Metallica have released some of the artwork (pictured above) that is to feature on their forthcoming album Death Magnetic.

The images put up on the Metallica website yesterday depict a coffin etched out of iron filings that have been treated by some magnetic fields from top to bottom, just like those prepubescent primary school science experiments.

The impressive, pristine looking images are a further teaser from the metal behemoths, who earlier this month told fans of an extremely limited and already sought after collectors edition of the new album.

In a spectacularly melancholy move to win over the new-age digital loving music fans Metallica announced they are going to release Death Magnetic in a special coffin boxset when the album hits the shelves later this year.

The coffin release will include the full album, a CD of demos, a DVD 'making of' documentary with never before seen footage, an exclusive t-shirt, a flag (randomly), guitar picks and a poster along with a collector's card containing an embossed code to redeem a free download of a special European show happening in September.

The statement giving the details of the coffin box on the Metallica website also said the band were in the process of finalising the artwork at the moment.