Black Veil Brides' Jake Pitts on Metallica's Black Album — The Record That Changed My Life

Metallica
Metallica (The Black Album) (1991)

Metallica’s Black Album (Metallica) definitely changed the way I looked at the guitar and what my goals were going to become in life.

I can’t remember the exact moment I discovered the album, but I do remember I was around 13 years old and had gotten this new cool toy for my birthday called the Rhythm Bandit. It was a little device you would hook up to your CD player and flip a switch that was supposed to isolate the rhythm guitar.

I remember sitting in the living room of our little house in Boise, Idaho, for hours and hours, learning every song on the Black Album with the help of the Rhythm Bandit, which allowed me to hear the guitar parts better.

I actually went to one of my guitar lessons and said I wanted my guitar to sound like Metallica, but I wasn't talking about my playing—I was talking about tone.

I don’t know anyone who understands tone at that age, as most kids just want to crank the gain to 10, but I've always had a good ear for sound. I never would have thought back when I was sitting on my living room floor learning those songs that I would be doing one of my albums with the legendary Bob Rock himself.