Metallica will be appearing on two upcoming tribute albums. One for Deep Purple and one for Ronnie James Dio that will also feature Anthrax, Rob Halford, Lemmy and more.

"We reached out to Wendy Dio [wife of Ronnie] about wanting to be a part of the Dio tribute that's getting put together," says singer James Hetfield. "We're very honoured to be a part of that, and to be a part of a celebration of Ronnie's life and his great contribution, man."

"We're definitely looking to do the record Wendy's putting together for Ronnie," adds drummer Lars Ulrich. "We were asked if we'd contribute to the anniversary of [classic Deep Purple album] 'Machine Head', too – we can't turn that down."

Metallica's Lars Ulrich says if there's one other artist he'd like to play with it would be Noel Gallagher.

During a recent interview with NME.com, the metal legend says he recently caught a show by Gallagher's new band High Flying Birds and was impressed.

"I'm hard pressed to think of anyone I would rather drum with than Noel Gallagher, [although] I have to say the fellow with the Clockwork Orange get up at the back is doing a stellar job. When I saw them in L.A in December it was fabulous. You know, if . . . the other 37,000 drummers on this planet turn him down, I'll certainly play with him," Ulrich explains.

"I'm certainly not sure he would ever want to pick me, but I'd put together a pretty solid groove thing back there," he said. "I would make the songs bounce to the best of my ability."