The Pulse of Radio reports that METALLICA are now free agents in the music industry, with the release last September of their latest album, "Death Magnetic", marking the end of the band's contract with Warner Bros. Records. Although the group has kept silent about how they plan to distribute their music in the future, drummer Lars Ulrich pointed to the "Guitar Hero" video game franchise as one possible avenue. "This is gonna be a whole 'nother platform that music is gonna reach, an audience, and especially a younger audience, over the years," he said. "I mean, we put out our last record, 'Death Magnetic', through 'Guitar Hero' and it's great. It works on all fronts. And so I think that over the years, it'll turn into an expected way of releasing records."

METALLICA's very own "Guitar Hero" game, "Guitar Hero: Metallica", will arrive this Sunday (March 29) for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and will arrive later in the spring for Wii and PlayStation 2.

The game features 28 songs from METALLICA, as well as 21 additional cuts from artists such as ALICE IN CHAINS, FOO FIGHTERS, SLAYER, SYSTEM OF A DOWN and many other personal favorites of the group.

Ulrich told the Los Angeles Times earlier this week that he plans to talk with NINE INCH NAILS frontman Trent Reznor, when the two groups share some festival stages this summer, about life after the major labels. Reznor left his label nearly two years ago and has released music through an assortment of digital and physical ventures since then.