Metallica have unveiled their latest endeavor: their own official vinyl club.

“As huge music fans, the band has been super excited to experience the resurgence of vinyl and the enjoyment of collecting, exploring and connecting with other fans mining for lost treasures,” declares a press release announcing the club.

The new subscription-based service will be available only to members of Metallica’s Fifth Member fan club. Vinyl subscribers will each receive a personalized membership card along with four 7” records. Fans can choose whether they receive the records together at once or spread throughout the year. Material will include “rare cuts, demos and rough mixes, and live rarities -- none of which have ever been released on vinyl before.” In some cases, “additional collectibles” will accompany the releases.

This is just the latest in a long list of distinctive Metallica ventures. Beer, whiskey, timepieces and ski gear are some of the many products to bear the band’s name in recent years.

Memberships for the inaugural run of Metallica’s vinyl club are available now at the band’s website. The sign-up period closes on March 31 and will not reopen until 2021. A year’s subscription costs $49.99.

The vinyl club announcement comes as Metallica continue to manage what has been an eventful -- if frustrating -- period for the band. Frontman James Hetfield checked himself into rehab in September 2019, resulting in a slew of canceled tour dates for the group. They earlier announced they would be headlining five different U.S. festivals in 2020, only to pull out of two of them due to Hetfield’s continuing recovery.

Still, Hetfield now seems to be on the mend, recently appearing at a Los Angeles-area museum to discuss his classic-car collection.

 

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