Hardwired... to Self-Destruct
2016 studio album by Metallica
Hardwired... to Self-Destruct is the tenth studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released as a double album on November 18, 2016, by the band's record label Blackened Recordings. It was Metallica's first studio album in eight years following Death Magnetic (2008), marking the longest gap between studio albums in the band's career, and its first studio album released through Blackened. The album was produced by Greg Fidelman, who engineered and mixed Death Magnetic.
Hardwired... to Self-Destruct was Metallica's sixth consecutive studio album to debut at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling 291,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, and topping the charts in 57 countries. The number one ranking marked only the second time in the chart's history that any band had six consecutive albums debut at number one, following Dave Matthews Band. Hardwired... to Self-Destruct received generally positive reviews from critics.
Background
In October 2011, bassist Robert Trujillo said that the band had returned to the studio to begin writing new material.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Hardwired... to Self-Destruct” as 2016 studio album by Metallica. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 2016 studio album by Metallica. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q24034571. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2016, 2008 and 2011.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Hardwired... to Self-Destruct” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.