Metallica's 30th-anniversary remastered edition was released in 2021.
The anniversary campaign produced more than a simple remaster. The expanded box set included the remastered album, live recordings, demos, unreleased material, DVDs, and other physical items. A separate 53-track covers collection, The Metallica Blacklist, was also released for the anniversary celebration.
The remastered album came out on September 10, 2021. Bob Ludwig handled the remastering at Gateway Mastering, while Greg Fidelman served as executive producer overseeing the content. These credits belong to the anniversary reissue, not the original 1991 production sessions.
The 2021 project marked 30 years since the original album's August 12, 1991 release. It is therefore distinct from the 35th anniversary in 2026. The number of years can cause confusion because the original album, its 30th-anniversary edition, and the later anniversary celebrations refer to different dates.