What was Metallica's The Black Album originally titled during development?

Metallica's The Black Album originally carried the working title Married to Metal.

The temporary name referred to the personal upheaval surrounding the recording sessions. Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich, and Jason Newsted were divorcing their wives during the album's production, and the phrase became an internal joke connected with that difficult period.

The band also considered Five, a reference to the album's position as its fifth studio record. Another possibility was using the title of one of the songs. Ultimately, the members chose the simple eponymous title Metallica.

Listeners commonly call the album The Black Album because of its almost entirely black packaging. The official title is Metallica, while the nickname distinguishes it from the band itself. The working title therefore belongs to the album's development history, not to a released edition or alternate public title.