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Metallica history to Faber

06.02.12 | Charlotte Williams

Faber has acquired the "definitive" two-volume history of heavy metal band Metallica, buying rights for a six-figure sum and with publication planned for 2013.

Senior editor Angus Cargill bought UK and Commonwealth rights from Matthew Hamilton at Aitken Alexander Associates in the biography, Birth School Metallica Death, written by music writers Paul Brannigan and Ian Wood. The pair have conducted approximately 75 hours of interviews with the four-piece band, and been given access to their tours, studio recordings and HQ outside San Francisco.

The band formed in Los Angeles in 1981 and released its first album, Kill 'Em All, in 1983. It is currently made up of James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo, and has won Grammy, MTV Video Music, American Music, Billboard and Kerrang! Awards.

Cargill said: "We're absolutely thrilled to have got this project. I was a fan of This Is A Call, Paul Brannigan's Dave Grohl biography last year, and Ian Winwood is one of the UK's finest music writers. This promises to be a fascinating study, over two volumes, of one of the indisputable heavyweight bands of the last 30 years ...It's also a superb addition to our music list, and something we plan to make a real event of in 2013."

• Charlotte Williams
• Faber
• Metallica
• Rights