Metallica’s …And Justice For All as a Death Metal Album F*cking Rips

Ever wonder what the world would have been like if Metallica dropped thrash metal all together and ushered in a new age of death metal following the passing of bassist Cliff Burton? That’s the answer that Croatian YouTuber Denis Pauna answers with his latest video, where he completely re-records the classic 1988 album as a death metal album.

As a musician, Pauna’s pretty diverse with his styles, with some of his more popular videos being his “What If…” series where he covers songs as if a different band had written them. For example, we now know what Type O Negative’s version of Metallica’s “The Unforgiven” would have sounded like because of Pauna.

Clocking in at just over an hour, Pauna said his …And Justice For All video was his “longest project by far,” with the idea behind it coming from his many YouTube commenters and Patreon supporters.

“The core of all the songs remained mostly the same as the originals, with subtle changes, but a lot of rhythm parts were re-worked. I wasn’t focusing much on the solos. Only ‘Blackened’ and ‘One’ have one. My aim was to get the aggressive and heavy rhythm followed up by meaty bass, rich drums and occasional melodies.”

Seriously, it’s fucking wild to hear how he adapted something like “Frayed Ends of Sanity,” which is one of the slower tracks on the original album (relatively speaking) and turned it into something even more brutal. Even if you’d have to suspend your disbelief to superhuman levels because there ain’t no fuckin’ way Lars hits that much double bass throughout not just the track, but the whole album.

So if you’re a fan of Metallica, death metal, or think you’d be a fan of both coming together in unholy matrimony, then definitely take a look at this video. And while you’re at it, check out all the other cool shit Pauna’s got on his channel and subscribe. The dude’s got skills.