‘They Were the Architects of What We Now as Heavy Metal’: Kirk Hammett Gives Shoutout to One of Metallica’s Greatest Inspos

“Their music means so much to us.”

'They Were the Architects of What We Now as Heavy Metal': Kirk Hammett Gives Shoutout to One of Metallica's Greatest Inspos

Kirk Hammett waxed euphoric about Metallica’s love for Judas Priest, saying how he and his bandmates were “worshipping at the altar” of Priest.Back in the early ’80s, Metallica, alongside Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax and other future thrash metal greats began re-writing the rulebook of heavy metal, producing what is arguably the genre’s most widely popular — and most enduring — offshoot. However, the thrash greats never lost respect for those who came before them, and who laid down the foundation new generations kept building upon.

Known for not sparing words when paying homage is due, members of Metallica repeatedly sang praises of Judas Priest as one such pioneer who paved the way for them, and Kirk Hammett recently described the legendary British band as “the architects” of what Metallica does for a living. Speaking at a Q&A during the “Metallica: The Black Album in Black & White” book signing event which took place on May 25 at Alte Kongresshalle in Munich, Germany, Kirk said (transcription via Blabbermouth):

“We were worshipping at the altar of Judas Priest. Their music means so much to us. And the way Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing played the guitars — I mean, they are architects of what we now know as heavy metal, to put it bluntly. And James and I, we love Priest.”

Metallica’s love of Judas Priest was on full display during the most recent Power Trip festival, when a video clip of James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett fanboying during Priest’s performance went viral on the internet. Reflecting on the experience, Kirk went on:

“We don’t really get a chance to see bands, a lot of times, when we’re playing a huge festival or something because we’re always backstage doing press or getting ready for the show or rehearsing or whatever. So when we did Power Trip, we got there early — a few days early — just so that we could see all the other bands. And it was great — the anticipation of seeing [Iron] Maiden, Priest, AC/DC [and] Guns N’ Roses, and actually seeing them. It was a wonderful time.”

Robert Trujillo added:

“And it was kind of a trip because on the final day [of the Power Trip festival], it was, like, ‘Oh, that’s right. We have to play [now].'”

Back in January, Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner praised Metallica for openly expressing their admiration for their colleagues, notihg how “it’s great that they haven’t lost that passion for the bands that they love”:

“Metallica is — again, I talk about bringing people in. They’ve kind of crossed over into the mainstream, in a way that no other metal band has, I think. They bring metal to the masses on a massive scale, and you can only look to them for inspiration. Like, how they do things and how they handle, not their music, but the band, what they do in terms of production and how they do things video-wise, and they’ve always been ahead of the curve.”