Metallica is re-releasing their Load album alongside a heap of unreleased tracks.
It’s been nearly 30 years since Metallica released Load, the follow-up to their Metallica album — now it’s back, louder, longer, and heavier than ever.
In the midst of their 2025 world tour, Metallica have officially announced the long-awaited reissue of their 1996 epic Load, and they’re not holding back – this thing is stacked.
Dropping June 13 via Blackened Recordings, the reissue sees the original album fully remastered by Reuben Cohen at Lurssen Mastering, with Metallica producer Greg Fidelman overseeing the whole thing.
Metallica’s not just giving the album a polish, though. They’re giving fans a deep dive into the Load era with hours of bonus content and previously unheard material.
Among the bonus tracks on the Load reissue is the extended version of “The Outlaw Torn”, which was cut down to a shorter runtime thanks to manufacturing demands.
The Load deluxe box set is available for preorder now, and it’s absolutely stacked. It includes:
- Load (Remastered) on 180-gram double LP and CD
- “Mama Said” picture disc
- Three live LPs
- 15 CDs
- Four DVDs featuring unreleased content (live shows, rough mixes, demos, etc)
- MP3 download card of all audio
- Two tour laminates
- 11″ x 17″ Lollapalooza poster
- Pushead patch
- 8″ x 10″ Rolling Stone Magazine cover print
- Five-pack of guitar/bass picks
- Pack of 14 Rorschach Test cards
- Lyric folder and sheets
- 128-page hardcover book with never-before-seen photos + stories from those who were there
Across that 4.5kg haul of Metallica gear is 301 total tracks (245 of which are unreleased).
For those who aren’t ready to shell out for the full vault, there’s also a three CD version loaded with rough mixes and live cuts, plus standard CD, digital, and 2LP editions. There’s even a cassette version, if you’re looking to complete the load.
The band says this reissue clocks in at over 1,800 minutes of Load content — that’s more than 30 hours of pure mid-’90s Metallica. Whether you loved the album the first time, or needed a few decades to come around, Metallica just made it impossible to ignore.
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