Metallica Announce Load Remastered Limited Edition Deluxe Box Set

04-29-2025

(NLM) Metallica has announced the definitive re-release of the band's 5x platinum sixth studio album Load, out June 13 via the band's own Blackened Recordings.

Remastered by Reuben Cohen at Lurssen Mastering with Greg Fidelman overseeing, the Load Remastered Limited Edition Deluxe Box Set is available now for pre-order here . Pre-orders of the Deluxe Box will receive instant grat tracks "Until It Sleeps (Remastered)," "Until It Sleeps (Herman Melville Mix)," "F.O.B.D. ("Until It Sleeps" Rough Chorus Vocal Idea Mix)," and "Until It Sleeps (Live at Slim's, San Francisco, CA - June 10th, 1996)."

Load (Remastered) will be released in formats including standard 180g 2LP, CD, cassette and digital (including a Spatial Audio mix using Atmos). Standard pre-orders receive "Until It Sleeps (Remastered)" IG, Expanded Edition pre-orders receive "Until It Sleeps (Remastered)" and "F.O.B.D. ("Until It Sleeps" Rough Chorus Vocal Idea Mix)" IGs. The 2LP, 3CD Expanded and Deluxe digital versions for the first time ever feature the extended version of "The Outlaw Torn," originally edited for release due to time constraints of the CD format.

The Load Remastered Limited Edition Deluxe Box Set is an ambitious and comprehensive time capsule of 1995-97 era Metallica, jam-packed with exclusives including previously unreleased demos, rough mixes, live performances, on-air and television appearances, and much more. The one-time pressing will include the remastered Load album on 180g double vinyl, a "Mama Said" picture disc, and Loadapalooza '96, a 140G triple album recorded live during Metallica's Lollapalooza headlining run at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre on August 4, 1996. The set's 15 CDs range from the remastered Load album to never-before-released collected riffs, demos and rough mixes, B-Sides and rarities, and a wealth of live material, while its 4 DVDs offer a plethora of behind the scenes, in-studio and live footage, on-air and television appearances, the band's Polar Beach Party visit to Tuktoyaktuk, Canada, and more. Rounding out the box's content are memorabilia including a pack of 14 Rorschach Test cards, a Pushead patch, an 11x17 Lollapalooza poster, an Rolling Stone cover reproduction, a 5-pack of guitar/bass picks, lyric sheets, two laminated tour passes and a deluxe 128-page book.

Originally released June 4, 1996, Load was the second Metallica album to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200, where it would remain for four straight weeks. The 1995 sessions at The Plant in Sausalito CA that resulted in Load (as well as 1997's ReLoad) would find James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, Jason Newsted creating yet another landmark of the Metallica catalog. Currently, two of Load's four singles-"Until It Sleeps" and "King Nothing"-have been lighting up crowds the world over in regular rotation on the setlists of the band's M72 World Tour.