Metallica (also known as The Black Album, in reference to The White Album, because of its largely black and nearly-featureless cover) is the 1991 self-titled 5th studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica.
Metallica was released August 12, 1991, through Elektra Records and is the band's best-selling album to date, with 15 million copies sold in the United States alone as of 2007 and 22 million copies worldwide.
On the cover, only the band's logo and a coiled snake (derived from the Gadsden flag - which could be seen hanging on a wall in the "One on One" recording studio where the album was recorded) are visible. The motto of the Gadsden flag, "Don't Tread on Me", is also the title of a song featured on the album.
Metallica DVD-Audio 5.1 mix was released in 2004 through Elektra Records.
