Metallica review: Heavy metal overlords still bring the noise

The veteran rockers reel back the years to take The O2 by storm
Nothing else matters: Metallica's James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich perform at the O2
Dave Benett
Rick Pearson13 November 2017

To The O2, then, for a quiet Sunday night with Metallica.

The heavy metal monsters were in town as part of their WorldWired Tour, in support of their latest album Hardwired ... To Self-Destruct.

Alas, before the moshing could begin, fans had to endure hour-long queues to enter the arena, with many taking to social media to vent their frustration.

Inside, the stage was positioned in the centre of the arena, like a boxing ring, and the band came out swinging with Hardwired. “We’re so f***ed, shit outta luck, hardwired to self-destruct,” growled frontman James Hetfield, 54, suggesting a worldview as black as the band’s wardrobe.

At the heart of the chaos was Lars Ulrich, 53, who doesn’t so much play his drum kit as bludgeon it to within an inch of its life. Songs such as Seek & Destroy were ferocious workouts, exhausting to play but incredible to witness.

Yet Metallica trade in both mayhem and melody. With its slower tempo and arpeggiated chords, Welcome Home (Sanitarium), from the band’s classic 1986 album Master Of Puppets, offered a welcome change of pace.

They were entertaining, too, picking up sticks to tap out rhythms on four giant boxes during Now That We’re Dead, the result resembling the middle ground between a heavy metal show and Stomp the musical.

Later on, Hetfield dedicated Moth Into Flame to Amy Winehouse. What the jazz singer would have made of the song’s ear-bleeding guitars and pneumatic beats is anyone’s guess, but there’s no denying Metallica’s musicianship: they’re technically flawless.

An encore including Nothing Else Matters and Enter Sandman gave the faithful what they were looking for.

As ever, subtlety was in short supply. But you don’t come to Metallica for nuance; you come for noise — and the heavy metal overlords proved they can still bring it.

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