{"id":364925,"date":"2026-01-11T19:24:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T19:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/364925\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T19:24:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T19:24:10","slug":"the-metallica-song-kirk-hammett-always-struggles-to-play-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/364925\/","title":{"rendered":"The Metallica song Kirk Hammett always struggles to play live"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kirk<\/p>\n

(Credits: Far Out \/ Epiphone)<\/p>\n

Sun 11 January 2026 13:02, UK <\/p>\n

Kirk Hammett is one guitarist who rarely gets the plaudits he deserves. He is routinely shredding up on stage and has become a pivotal figure in the metal scene with Metallica<\/a>, but he barely ever gets the recognition his incredible skill and impressive iconography deserve. He runs faster than a speeding train up and down his fretboard, and he has to. <\/p>\n

Any Metallica song feels like it\u2019s arriving like a freight train from its opening notes. Although James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich have made songs that rely on their softer moments, the band have always worked best when going 100 miles an hour right out of the gate, storming out with massive riffs on songs like \u2018Fight Fire With Fire\u2019 and \u2018Master of Puppets\u2019. While most songs in their catalogue come naturally, Kirk Hammett says one of their newer tracks always trips him up.<\/p>\n

When first joining the band, though, Hammett was already in for somewhat of an uphill battle. Since most of the band\u2019s debut, Kill Em All, had already been written when the band dropped Dave Mustaine for Hammett, the guitarist had a pretty good idea of what he was going to be playing over, being used almost as a fill-in guitarist before being given a prime spot in the band.<\/p>\n

As the group started to make inroads into newer soundscapes on tracks like \u2018Fade to Black\u2019, Hammett would still find time to incorporate his flashy playing into the mix, coming up with the riffs to songs like \u2018Creeping Death\u2019 and a few transitionary sequences in songs like \u2018Master of Puppets\u2019.<\/p>\n

Once the band started to become a global force on The Black Album, Hammett would find himself creating the most essential pieces of their career, forming the genesis of the \u2018Enter Sandman\u2019 riff<\/a> before Ulrich suggested restructuring it. While it didn\u2019t come without hardship, Hammett also let his guitar sing just the right way, turning in one of his best solos at the behest of producer Bob Rock on the song \u2018The Unforgiven\u2019. <\/p>\n

While Hammett had more substantial input on the band\u2019s reinvention of Load and ReLoad, he would ultimately take a back seat on the album St. Anger, containing no guitar solos and little room for him to show his stuff. When the band were planning their big comeback album, there was one riff too tricky for Hammett to play right.<\/p>\n

Bringing Death Magnetic to a screeching halt, \u2018My Apocalypse\u2019 features a massive descending riff that feels like you\u2019re being pulled into the underworld as Hetfield growls in tune. When speaking to Guitar Center, Hammett would go on to say how much trouble that riff caused him, recalling, \u201cThat\u2019s a riff I hope I get every night because when that riff kicks in, I\u2019m the only one playing it. If I don\u2019t practice that riff, I\u2019m liable to mess it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

The track has been updated since its birth, too, with Lars Ulrich confirming it had a new introduction. \u201cWe\u2019ve been enjoying playing \u2018My Apocalypse\u2019 out here on the road,\u201d Ulrich said. \u201cBut felt like it could use something extra. We decided that it needed a cool intro to set the mood, so James wrote one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the song isn\u2019t the most complex Metallica song ever made, \u2018My Apocalypse\u2019 is practically the spiritual cousin to \u2018Dyers Eve\u2019 off And Justice for All. After an album\u2019s worth of pummeling heavy metal, the song is the moment where the listener realises that there is no let up from the band, going full-on until the very end.<\/p>\n

While Death Magnetic may not have been the most widely accepted Metallica album, it wasn\u2019t supposed to be the next coming of \u2018Enter Sandman\u2019. After the tragic backstory of St. Anger, this album proved that Metallica hadn\u2019t officially lost their way. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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