METALLICA: MASTERS OF VINYL

After selling more than 900k pieces of vinyl in 2022 alone, Metallica has acquired a majority stake in Furnace Record Pressing. Located in Alexandria, Va., Furnace has pressed Metallica's records for 10 years, including its core albums and collectible boxed sets.

“We couldn’t be happier to take our partnership with Furnace to the next level,” said Lars Ulrich. Added James Hetfield, "Furnace has been great to Metallica and more importantly, to our fans. This means they will have continued access to high-quality records in the future."

Metallica hasn't released an album since 2016's Hardwired... To Self-Destruct (Blackened Recordings), though that will change on 4/14 with 72 Seasons. Still, it was rated among the best-selling acts on vinyl in the U.S. in 2022 and 2021, according to Luminate.

Fellow artist Jack White, who owns vinyl pressing plants in conjunction with his Third Man Records, applauded Metallica on its purchase in a recent Instagram post: "Huge congratulations to the boys in Metallica for purchasing their own vinyl record pressing plant!!! Metallica announced it bought the Furnace record pressing plant in Virginia today! Welcome to the cause gents! And thank you for putting your money to amazing creative use!"

Furnace has been working on pressings of 72 Seasons since January, roughly the same amount of time it took us to write this article.