"I would have been going to bed at 9 a.m., not going to work," he tells Billboard. Hetfield says the process of making an album while sober is "very different because there is a lot more awareness of what we are doing and sometimes over-thinking it. Now we are very present for it all and I'm not afraid to do or try anything musically."

But he says the current project, which is being produced by Rick Rubin, is "going great because everyone is present and everyone is enjoying the process. The process is a lot easier. Lars and I would butt heads daily. It would be going to war every day. You'd suit up in your armor before you go in the studio. Battling back and forth. Now it's helping each other do the best of their ability. It's all moving toward the same goal instead of pulling back."