This past Record Store Day, Kirk Hammett will released his first ever solo EP, almost four decades after making his recorded debut with Metallica. His regular bandmates weren’t always so accepting of extracurricular activities of course – bassist Jason Newsted was infamously ousted from the band after his requests for a bit of time off to focus on side-project Echobrain were rebuffed. But that was then, and this is now. As the guitarist himself points out, it would take a lot to pull focus from the megalithic machine that is Metallica in 2022 and certainly more than four-track EP Portals, as fantastic and beguiling a record as it is. The project started life as a single song, called Maiden And The Monster, that Kirk recorded to soundtrack his It’s Alive! exhibition...