Like King Canute flinging himself at the spume and giving it an amorous rogering, Metallica have come over all joyous that their new album Death Magnetic (read The Quietus' review) has leaked into a French record shop and online before its official release.

"Listen, we're ten days from release. I mean, from here, we're golden," Lars Ulrich told a US radio station.

"If this thing leaks all over the world today or tomorrow, happy days. Happy days. Trust me. Ten days out and it hasn't quote-unquote fallen off the truck yet? Everybody's happy.

"It's 2008 and it's part of how it is these days, so it's fine," he insisted. "We're happy."