Which two Metallica members formed the main songwriting team for The Black Album?

James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich formed the main songwriting team for Metallica's The Black Album.

Hetfield wrote the lyrics and handled vocals and guitars, while Ulrich contributed drums and collaborated extensively on the musical structures. The pair had already become Metallica's central songwriting partnership on earlier albums.

Kirk Hammett and Jason Newsted also contributed ideas. Newsted wrote the main riff for “My Friend of Misery,” which was initially intended to be an instrumental. Hammett contributed to song ideas, but the album's principal songwriting credits remained dominated by Hetfield and Ulrich.

This division of roles can cause confusion because all four members performed on the record, and some songs include contributions from Hammett or Newsted. Performance credits and primary songwriting credits are not the same thing.