Metallica will apparently end at some point

The good news is that Kirk Hammett thinks that Metallica can only go on so long.

The bad news?

The 51-year-old guitarist hopes the band can work out a plan which means they can play for the next 20 years but he's not very hopeful.

He said: ''I personally think we have another 10. Maybe that's one album, maybe that's two albums, I don't know.''

There's a potential break point in 2024, but there's a danger they'll still be dragging themselves round, slaughtering wildlife and moaning about technology until 2034. That means they'll be hanging around for as long as Switzerland's nuclear power stations. Scientists say it's too close to call which institution will create the most toxic crap in that time.

What has led the band to realise that tempus fugit?

Watching the Stones, apparently:

Kirk said: ''I saw the Stones last year in San Francisco and I thought they played fucking great, and for a bunch of guys who are 70-plus, it was a pretty amazing feat.

Hang about, Kirk - although there's an element of backhandness to that 'brilliant for old guys', you might want to really hammer it home:

''I don't know if we can do what we do when we're in our 70s, because playing one of our songs is equal to playing eight Stones songs in terms of physical energy and intensity.'

Yeah, they're brilliant for old guys playing songs that are only 12.5% of a Metallica song. That's nailed it.