Due to the headline-generating feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar, diss tracks had been a scorching matter in mid-2024. Then again, the type of attacking any individual by way of the medium of track isn’t reserved completely for hip-hop. Sure metalheads know this as a result of, in 2010, anarcho-punks Chumbawamba, well-known for his or her ruin hit 1997 primary unmarried Tubthumping, used track to take pictures at one of the most figureheads of heavy track: Metallica singer/guitarist James Hetfield.
The groundwork for the British band’s sonic takedown in opposition to Papa Het was once laid two years prior. In 2008, the musician answered to information reviews that his band’s track, particularly mainstream megahit Input Sandman, have been used to torture inmates in Guantanamo Bay.
Hetfield expressed combined feelings at the matter, telling German TV station 3SAT (according to Blabbermouth): “A part of me is proud as a result of they selected Metallica. […] It’s robust; it’s track that’s robust. It represents one thing that they do not like – perhaps freedom, aggression… I don’t know… freedom of speech.”
Then again, the frontman persisted: “After which a part of me is more or less bummed about it that folks concern about us being hooked up to a couple political remark as a result of that. We’ve were given not anything to do with this and we are looking to be as apolitical as conceivable, ’reason I believe politics and track, a minimum of for us, don’t combine. It separates folks, [and] we wanna carry folks in combination.”
Since Hetfield made the feedback, it’s been reported that Metallica privately requested the USA govt to prevent the use of their track in Guantanamo Bay, and the activity of sonically distressing prisoners was once transferred to Christian steel collective Demon Hunter. Nevertheless, what Het mentioned about his half-pride in Metallica’s track being utilized in this type of method was once sufficient for Chumbawamba to take understand.
In reaction, the Brits wrote Torturing James Hetfield: a lounge-pop quantity that belies its laidback musicianship with farcical and brutal lyrics. The band weave a story about, smartly… torturing James Hetfield, opening with the traces: “Neatly, we were given James Hetfield, and we tied him up tight.” They then proceed their imagined torture of the Metallica guy with the refrain: “James, James, James – simply give us names, names, names.”
Potshots in opposition to Chumbawamba’s personal track then sneak their method into the second one verse: “Now glance what we’ve introduced for you James, your favorite disc. It’s Chumbawamba, their biggest hits (there’s just one). Became up the quantity, you will have to’ve heard him sing (oh how he sings). He cried like a child and instructed us the whole thing (it was once Lars!).”
Whether or not Papa Het ever even heard Chumbawamba’s comedian clapback is unclear, however Metallica definitely didn’t retaliate with a song of their very own. The United Kingdom band haven’t launched a report for the reason that one that includes Torturing James Hetfield (entitled ABCDEFG). In the meantime, the California thrashers are nonetheless very a lot lively, traveling Europe sooner than heading to North and Central The usa in August.
Jun 14: Copenhagen Parken Stadium, Denmark
Jun 16: Copenhagen Parken Stadium, Denmark
Jun 26: Oslo Lots Of Rock Pageant, Norway
Jun 29: Clisson Hellfest, France
Jul 05: Warsaw PGE Narodowy, Poland
Jul 07: Warsaw PGE Narodowy, Poland
Jul 12: Madrid Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano, Spain
Jul 14: Madrid Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano, Spain
Aug 02: Foxborough Gillette Stadium, MA, USA
Aug 04: Foxborough Gillette Stadium, MA, USA
Aug 09: Chicago Soldier Box, IL, USA
Aug 11: Chicago Soldier Box, IL, USA
Aug 16: Minneapolis US Financial institution Stadium, MN, USA
Aug 18: Minneapolis US Financial institution Stadium, MN, USA
Aug 23: Edmonton Commonwealth Stadium, Canada
Aug 25: Edmonton Commonwealth Stadium, Canada
Aug 30: Seattle Lumen Box, WA, USA
Sep 01: Seattle Lumen Box, WA, USA
Sep 20: Mexico Town Foro Sol, Mexico
Sep 22: Mexico Town Foro Sol, Mexico
Sep 27: Mexico Town Foro Sol, Mexico
Sep 29: Mexico Town Foro Sol, Mexico
