Not too long ago, Metallica announced The Metallica Blacklist – a monstrous 53-artist tribute to the band’s iconic 1991 Black Album, which is set to feature an eagerly awaited cover of My Friend Of Misery from jazz saxophone virtuoso Kamasi Washington.
For those of you who can’t wait until September 10 for the full releaset, you’re in luck, because Washington performed it live at the Hollywood Bowl last Sunday (July 18).
Not only that, he was joined onstage by Metallica legends Kirk Hammett and Rob Trujillo for the performance.
Supported by an elite house band featuring bass guitar phenom Thundercat, the trio can be seen trading licks as they make their way through the superb reimagining of My Friend of Misery.
Transforming the thunderous opening riffs and high-gain guitar hooks into some smooth, lounge-style brass motifs, and swapping out James Hetfield’s charging vocals with jazz-infused tones, the track is almost unrecognizable save its iconic lyrics.
The Metallica members take turns soloing following the second chorus, with Hammett using the Greeny Les Paul to maximum effect as he reels off a slew of tastily dissonant chromatic licks and rapid-fire scale constructions, with a wah-drenched run rounding off the rendition in style.
Watch the entire performance, courtesy of some exceptional fan footage, in the video above.
The Metallica Blacklist is also set to include St. Vincent’s recently released version of Sad But True, as well as renditions of Holier Than Thou from Biffy Clyro and Nothing Else Matters from Miley Cyrus.
Other names set to feature as part of the mammoth offering include Sam Fender, Corey Taylor, Weezer, Royal Blood, IDLES, Ghost, Volbeat, and tons more.
“The Metallica Blacklist offers up new dimensions of the record whose gravitational pull first drew the mainstream to Metallica – and provides new insights into the universal and timeless appeal that kept it there: the boundary-smashing influence these 12 songs have had on fans and musicians of all stripe,” said the band in a statement.
The Metallica Blacklist is available to preorder now via Blackened Recordings ahead of its September 10 release.
“He got a kidney infection, so he’s in hospital… That’s a bit of a drag, because he was going to be the lead guitarist”: The iconic charity rock song that missed out on its star guitarist due to illness – and why it could have sounded very different
“There are better players, better lyricists, better songwriters – but there’s an energy to their combined powers that is hard to rival at the moment”: The best guitar albums of 2024
