Ghost’s Tobias Forge says he has to pinch himself when he thinks about working with Metallica.
The Swedish rock band recorded their cover of ‘Enter Sandman’ for James Hetfield and co’s ‘The Black Album’ 30th-anniversary compilation, ‘The Metallica Blacklist’, and has previously supported the iconic Thrash metallers on tour.
And the frontman has admitted his younger self would think it was so “f****** cool” that he’s worked with his idols.
Speaking to the latest issue of Metal Hammer magazine, he said: “I have moments when I’ve been on tour with them, or worked with them, where the older, slightly more blasé version of myself gets a little tap on the shoulder from my younger self: ‘This is f****** cool!’
“My older brother was a Metallica fan, so they were always present when I was growing up. I actually had a poster from Metal Hammer on my wall – it had the ‘Jump In The Fire’ demon on it, but with a ‘Master Of Puppets’-era picture.”
Although Metallica asked every artist featured on the epic 53-song LP – which also features the likes of Miley Cyrus, Biffy Clyro, St. Vincent, and Chris Stapleton – to choose their own track to cover from the iconic 1991 record, it was a no-brainer that they would do ‘Enter Sandman’.
The 40-year-old rocker added: “We’d been asked to play ‘Enter Sandman’ when Metallica were at [Swedish awards ceremony] The Polar Prize a few years back.
“We said, ‘Can we choose which song?’ They said, ‘Well, you can choose, but we really want you to do ‘Enter Sandman’. If you’re going to open the show, we want you to play their biggest song.’ So when talk of this record came about, it made sense.
“Like most people, ‘Enter Sandman’ was the first thing I heard [of Metallica]. As soon as it came on MTV or the radio, I would just stop: ‘Here comes this song again.’ It was unique and powerful and just very rocking.”