<\/p>\n
For the past four decades, James Hetfield has been one of the most influential Heavy Metal musicians in the world, as Metallica has been one of the biggest bands in the genre during that time.<\/p>\n
Throughout his career, he has witnessed the rise of many incredible bands in Heavy Metal and has even helped some of them by taking them on tour. He has shared his opinion on many of those prominent bands, including Ghost<\/a>, led by the Swedish musician Tobias Forge.<\/p>\n What is James Hetfield\u2019s opinion on Ghost<\/p>\n James Hetfield is a huge fan of Ghost since he heard their debut album \u201cOpus Eponymous\u201d, released in 2010. \u201cI\u2019m in their fan club. (Laughs) I had no idea what they looked like until I saw the video. I heard the music first and thought it was very great. Very unique, very melodic and a breath of fresh air for Metal. Reminds me a little bit of the 70s kind of Rock that I liked as well. So yeah, I love the band,\u201d James Hetfield, wearing a shirt of Ghost\u2019s first album, told SVT<\/a> in 2011.<\/p>\n The following year, Metallica<\/a> invited Ghost to be part of the lineup for the first edition of their own festival, Orion Music+. James himself introduced the band on stage, saying they were one of his new favorite bands. When the Swedish band played for the first time in San Francisco back in 2012, James went to their show at a small venue that held only 350 people. \u201cJames came to see us at our first San Francisco show in this tiny venue, which was more like a coffee shop. We stood backstage in our underwear. It probably wasn\u2019t the best way to meet your idol for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued:<\/p>\n \u201cThen he came by after the show. Of course, we were in our underwear again. Come to think of it, I\u2019ve met James many times in my underwear. It\u2019s crazy. The guy is like royalty to us,\u201d a Nameless Ghoul (That\u2019s how the other members of Ghost were called) told Music Radar<\/a> in 2015.<\/p>\n Later on, in 2019, Metallica took Ghost on the road with them across Europe as their opening act. Two years earlier, they had also toured extensively with Iron Maiden. On a day off in Canada, James went to see one of their shows and was filmed air drumming to Ghost\u2019s \u201cCirice\u201d.<\/p>\n James Hetfield played Ghost\u2019s \u201cCirice\u201d during Metallica rehearsal<\/p>\n Metallica have always shared personal footage of the band rehearsing and between songs. Some of the members, like James, are often fooling around with their instruments and playing parts of songs they like. In one particular video from 2018, Hetfield can be seen playing the guitar riff of \u201cCirice\u201d, from Ghost\u2019s acclaimed album \u201cMeliora\u201d (2015).<\/p>\n Tobias Forge, the mastermind behind the band commented about that video, saying: \u201cAwesome. Of course. I guess that\u2019s the ultimate sort of circle. Hetfield, everything he\u2019s done, basically\u2026 He was a very early influence for me and keeps on being one. And going from a childhood hero to now a mentor and friend and colleague, if you will. Then having that sort of\u2026 receive back in the form of that flattery is amazing, of course. That humbles you,\u201d Tobias Forge said in an interview with 93x<\/a> radio in 2023.<\/p>\n In 2021, Metallica invited Ghost to be part of \u201cThe Metallica Blacklist\u201d, a tribute album released to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their acclaimed \u201cBlack Album\u201d. They covered \u201cEnter Sandman\u201d on the record, which also featured other special guests like Miley Cyrus, Elton John, Weezer, PG Roxette, and Juanes.<\/p>\n Tobias has said many times that Hetfield\u2019s support at the beginning of their career was fundamental in helping them gain exposure and be accepted. He also described their relationship as a kind of mentor-and-student dynamic with the Metallica frontman.<\/p>\n Tobias Forge said James Hetfield is one of the best guitarists of all time<\/p>\n Forge is a huge Metallica fan and in his opinion James is one of the guitar players in the world. \u201cJames Hetfield is definitely one of the best guitar players that have walked this earth. Even though I know sort of theoretically how to play \u2018Master of Puppets\u2019, it\u2019s impossible to play downstrokes the way that he does from start to finish for seven minutes (laughs). (It\u2019s) truly mindblowing,\u201d he said in an interview<\/a> (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage). Ghost\u2019s most recent album \u201cSkelet\u00e1\u201d was released in 2025 and it\u2019s being praised as one of their greatest records.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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