Every Metallica song James Hetfield didn’t sing on
Every metal band is only as good as their frontman when you break it down. Although the main focus always comes back to the massive riffs that get people headbanging, the frontman should be the person hosting one of the most insane parties in the world, whether that’s Ozzy Osbourne screaming at the top of his voice or Robert Plant reaching into the stratosphere to get just the right note for any one song. While James Hetfield always felt way more comfortable with a guitar in his hands, there were always a few songs that worked just as well without him singing at all.
But Hetfield never really wanted to be a singer when they first started. There were the occasional shows when he only had a mic in his hand, but even when he figured there needed to be words in the song, the band were still auditioning potential singers to replace Hetfield by the time they were working on Master of Puppets.
Hetfield eventually got his wish to keep quiet in one aspect: instrumentals. Whereas every Metallica classic is known for having a great riff, some chaotic drumming, and at least one mention of the word ‘YEAH!’, having an instrumental is usually the time when everything is able to cool down a bit.
When making ‘Anaesthesia (Pulling Teeth)’, though, there was no room for sounding pleasant. Cliff Burton had just been introduced to the band, and this massive bass solo is still one of the finest examples of what one person can do with nothing but low-end and a few effects pedals, including using tapping harmonics the same way Eddie Van Halen had done back in the day.
That was the proof of concept, but every other instrumental had been about setting up a scene every time they performed. ‘The Call of Ktulu’ off of Ride the Lightning makes you feel like watching this massive bringer of doom rising from the ocean, and if Burton was just getting started on the first album, ‘Orion’ is when he truly painted his masterpiece, complete with duelling bass solos and creating layered harmonies worthy of being studied on the same level as Bach or Beethoven.
But while ‘To Live is To Die’ doesn’t feature Hetfield singing, per se, it is a little hard to include since his voice is still present. Since the song was all about paying homage to Burton following his death in a tour bus accident, Hetfield recites his poetry towards the end of the track, which may or may not count as singing.
Regardless of whether he’s behind the mic and singing the melody on their cover of Ennio Morricone’s ‘The Ecstasy of Gold’, one of their final instrumentals didn’t need any words for Hetfield to tower over everyone else. Compared to the patchwork job making St Anger, everything about ‘Suicide and Redemption’ is drilled to perfection, all giving way to Hetfield’s massive solo in the middle. It’s not as fast as Kirk Hammett’s track record, but it does a far better job at conveying emotion, especially when it isn’t coated in layers upon layers of wah-wah.
Beyond just holding people’s attention without vocals, all of these songs without Hetfield’s voice do a lot more to prove the power of metal extends greater than just loud music that excites teenagers. There is still a good contingency of people who don’t want to hear anything remotely associated with the genre, but these pieces of sonic art might be the ones that can change people’s minds.
