A brand new three-minute video clip of METALLICA in the studio laying down tracks for the band's much-anticipated ninth full-length album with producer Rick Rubin can be viewed below.

One day after a "beta" version of the site went live — only to be shut down a short time later — METALLICA has launched MissionMetallica.com to offer fans a wealth of exclusive content and teasers of new songs.

Fans who sign up will be eligible to "win backstage passes to every show this summer," among other special offers, according to Billboard.com.

"Mission: Metallica" also has a "platinum" level, entitling fans to a copy of the new album delivered on street date, weekly "fly-on-the-wall" video clips, contests to travel to shows and/or METALLICA's San Francisco compound, live show downloads, ringtones and more.

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told a Los Angeles radio station last Monday (May 5), "We thought, instead of doing the usual DVDs and all that, why don't we just do it on the Internet and people can kind of tune in every day, watch clips, contests, get updates for what's going on with the record and kind of watch the last couple of months of song titles, album titles, final mixes...So it's kind of a little bit of a countdown type of thing. It should be fun." Ulrich also told the station, "Knock on wood, this week should be our last week in the studio," adding that the group expects to get its ninth album out in September.