In the studio, and the fan-related murder

Firstly:

Launch Radio Networks reports: METALLICA is tentatively scheduled to enter the studio this month and begin recording the follow-up to 2003's "St. Anger". Although the band spent most of 2006 writing the new record and will spend a good part of early 2007 laying it down, drummer Lars Ulrich told Launch that he doesn't feel the process is taking any longer than usual. "I don't think it's taking a particularly longer time than it has, it's just that the work is spread out," he said. "The days of 16-hour studio days and six days a week, that's not really happening. We sort of come down here at, you know, nine in the morning and then we sit and work 'til we have to go pick the kids up, or 'til somebody has to go to the dentist or something, you know (laughs)."

Ulrich recently told Launch that METALLICA has written about 25 songs for its ninth studio effort and will trim that down to one album's worth of material.

Referring to the controversial, low-fi production on 2003's "St. Anger", Ulrich said that he's "taken the drums out of the cardboard boxes" this time, and that lead guitarist Kirk Hammett will have guitar solos on this record.

The new disc will be produced by Rick Rubin and is expected out by late 2007.

Ulrich and actress Connie Nielsen are expecting their first child together after dating for two years. The baby is due early next summer. Source: Blabbermouth

And this from the Edmonton Sun:

"A clash over heavy-metal band Metallica sparked a fatal fight aboard a city bus last March, two teenage witnesses testified in court yesterday. A preliminary hearing is underway to determine whether four teen boys should go to trial for manslaughter in the March 2 bus beating death of Stefan Conley, 35. Three of the accused were 17 and one was 16 at the time. Yesterday, a 16-year-old boy who saw the fight told court it began as four boys were sitting in the back of the bus talking about heavy metal bands - Metallica in particular. One of the boys was wearing a Metallica tuque and had a Metallica tattoo on his shoulder, the witness said.

Then Conley, also sitting in the back of the bus, butted into the discussion with his two cents about Metallica, and a dispute ensued between the four boys and Conley that got increasingly heated. The witness said Conley told them, "You guys don't know metal. Metallica is nothing." In response, the witness said, one of the boys undid his belt buckle and the top button of his pants, as if to invite Conley to perform oral sex on him. That made Conley angry, said the witness. The witness said Conley stood up from his seat, went over to the boy and grabbed him by the jacket at his chest. The other boys started yelling at Conley, "Get off him! Get off him!" and three of them proceeded to punch Conley in the face, the witness said. The punches were "hard punches - giving it all they got." The witness figured Conley was punched between five and 10 times in the face. They punched Conley until he let go of the boy's jacket, said the witness. Conley, whose glasses had fallen off, appeared "dazed" and had blood coming from his mouth. He was wobbling and his eyes were looking upward, said the witness. Then, as the four boys were getting off the bus, one of them gave Conley one last push with both hands against his chest, said the witness. Conley took a backward freefall, bashing the back of his head against a bus seat and sliding between two seats, said the witness.

The witness couldn't say which boy gave the final shove. But a second witness yesterday, a 16-year-old girl who was also at the back of the bus, pointed out the boy seated in the courtroom who she said gave the final push. Her account of the argument and fight was almost the same as that of the first witness. She said as an angry Conley grabbed the boy, he said, "I got four punk kids on me."

She also said that as the fight ended, it looked like Conley was trying to "catch his balance" before he was pushed. Both witnesses said they were shocked to hear that Conley had died from the beating. And both said they never saw anyone kick Conley or stomp on him. Conley was later pronounced dead on arrival at hospital. The names of youth witnesses can't be printed.

Four teens were walking away from a fight with Stefan Conley on a city bus when Conley reached for one of them and was shoved to the floor, a teen witness told court today. The girl testified today at a preliminary hearing to determine whether four teen boys will stand trial on manslaughter charges in the March 2 slaying of Conley, 35. Three of the accused were 17 and one was 16 at the time. The witness, whose name canÂ’t be printed because sheÂ’s a youth, said she was at the back of the bus along with Conley and four boys as the bus headed west from Mill Woods. A dispute broke out between Conley and the four boys about the heavy metal band Metallica and got increasingly heated, the girl said. Two other teen witnesses have also testified the fight began with a dispute over Metallica.

One of the boys, who the girl called “Metallica guy” in a statement to cops, had a Metallica tattoo on his arm, she said. “The victim was saying he went to one of (Metallica’s) concerts and he was more of a fan (than the teens) because he was there when they were around, and now they don’t tour.” All of a sudden, Conley got angry, went over to one of the seated teens and punched him, said the girl. Her version conflicted with those of two previous teen witnesses, who testified Conley grabbed the teen by the collar area of his jacket but threw no punches. One of the boy’s friends tried to pull Conley off the teen and all of the boys then started punching Conley, she said. Then they stopped punching and went to get off the bus. Conley, who was bleeding heavily from the mouth and looked “out of it,” reached out for the last of the boys to grab or hit him and the boy pushed him away, said the witness. Conley toppled backwards to the floor, bashing the back of his head head on a seat. His head bounced once, and then he fell back to the floor and didn’t move again, she said. The girl, her friend and two boys got off the bus and walked to South Edmonton Common. The girl said the four boys involved in the fight walked away across a field. Conley was later pronounced dead on arrival in hospital. The girl’s evidence about the final push conflicted with that of her 16-year-old friend, who on Tuesday testified that Conley appeared to be blindly grabbing for a pole to catch his balance when the boy shoved him backwards. Court has heard Conley’s blood alcohol level when he died was .164 – more than twice the legal driving limit of .08. Today, the four accused teens’ defence team plans to call a witness to testify about Conley’s alleged propensity for violence. Defence lawyer Ed O’Neill said court will hear of an incident that happened one week before March 2.