Metallica have revealed a brief clip of a song from their long-awaited 10th album in a Christmas message.

The video is available on thefan club section of their website' and membership is free.

Frontman James Hetfield plays the 15-second clip, which includes riffs and vocals, with the help of a cat called Tabs. He says: "Happy holidays from Tabs and all of Metallica here in the studio. We thought we'd give you a little bit of ear-candy for the holidays."
It follows a video released last month, which showedHetfield in the process of recording a guitar track.

No completion or release date has been confirmed for the follow-up to 2008'sDeath Magnetic,although it's expected next year.

Hetfield recently told fan club magazine So What: "We need to do things the way we feel. We're not going to cater to the consumer now, because we never have. We want the best thing at the right time ' whenever that time is right."