 While on tour with the Wildhearts , Townsend formed a short @-@ lived thrash metal project with Metallica 's then @-@ bassist Jason Newsted . The band , known as IR8 , featured Newsted on vocals and bass , Townsend on guitar , and Tom Hunting of Exodus on drums . The group recorded a few songs together , although Townsend says that they never intended to go further than that . " People heard about it and thought we wanted to put out a CD , which is absolutely not true , " he explains . " People took this project way too seriously . " A demo tape was put together , but the material was not released until 2002 , when Newsted published the IR8 vs. <unk> compilation . 
