Metallica released its fifth studio album, Metallica, on August 12, 1991.
The album is widely known as The Black Album because of its mostly black cover, which features the band’s logo and a faint gray snake. Its official title is simply Metallica, matching the group’s name.
Elektra Records issued the album after recording sessions that ran from October 1990 to June 1991. The release followed ...And Justice for All, which had appeared in 1988, and marked a major shift toward slower, heavier, and more polished songs.
The August 12 date is sometimes confused with the release dates of the album’s singles. “Enter Sandman,” the lead single, came out earlier, on July 29, 1991. “The Unforgiven” followed in October, while “Nothing Else Matters” became a single in 1992.