See Rare Photos From Metallica’s ‘St. Anger’ 20th Anniversary ‘Black Box’ Virtual Museum

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of their St. Anger album, Metallica have opened a new wing of their virtual museum, dubbed the Black Box. It showcases rare photos, offering some behind-the-scenes glimpses at this historic time in the band's history.

St. Anger was released on June 5, 2003 and the making of the album was a rather difficult one as the group overcame numerous obstacles, all of which was documented in the Some Kind Of Monster film. It's one of the most polarizing releases in the Metallica catalog, and infamously features a ping-heavy snare sound (which many have likened to a metal trash can lid) and is notoriously devoid of guitar solos.

Despite being widely panned by fans and critics, St. Anger has quite a lot of conversational value to this day as peaks and valleys are a part of any band's story, Metallica being no exception themselves.

What's In the Black Box Virtual Museum?

A total of 40 photos were uploaded to the Black Box, offering a broad overview of the era through screenshots of message board posts, handwritten lyric sheets, art renders of CD layouts, an April calendar detailing a work schedule as well as notes on what other bands (Motorhead, Foo Fighters, The White Stripes) would be in town.

There's also photos of notecards from audio interview tapes, including a back porch chat with Jason Newsted dubbed "Tickle Me Thursday," whatever that means!

READ MORE: 10 Reasons Not to Be Mad at Metallica's 'St. Anger'

How Can I Check Out the Black Box Virtual Museum?

The St. Anger portion of the Black Box can be viewed for free right here.

There's plenty of other content to check out through the virtual museum, so keep poking around and exploring.