BFMV inspired Metallica

In the December 2008 issue of Guitar World and Revolver magazine 'Rebel Meets Rebel 2008' special issue, you can find two Metallica interviews. One is between James Hetfield and Guitar World, the other one is between M. Shadows, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich (Metallica).

The interesting part is that in both of the interviews, James & Lars gave credits to young bands such as Bullet For My Valentine, Trivium, DragonForce and Avenged Sevenfold for being their musical inspiration.

Guitar World Interview

GW: You’ve talked a bit about Diamond Head and the music that inspired you when you were first starting out, but is there somebody that you’ve listened to in the past 10 years, whether it’s a new or old artist, that you appreciate on a guitar-playing level?

Hetfield: [Long pause] There are certain guys who obviously inspired me to play guitar. I love certain bands. Ted Nugent and Aerosmith had some riffs, but it was more the Judas Priest and the AC/DCs that got to me because the rhythm guitar was such an important part of their sound. I’d listen to somebody like Malcolm Young and think, This dude’s driving the train right now. And that would be exciting. These days, there’s been such an amazing resurgence in guitar talent – and not just guitar but drums, keyboards, singing…It’s unbelievable.

GW: Yeah, that Pro Tools guy is pretty good!

Hetfield: [laughs] Yeah. Mr.Tools? Yeah. He’s one helluva a producer! I hear what you’re saying, but I think there’s more to it. I think there are guys sitting in their bedrooms trying to imitate stuffs that has been Pro Tooled to death, and they’re playing it naturally. Pro Tools is creating new monsters. It’s amazing how some of these guitar players are. It reminds me a lot of, say, when the Eighties happened and all of these amazing virtuoso guitar players like Yngwie Malmsteen were emerging, and there were plenty of bands that had amazing rhythm sections.

GW: Are you talking about bands like Bullet For My Valentine and Avenged Sevenfold? Their arrangements are so big and complex that they are almost writing heavy metal symphonies.

Hetfield: Right, right. You can probably put DragonForce in there. Bands that have two unbelievable guitar players and they’re playing all their parts perfectly in concert. And the drummer is keeping right up with them. There are drummers around these days that blow me away. And some stuffs is very orchestral. It’s very dramatic and epic sounding. So a lot of that stuff is pretty inspiring.

M.Shadows Interview

Shadows: Music has changed a lot since you began, and I’m sure your influences have changed, as well. What drives you to continue playing, and what are your current influences in music and in life in general?

Ulrich: Honestly, it’s you guys. Seriously! You guys put out music that inspires us, and I appreciate all the love we get from all of you guys, from Trivium, from Bullet for My Valentine – everybody. That’s what inspires us – hearing people re-interpret what we’ve done in the same way that we re-interpreted Black Sabbath and everything through that whole lineage. You guys spit stuff back in our face, and it keeps us on our toes and fresh. We’re all just music fans, and the reason we do what we do is because we love music. We’re always listening to new stuffs and trying to keep our finger on the pulse to the best of our abilities. And I’d say just being in musical environment that continues to reinvent itself and be stimulating is what inspires us. We’ve been doing it so long. There’s so many ups and downs and so many dynamics in the relationships. And I think what’s really inspiring us right now is that we’re all getting along, we’re all really having fun. As you can see, there’s no psychiatrists around – there’s not all this bullshit going on. Phil said the whole time that all the work we were doing three or four years ago was going to pay off on the next record, not on St. Anger. And it’s really true – every day going into the studio to write and seeing these guys, it’s fun again. It’s not like, Now I’ve gotta go battle James Hetfield all day, you know what I mean? And it’s showing and everything – that way we play onstage and just the whole vibe.

Hetfield: Yeah, for sure. The fact that we don’t know our potential, and we’re still striving for that ultimate thing – “never satisfied” is both a curse and a blessing, you know? The next song you write is always going to be the best of your career. And bands like yourself are getting us to step up again and getting us to remember the roots where we came from. Also, hooking up with a Rick Rubin, another entity. It’s like, Imagine if ‘Tallica did a record with Rick Rubin? Whoa, what would that be like? There’s a lot of untapped stuffs, and we don’t know where we can go until we try. Also, when you evolve in life, you listen to music differently than when you were younger. Songs from way back take on a whole new meaning and inspire you in a new way – especially lyrically.