COLUMBUS — “So let it be written, so let it be done.” That quote from the 1956 film, The Ten Commandments, was a perfect kickoff to Metallica’s headlining show as it opened with Creeping Death from the album Ride the Lightning.
That verse was in the chorus.
The second day of Sonic Temple Music and Arts Festival aimed to have an even heavier and more metal lineup than any other music event in America this year.
In just the first three hours on Friday, there was the grindcore gurgling power of Peeling Flesh, thrashcore ballads from ‘Converge‘ and classic metal ballads from the legends of Exodus and Testament. Lest we forget the black metal backup from Deafheaven and even a little punk from ‘Suicidal Tendencies.’
“I’m not crazy (institutionalized), you’re the one that’s crazy (institutionalized), you’re driving me crazy (institutionalized)!” Poor Mike just wanted a Pepsi.
The other two giant acts were Alice Cooper, who played all the ‘Schools out for Summer’ ‘hits and Rob Zombie, who mixed in a little White Zombie from the ‘90s.
Appeasing the old school metal gods, Metallica’s second song was Harvester of Sorrow off ‘And Justice for All’ and from the top row in the bleachers, you could see mosh pits opening up at random all across the stadium floor.
“That was a little too heavy … I’m sorry,” James Hetfield told the crowd, enticing them to jeer boo and scream.
When there were 11 studio albums from a date range of 1983 to 2023, encompassing 140 original tracks, you’d have to describe the band in terms of eras, decades and sound.
After two cuts from the early albums, Metallica went with a more metal jam-band approach, endless guitar riffs and breakdowns — extending the life of each song so the fans really got that live and unique experience.
Over the years, “We toured and destroyed a lot of hotels,” Hetfield said right before the band blasted out King Nothing from the 1997 album, ‘Load.’
For the early Metallica adopters, there were four classic albums in: ‘Kill ‘Em All’ (‘83), ‘Ride the Lightning’ (‘84), ‘Master of Puppets’ (‘86 and their best record of all time) and ‘And Justice for All’ (‘88). Followed by the ‘Black Album’ in 1991 that brought American metal music to the mainstream and became the track for every high school football warm up tape.
So for some, ‘Load,’ which debuted in ‘96, was thought of as new Metallica, but here in 2025, that is very much part of the early days of the band.
“Metallica has been together for … around 225 years,” Hetfield joked between songs. “How many of you out there, this is your first Metallica experience?”
The majority of the crowd, packed into the Historic Crew Stadium soccer complex, raised their hands. And their virgin ears were in for a true immersive experience when they rolled right into, Sad But True.
My next door neighbor back in the ‘90s used to sing the chorus of that song as, Sad Pa-trol, like there was a paddy wagon going around on patrol finding people who were sad.
An element often overlooked in metal music is the classic guitar foundations laced through the tracks. When Battery began, it was hard to know if you were listening to classical guitar in the Spanish highlands in the 1700s, or were at the hardest metal show in America.
Kirt Hammett’s tunes switched to thrash after the opening and the crowd engulfed itself in passion and energy release. It should be noted that over an hour into the set there were no fancy pyrotechnics or giant puppet monsters, just a band, fast music and a crowd there to take it all in.
(Check out Zac Hiser’s people-centric photo gallery from Friday)
Even the monster ballad of Nothing Else Matters, cast in a dark setting with just cell phone lights in the crowd, turned into a massive campfire sing-along.
But it is Metallica after all, so when Fuel started and Hetfield sang, “Give me fuel, give me fire, give me that which I desire, ooh!” the stage seem to incinerate itself under gulfs of flames.
They went back to Kill ‘Em All with Seek and Destroy, but the wastoids in my section, lost in a cloud of blunt smoke, weren’t sure if it was search and destroy or seek and destroy and I guess they pretty much mean the same.
Tens of massive, car-sized beach balls were inflated backstage and thrown into the crowd in a Dali-esque art exhibit, playing on the rainbow-colored inflatables that bobbed around Lollapalooza and similar fests in the ‘90s.
Metallica couldn’t have wrapped the night with a better song than Master of Puppets, and the metal bleachers shook as the whole audience pounded and screamed, Master! Master!
