(Credits: Raph Pour-Hashemi)
Thu 25 December 2025 23:00, UK
When James Hetfield first put together Metallica with Lars Ulrich, neither of them were looking to rule the world by any stretch.
There was no other metal band that could have ever hoped to break through to the mainstream, and while they did have their heroes, there was no way even Diamond Head was going to make it on the pop charts. They were making music for their own fun, but a funny thing can happen after a band spends one too many times trying to make a metal masterpiece.
Despite being the epitome of an underground band, Metallica may be one of the few artists that transcend all types of popularity. They did have their mainstream period when The Black Album was released, but the reason they have endured is because of how much they were willing to take risks. No one would have thought that And Justice For All had a shot on the charts with all the long songs and punishing riffs, and yet ‘One’ is still considered one of their finest moments, regardless of which era you’re talking about.
But that’s because they never made music thinking about where it would fit on the charts. They definitely took some chances to blend in with the new kids on the block during the Load era, but everyone who seemed to dog them for making alternative music isn’t really being honest with themselves. They were simply making a harder rock version of what they wanted to be, and no one could fault them for wanting to reach for something new.
After all, their biggest inspirations were the ones who kept taking chances wherever they went. Ulrich was always a fan of U2 switching up their styles on every record, and given how heavy Led Zeppelin used to be before Metallica came along, it’s not look Physical Graffiti sounds anything like In Through the Out Door. But by most metal standards, all roads lead back to those early Black Sabbath records.
Which is strange, because Ozzy Osbourne was the last person to classify himself as a heavy metal musician. Back when Sabbath first started, ‘heavy metal’ was practically an insult, but by making the most macabre music anyone had ever heard, the band actually managed to invent the genre that Metallica thrived in, and that influence wasn’t lost on Hetfield when inducting the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Sabbath’s riffs were what he studied when he first picked up a guitar, and there was never any other rock and roll band that was even able to come close to them in Hetfield’s mind, saying, “I realise without their defiant sound, there would be no Metallica, especially with one James Hetfield. Never have I heard a more timeless and influential band. They have spread their wonderful disease among generations of musicians. They have been listed as an influence on heavy metal bands to this day. They are loved and respected as the fathers of heavy music.”
But Sabbath’s influence is the kind of thing that’s almost become proverbial over time. No one thinks twice that Sabbath had an influence on every heavy metal band that has come after them, and whether you’re listening to Rob Zombie, Slipknot, Tool, or Van Halen, all of them would have been happy to tell you that they were worshipping the ground that Tony Iommi built back in the day.
Metal can certainly move in a lot more directions after Sabbath, but when looking at the genre as a whole, they are practically The Beatles for all forms of heavy music. There was certainly heavy music before Sabbath, but it wasn’t officially a style until we heard that dreaded tritone that kicked off their debut album.
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