When it comes to music, religious dichotomy simply vanishes; it is like a highway to universal peace. But when it comes to Metallica, one can only be too awestruck to string two words together. Ever since 28 October, 1981, this stellar band has wiped out the literal perception of a willy-nilly, oh-so-sweet life and garnered the vision of grunge, although with a touch of melancholy.

Metallica, the most unanimously respected band in American history, came into existence when drummer Lars Ulrich and guitarist/singer James Hetfield got together via Ulrich’s LA Recycler newspaper advertisement. Soon, the two had recruited Hetfield’s friend Ron McGovney to play bass, Dave Mustaine to play lead guitar, and taken the name Metallica after a suggestion from Bay Area metal scene friend Ron Quintana.

In April 1983, Mustaine was replaced by Exodus shredder Kirk Hammett and the boys hit the studio for the first time. The debut album, Kill ‘Em All,was altogether a different genre of rock, with a rather distinct metal riff with “The Four Horsemen”, “Whiplash” and “Seek and Destroy” that were hailed as instant hits. It was then evident that this musical group was to crack the lead till a really, really long time. The band progressed through a lot of changes, delivering hit albums and live shows.The void after Cliff Burton passed away in 1986, their first music video, One topped the charts and brought them unparalleled success.

The music blending perfectly with the standard of Metallica’s philosophy and the dark, monochromatic edge of the video simply blasted apart the metal-heads. Metallica achieved a huge success with the release of their eponymous album, more popularly known as The Black Album in 1991. It went straight to number one all over the world, and didn’t really leave the crown for a couple of years, selling in excess of 16 million copies worldwide, spawning quite a number of legitimate singles, and earning various industry accolades and encomiums, including a Grammy, MTV and American Music Awards. The repercussions were incalculable, considering the still perpetuating hits like “Nothing Else Matters” and “Enter Sandman”.

St.Anger was the first album made at their new HQ studio. Messing all statistics and crossing uncharted straits, Metallica set out to embed their template for decades to come. The music is edgy and natural. The band was awarded the Grammy for Best Metal performance. Released in June 2003, the band excitedly took to the road with new bassist RobertTrujillo (Suicidal Tendencies / Ozzy Osbourne). His hulking yet altruistic demeanour and ferocious finger-plucking style made him the official member of the brethren which continues till date.

The road had already been enjoying more extensive sojourns for most of 2013, with visits to several continents leaving them close to completing shows on all seven as the year drew to a close. Un-played by any band, until 8 December, 2013, the band performed at the Carlini Base under a custombuilt Geo-dome in front of a small group of Coca-Cola contest winners and the community scientists. This made them the first band to play on all seven continents in the same calendar year. The band is currently touring to promote Hardwired… to Self-Destruct, which was released on 18 November 2016. The album received enormous acclaim, both from fans and critics. It was number one in 57 countries and was the third biggest album of 2016 in the US behind only Drake and Beyoncé. It would require a lot of intellectual immunity to place oneself parallel to the nuances of Metallica. Winner of nine Grammys and myriad other awards, inducts in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, band members Hetfield, Hammett, Ulrich and Trujillo have started an odyssey of anguish, only discernible from their music’s epic grandeur. Ex-Assemb