We know when you think of holiday cheer, Metallica is the first thing that comes to mind, so we’re doing a Metallica-themed Advent calendar to help put a little metal up your ass as we make our way to Christmas.
Everyone has that one band. The band you grow up with, the band you’ve listened to millions of times and somehow it still feels as fresh as ever each and every time you put it on.
That band for me is Metallica, and as we wrap up this hellscape of a year, I figured I’d do the deepest dive possible on the greatest rock band of all time (yeah, that’s right) in Advent calendar form because, let’s face it, I’m really not doing anything else this month.
So let’s dive in with 1982’s No Life ‘Til Leather, Metallica’s most widely known demo tape, which contained most of what would eventually become the band’s first album Kill ‘Em All. I had never listened to No Life ‘Til Leather until now, and let tell you, this thing will shred your face clean off. This is the real birth of thrash right here, baby.
While the demo itself certifiably kicks ass (I especially love “Seek & Destroy” – it’s a little less thrash, and a little more hair metal, which is a fun twist on an old favorite), it’s really notable because it features original lead guitarist Dave Mustaine, who was kicked out of Metallica for being a grade-A psychopath.
It’s cool to hear Mustaine shred the solos he originally wrote, which Kirk Hammett would pick up and finish upon entering the band in Mustaine’s place. And while there are plenty of Metallica fans out there who lie awake at night wondering what might have been if Mustaine didn’t get himself banished, it does mean we ended up getting Megadeth too, so it all worked out in the end. Metallica got to become the most successful rock band of all time and Mustaine got to create metal music that feels like you’re constantly being spun around in that high-G centrifuge NASA used to put astronauts in.
Check out No Life ‘Til Leather below in all of its demo glory, and then see if you can snag the cassette of this demo the band released on Record Store Day a few years ago.
Come for the Mustaine magic, stay for James Hetfield’s hair metal vocals.
