Kirk Hammett: Heavy Metal Didn’t Start with Metallica, It Started with Judas Priest
There’s been some talk back and forth, as there tends to be from time to time, about who or what exactly spawned this festering thing we call heavy metal. There are so many potential progenitors and so many movements that may have inspired the whole thing, but recently drummer Carmine Appice gave his two cents (as he’s wont to do) and suggested metal doesn’t start until Metallica comes around.
Rightfully, people all over have scoffed at the notion, mentioning all the other bands that came out before Metallica‘s creation in 1981 — bands like Black Sabbath, Mercyful Fate, Deep Purple… the list goes on. Yet during a recent Q&A session at the Metallica: The Black Album in Black & White signing at Alte Kongresshalle in Munich, Germany on May 25, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett offered his own suggestion — metal is what it is today because of Judas fucking Priest.
The conversation came up as he, along with bassist Robert Trujillo and photographer Ross Halfin were talking about a photo that showed Hammett and frontman James Hetfield jamming out during Judas Priest’s set at the Power Trip festival last October. In the photo, the two look just like any one of us at a Priest concert, air guitars in hand and singing along to every word. That, Kirk said, is why he says the iconic British metal band are the “architects of… heavy metal.”
“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.
“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.”
To be clear, Appice’s comments happened after Hammett’s. Still, it’s interesting to see how the conversation can reach different conclusions depending on who you ask.
Regardless of whoever “invented” heavy metal, it should go without saying that its creation and advancement over the years wouldn’t be possible without everyone listening, playing, touring, and blasting the ever-living shit out of it.
