6) The little stutter-step fills and snare rolls in “Damage Inc.” add a noticeable amount of warmth and soul to a song which, because of its tempo and pace, could have turned out a lot more cold and clinical sounding than it did. And that little off-time bit at the end rules!
7) “Escape” is an oft-forgotten number of the Metallica song library. It’s not a bad song, but is admittedly the one time during the band’s early incarnation in which they made a conscious attempt to write a commercial/radio-friendly piece. Whatever. The fills that close each line of the main verse are potent and powerful, like cannonballs being shot out of a Tommy Gun. Fucking chest-caving awesomeness!
8) “Dyers Eve.” The whole frickin’ thing rules. End of story.
9) The kick patterns in “The Shortest Straw” were something I immediately cottoned on to back when I first spun Justice on August 25th, 1988, the day it was originally released. Those varying patterns have always been a personal favourite from Lars’ arsenal and, as mentioned above in “Blackened,” indicative of him displaying the sort of shit that gives drum magazine editors and transcribers high hard ones, but is done with restraint and in the context of a solid song.
10) “The Prince” is a bit of a wildcard and the reason for it being on this list isn’t exactly air-tight, but whatever; by now most of you are probably thinking we’re either completely bat-shit insane or are checking your calendar to see if it’s April 1st anyway. The original release of this Diamond Head cover was the B-side to the Harvester of Sorrow 12” and was purportedly an un-mastered version of the song. It definitely sounds raw as fuck and demonstrates why I’ve always thought of Metallica as not only a great metal band, but probably the best cover band to ever walk the face of the planet. Anyway, there are all manner of killer Ulrich-ian bits and bobs all over this version: the quick hit snare after the first solo; the kick pattern in the verses; the dead stops; the hi-hat/kick/snare dance coming out of the choruses; the double-bass in the first bridge; and there’s a part in the third verse where it sounds like he covers up a moment of indecisiveness (read: fuck up) with four super-hard snare hits. Ultimately, however, “The Prince” shows the band, and their drummer, in jamming mode which is arguably where you hear just how creative Lars can be. So there. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Vatnett Viskar is presently on tour with Tombs and Pallbearer. Here are the remaining dates:
11/07 – Austin, TX @ Fun Fun Fun Fest**
11/08 – Austin, TX @ Fun Fun Fun Fest NITES @ Elysium***
11/09 – Dallas, TX @ Three Links
Fellow Lars lovers, feel free to come out and shoot the shit.
