When did recording begin for Metallica's The Black Album?

Recording began for Metallica's The Black Album on October 6, 1990.

The sessions ultimately continued until June 16, 1991, creating an eight-month production period before the album's August release. Most of the recording took place at One on One Recording Studios in Los Angeles, with additional work at Little Mountain Sound in Vancouver and A&M Studios in Los Angeles.

The band had already recorded four demos on August 13, 1990: “Enter Sandman,” “The Unforgiven,” “Nothing Else Matters,” and “Wherever I May Roam.” Those demos predate the main recording sessions and are therefore not the album's official recording start date.

Producer Bob Rock was new to Metallica and pushed the group toward a heavier but more refined sound. The sessions were demanding and sometimes tense, but they produced the band's breakthrough commercial record and its first album to top the major album charts.