Binge and purge, indeed.

Metallica is battling back against bootleggers by taking legal action to halt the release of an unauthorized new album entitled "Bay Area Thrashers.

According to Metallica's management company, the material on "Thrashers" originates from demo recordings an earlier line-up of the band made in 1982. Metallica, who owns the rights to the demos, is upset with the bootleg's poor sound quality, as well as the way the demos have been fraudulently altered to make them appear as if they contained material from a live show.

Metallica considers the album to be an inferior product, illicitly acquired and sonically butchered," states a press release for the group, which also claims that the album "attempts to exploit the Metallica name ... at the expense of its fans." The band has also contacted the anti-bootlegging arms of the British Phonograph Institute and the Recording Industry Association of America to help stop the distribution of the "deceitful

release.

In related news, Jerry Cantrell and Days of the New have been announced as opening acts for Metallica's North American tour this summer. So far, only two dates for the upcoming tour have been announced, July 5 in Rockford, Illinois, and July 26 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Tickets for those shows go on sale March 21.