with the caption, “Rockin along.”

For you gearheads, Hetfield's specially branded EMG Het Set includes the Truckster, Snakebite and Iron Cross guitars.

In the meantime, Metallica apparently kept themselves busy with an entirely different pursuit: They teamed up with Budweiser last month to put the band's logo on a limited run of signature beer. There were reportedly 91,000 cans produced in the Metallica-branded batch, though they were only available in the Quebec area to help commemorate the band's concerts there.

Metallica Albums, Ranked Worst to Best

Pro Wrestlers Who Look Like Metallica

More From Ultimate Classic Rock