All of a sudden, the Ryan Adams / Brandon Flowers slap fight has moved to the undercard. Resurgent metal icon  James Hetfield has taken sharp aim at Axl Rose's ability to record in a timely manner:

“I haven't lost sleep waiting for [Chinese Democracy]. I thought we took a long time to make an album. But you know he's late for everything so it makes total sense.”

This little piece of news is of course a small part of the hurricane that is Chinese Democracy. Neither Metallica, riding high off the Rick Rubin produced Death Magnetic, or Guns N' Roses, preparing for the year's seismic rock release, have  much time to devote to sniping. Still, the prospect of these old warhorses getting in the ring with one another is irresistably juicy. Though smart money still bets on the burly Hetfield, it's possible that Axl spent at least some of the last sixteen years studying crane style at a mountain dojo. [Gigwise]