Metallica’s Hetfield: I Wish I Could Play Guitar Like Kirk, But I Can’t, He’s Amazing

James says Mr. Hammett has a rather “bombastic” style.

Metallica frontman James Hetfield praised his bandmate Kirk Hammett, saying he can only wish to play guitar the way Kirk does.

Explaining how his playing style is very percussive and rhythmic, James was asked by Newsweek on how it all blends in with Hammett.

“Kirk’s an amazing lead player with a great lead sound,” he replied. “And I wish I could play like him, but I can’t. So I become the best rhythm player I can.

“And being the singer, I love melody. Michael Schenker is probably one of my favorite guitar players as far as melody goes.

All of the kind of dual harmony things are things that I do in the studio, and Kirk comes in and does the solo stuff.

“I think I’m a little more subtle than him. He’s pretty bombastic when he comes in with a sound. In rehearsals, it’s like,

‘Do you notice that you’re really, really loud?’ And he doesn’t. He just loves noises, exploring noises. It is a great combo.”

During the rest of the chat, Het also discussed Kirk’s phone incident, saying: “Well, there could have been some really good riffs on there – maybe, maybe not. There were some riffs that Kirk contributed. They just did or didn’t make the heavy metal 40-year ear – we know if there’s a good riff!”