Metallica's new album might have an official release date. The German newspaper Bild (via Blabbermouth) reports that the band's new record has been scheduled for an Oct. 14 arrival — although the news has yet to be confirmed by Universal, the conglomerate that currently distributes Metallica's music overseas.

While the Oct. 14 date has to be considered a rumor at this point, it fits with remarks the band members have made regarding the new LP. Last month, frontman James Hetfield said the record was in the mixing stage and would be out "hopefully by fall." Drummer Lars Ulrich echoed those sentiments, vowing that it'd take "some sort of cosmic reason" to keep the album out of stores this year.

Ulrich also talked about the upcoming Metallica album during a recent interview with the Library of Congress, during which he looked back on their landmark Master of Puppets LP — added to the National Registry this year — and offered a brief comparison between the two projects.

"You know, ideologies change, they go through arcs," said Ulrich. "Now it’s all Garage Band, but that’s just a small piece of the overall puzzle. At that time, though, there was an evolution happening and people took it very seriously. The record we are now working on is more about capturing a mood, making it sound raw and not overproduced. But it was a different vibe then and we were comfortable with it. And we were excited about multi-tracks and all the gadgets."

Last month, Ulrich hinted that the group was "expanding a little bit on the sonics" with the record — and said he thinks fans can expect a more eclectic set than the one they delivered with their last album, 2008's Death Magnetic.

"It’s probably a little less frenetic than the last record," Ulrich mused. "It’s probably a bit more of a diverse record than the last one. It’s exciting, but I don’t have quite the perspective yet."

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