After missing out on the writing process for Metallica’s latest album, 2016’s ‘Hardwired… To Self-Destruct’, guitarist Kirk Hammett took the opportunity to dish it all out on his first solo project, the first single being the instrumental track ‘High Plains Drifter’.

The start of the song might shock Metallica fans. Mind you, the metal group has never shied away from softer songs, even ballads, but the band is most notorious for the heavier, rock and metal tracks. An acoustic guitar strumming distanced chords, tremolo strings, a piano, light percussion, and a melody played by a classical guitar, cello, and soft horns all played in unison give the soundscape for the first half of the track. There’s something almost fantasy-like about the instrumentation, an edge of that Celtic inspiration that is so dominant in fantasy music. The orchestration is done beautifully, sounding very minimal in production but extremely full in harmony. The section is then bridged by the perfect medium between that slow, beautiful intro with an edgier, power-chord driven section that begins to introduce drums into the mix. The section eventually evolves to utilizing full on electric guitars taking on both the rhythm and melody of ‘High Plains Drifter’, building off that mysterious-sounding bridge that introduced it. The drums come in full fledge as well, sounding very clear, sitting in the back providing the track’s backbone without taking up too much of the space. That is left for the guitar, especially by the end where Kirk wails into a face-melting guitar solo. Still, the instrumentation in the back is hypnotizingly well-done, and matches the quality of the metal veteran’s guitar-playing. The song comes back to the more acoustic nature of its introduction, and the song ends.

‘High Plains Drifter’ is an absolutely killer song, and one of the best pieces of music Kirk Hammett has written in a long time. There’s something reminiscent of songs like ‘No Leaf Clover’, when Metallica took it to the symphony hall to perform their classic, as well as new material such as the aforementioned song. It’ll make any Metallica fan reassured of the band’s future, now that the guitarist has promised to involve himself the most he can in their next project.

Author: Nicholas Gaudet

Music producer and writer from Dieppe, Canada.