Jason Newsted, former bassist for Metallica, has formed a new band called Newsted, which is readying to release their new EP Metal online on Tuesday, January 8, 2013.

On the 4-song EP, Newsted handles both bass and vocal duties, with Jesus Mendez Jr. on drums and Jessie Farnsworth on guitar and backing vocals.

Check out a clip from the band’s upcoming video for “Soldierhead,” one of the tracks off the EP. Metal will be released exclusively through iTunes and is available for pre-order right now. If you buy all four songs, you’ll also receive a digital copy of the lyrics handwritten by Jason Newsted.

If you go to iTunes, you can hear 1 1/2-minute previews of each song and in my opinion, they kick ass! I listened to the previews the other day, but held off writing about it until today because I wanted to see what I’d think after a few days. It’s easy to become excited about an artist’s new project when you first hear it, but the thrill could wear off. Thankfully, that didn’t happen. When I woke up this morning, I was like “Oh yeah, I have to write up a post about the Newsted songs” and immediately the songs came into my mind. So, old school metal with classic hooks. I’m eagerly anticipating hearing all four songs in full!

If you’re a long-time fan of Metallica, then you know who Jason Newsted is and his importance to the metal community in general. This is a man who paid his dues real young in life, starting out in the early ’80s in the underground with metal outfit Flotsam & Jetsam before landing what would seem like to anyone else a dream gig as Metallica’s new bassist. Unfortunately, Newsted’s newfound fame and fortune came with tons of abuse from his new bandmembers, who were not only struggling with alcohol and drug addictions, but were mourning the recent loss of their original bassist Cliff Burton, who had been killed in a tour bus accident on the band’s previous tour.

I can go on and on and on about Newsted and how what should have been the greatest thing that ever happened to him (becoming Metallica’s bassist) turned into a nightmare for him, even though he had the talent, drive, and showmanship to fill Burton’s massive shoes. But, I’ll save that for another time; for now, I urge you to go to iTunes and pre-order Metal for a mere $3.99 and show Newsted your support. Let’s get Jason back in the ring! (Dream tour: Anthrax, Testament, Newsted – yes?!?!?!)

FYI – I plan on writing a full post about this soon, but since we’re on the subject of Jason Newsted, Flotsam & Jetsam’s first album Doomsday for the Deceiver (one of my favs, I still have the vinyl!) is on sale for only $5 this month through Amazon’s MP3 sale. Jason Newsted plays bass on the album and wrote all the song lyrics and co-wrote all the music. This was my first exposure to him before Metallica’s $5.98 EP, a EP of cover songs released by the band to show off Newsted’s bass talents prior to their first full album together, …And Justice For All (which has the bass so low in the mix you can’t hear it at all – don’t get me started; I love Metallica, they’ve always been one of my favorite bands, but damn am I still mad at them for this).

Track Listing

1. “Soldierhead”
2. “Godsnake”
3. “King of the Underdogs”
4. “Skyscraper”

Video