Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett has opened up about the Batman-inspired riff in the band’s recent track “Shadows Follow.”
“Shadows Follow” released this past April as part of 72 Seasons, Metallica’s 11th and most recent studio album. When the record dropped, fans noticed that a particular riff (which starts at about four minutes and 20 seconds into the song in question) sounded eerily similar to Neal Hefti’s iconic theme song from the 1960s Batman television series starring Adam West. In a new interview with Total Guitar, Hammett confirmed that this was no coincidence.
“That’s really funny, because we called that riff ‘The Batman Riff,’ and I know exactly what you are talking about,” he said.
Metallica’s longtime lead guitarist went on to cite fellow rock legends AC/DC while explaining why the heavy metal band felt capable of referencing Batman in one of their songs. “One thing I noticed from watching AC/DC at Power Trip is that AC/DC are actually a bunch of different bands,” Hammett explained. “AC/DC is a fucking boogie-woogie blues bar band … a rock band … a hard-rock band … a heavy metal band. They are all those types of bands rolled into one. It goes from ‘Baby, please don’t go’ to fuckin’ Back In Black.”
Notably, however, while Hammett co-wrote four of 72 Seasons’ 12 tracks, he is actually not credited as a writer on “Shadows Follow.” Rather, it was lead singer/rhythm guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich who penned the six-minute song. Hetfield and Ulrich — Metallica’s two remaining founding members — are credited writers on the album’s other 11 tracks as well.
Metallica’s pop-culture appeal
Beyond Hammett’s reasoning, it seems only fitting that Metallica would include a nod to a beloved character like DC‘s Dark Knight. After all, the thrash metal pioneers have become increasingly synonymous with mainstream pop culture in recent years.
It was just last year that the title track from Metallica’s beloved 1986 album Master of Puppets experienced a viral resurgence thanks to its inclusion in the fourth season of Netflix’s Stranger Things. Fellow hit Netflix series Wednesday — an Addams Family spin-off — also featured a cello rendition of the band’s 1991 track “Nothing Else Matters.”
Metallica is even getting into the comic book game. Late last year, publisher Vault Comics announced Headshell, an imprint featuring collaborations with musical artists. The lineup includes Metallica alongside the likes of Def Leppard, the Beach Boys, Pete Wentz, and more.
