Metallica is a band.
Metallica is an American heavy metal band based in San Rafael , California . The band 's fast tempos , instrumentals , and aggressive musicianship placed them as one of the founding `` big four '' bands of thrash metal , alongside Megadeth , Anthrax and Slayer . The band returned to its original musical style with the release of Death Magnetic ( 2008 ) , and in 2009 , Metallica was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . Metallica ranks as one of the most commercially successful bands of all time , having sold over 110 million records worldwide . As of January 2016 , Metallica is the third-best-selling music artist since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991 , selling a total of 59.12 million albums in the U.S. Metallica collaborated over a long period with producer Bob Rock , who produced four of the band 's studio albums between 1990 and 2003 and served as a temporary bassist during the production of St. Anger .