Kirk Hammett Admits 'Toxic Masculinity Has Fueled' Metallica

2017 Lollapalooza Brazil - Day 1

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There's no question that Metallica is aggressive, but according to Kirk Hammett the band has been fueled by "toxic masculinity."

During a recent interview with The New Yorker, the guitarist admitted that “Toxic masculinity has fuelled this band."

“I’m still sitting around saying, ‘OK, I’m gonna write a really, really tough, kick-a** riff,’" he confessed. "Just look at my rhetoric there: tough, kick-a** riff. It’s an aggression that everyone feels, but it was ratcheted up in us – this weird masculine macho bulls**t thing.”

And that sentiment doesn't only come out in music — Hammett also said his bandmates would often get aggressive with each other. “We would get drunk, and just start in. I remember once James [Hetfield, frontman] got up and pushed Lars [Ulrich, drummer], and Lars literally flew across the room," he recalled. “We would see each other and start wrestling. We could be in a room of twenty people and we’d fixate on each other. No one else mattered.”

Metallica are prepping their 12th studio album 72 Seasons, which is slated for an April 14, 2023 release. A couple weeks later they plan to embark on a massive world tour that will see them on the road through 2024.


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