Musicians Say about Metallica

Find out what musicians say about metallica

Matt Baumbach [Vision of Disorder guitarist]
"Metallica is the reason that not only I, but Mike Kennedy play guitar. We were of the age where we knew when a new Metallica record was coming, and it was a 'school's-in-session' thing. I've always loved how intricate they got on the first four albums. It's the only type of music that sounds both melodic and heavy without being too much of either. Master of Puppets is the top metal album of all-time based on the first two tracks alone. Both are so well thought out it's incredible. I was always a fan of Kirk's way to give songs additional melodic lines that are just as memorable as the vocal. My all-time favorite tracks would be "Damage Inc.", "Jump in the Fire," "Orion," "Trapped Under Ice," and a hundred others. I'm not the biggest fan of Load and ReLoad, but do like the Black Album. I remember me and Mike "moshing" to "Through the Never" in his old place - we ruined our friend's carpet! VOD picked up on the way to be intricate, but still come across original and heavy - Imprint best represents this. People need to take more chances, just like Metallica."

Brian Tatler [Diamond Head guitarist]
"As some of you will already know, my band Diamond Head influenced Metallica. In 1981, Lars came to England to see and hang out with Diamond Head, and not long after returning from that trip, he formed Metallica. Since then, I have watched Metallica's rise with astonishment. It is one of the hardest things in the world to achieve - going from a garage band to stadium monsters, without ever really losing credibility or deliberately making hit singles. And what is even more difficult is sustaining it. You can hear Diamond Head's influence in a couple of early songs, but we all take inspiration from somewhere. I have seen Metallica many times, and they always give 100% - they don't hold anything back for the next show. Such a great band to watch live. I can hear their influence in thousands of bands, who want their phenomenal success. It's down to writing great songs, working very hard at it for 25 years, building an incredible following all over the world, and Lars' business brain. My favorite Metallica song is "One." It has great dynamics and has to be one of the best double kick drum/guitar parts ever recorded."

King Diamond
"One of the great memories of Metallica is when we met while I was with Mercyful Fate in '84. We were playing in San Francisco and they came to the show. I heard they had a Danish drummer and that I might know his dad, the famous Danish tennis player, Torben Ulrich. Metallica came in, said hi, and later, came out on stage and headbanged during one of our encores. Later, they were recording Ride the Lightning at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen. We had a rehearsal room in the same building and Metallica happened to need a rehearsal room. So we offered them our room while we were not rehearsing. I remember hearing some riffs and saying, "Wow," it was some of the heaviest stuff I had ever heard at the time. "Creeping Death" is still one of my favorites. This year, I had the honor of performing onstage with Metallica at Ozzfest. Singing the entire Mercyful Fate medley was an incredible experience. We had only practiced two hours the night before, and they had not played the song since '99. It just shows how pro they are and that there is a reason they are the biggest metal band in the world!"

Charlie Benante [Anthrax drummer]
"Ummm, I don't think they had an influence on me - I think we were influenced by the same bands. We liked the same style of music - Maiden, NWOBHM, Misfits, etc. I think it came across in our music and attitude. I think for me, the Puppets record was their finest moment. I think Cliff had a lot to do with that sound - it was so fat and precise. I love the song "Orion" - it still is one of my favorite musical pieces by them. I do think it's all so different now - the media back then didn't really cater to them like they do now...it doesn't really matter anymore, it all seems to be considered great anyway."

Alex Skolnick [Testament guitarist]
"Metallica took the thrashy garage band vibe of bands like Venom and Motorhead, cleaned it up, and gave it a razor sharp precision. This was especially true on Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets, where they showed us that this type of metal can have melodic vocal lines, guitar harmonies, and rhythm guitar riffs - which were as exciting and sophisticated as any solo. Hetfield's rhythm guitar - arguably on an influential level on par with Van Halen's lead guitar - and the other guys tastefully building their licks, fills, etc. around the riffs and vocals, combined to form a machine that was unstoppable, and a huge influence on newer bands like us."

Millie Petrozza [Kreator singer/guitarist]
"I've seen Metallica opening up for Venom way back, and they blew the headlining band away! Without Metallica's early stuff, metal wouldn't be what it is now. Endless respect!"

Mitts [Madball guitarist]
"Metallica represented a huge, groundbreaking step in the evolution of heavy music. In the 1970's, there was "heavy metal." In the 80's, Metallica lead the way for a group of bands that I considered to be the first true "metal" bands. The difference between 70's "heavy metal" and 80's "metal" is in the roots of the guitar riffing. Heavy metal was legendary bands like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest. And as heavy and brutal as those bands were, they still based their riffing on blues and rock progressions. Kill 'Em All was still in that style - but with Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets, they began to shed those last remnants of blues, and progressed towards a sound that was dissonant; devoid of melody. ...And Justice for All was the culmination of that. Metallica's straightforward style, metal-riffing, and brutal speed influenced me, along with an entire generation of musicians. The late 80's and early 90's saw hardcore bands incorporating more and more metal sounds into their songs. Some of my band's biggest influences were bands like Agnostic Front and the Cro-Mags, and both drew inspiration from the metal style riffing of Metallica."