THE BEAST

11Alive   conducted an interview with   METALLICA   drummer   Lars Ulrich   prior to the band's July 9 concert at SunTrust Park in Atlanta, Georgia. You can now watch the chat below.

Asked why he chose not to have any tattoos,   Ulrich   said: "I never really thought about why I haven't. It's just the idea of somebody sticking needles in me, leaving permanent ink spots on me just seems… It's sort of like… I don't know… Why don't you eat coal? Or why don't you jump off the top of the Empire State Building? It just doesn't seem like within the range of what I would call normal behavior. But no disrespect, of course, to all people that have tattoos, but it's just not for me."   Ulrich   paused and then corrected himself: "I'll take the 'normal behavior' part out of that. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be offensive. But tattoos are not for me."

METALLICA   has just resumed its first North American tour in more than seven years. The trek marks the first time that   METALLICA   has offered "enhanced" or "VIP" experiences for fans, with some willing to cough up as much as $2,500 for personal meetings, photos and autographs from the group.

Support on the quartet's first North American trek since 2009 is coming mainly from   AVENGED SEVENFOLD   and   VOLBEAT , with   GOJIRA   taking over for the latter group for the last six shows.

The   Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame   band is touring in support of its tenth studio album,   "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct" , which came out last November, eight years after   "Death Magnetic" .

"Hardwired… To Self-Destruct"   was certified platinum on April 12 by the   RIAA   ( Recording Association Of America ). The platinum certification reflects a million equivalent album units, which blends traditional album sales, tracks sold from an album and on-demand audio and video streams.  Via Blabbermouth