10 Heaviest Metallica Songs
7. The Four Horsemen
As Metallica went from strength to strength with each record, the band's material went from tight controlled bursts of thrash metal to sonic journeys of metal glory. When the band were still just trying to find their groove on their debut record, "The Four Horsemen" is the beginning of what would become Metallica's epics.
Standing at a whopping 7 minutes, the song lives up to its length with a relentless musical gallop as the guitars mimic the stomping sound of hooves across a field. The song tells of the spirits of the apocalypse coming to conquer the world, with the music serving to detail the journey as they pillage through the land. James Hetfield's riffs are arranged beautifully as they are able to switch between relentless dexterity, brutal force, and melodic interludes on a dime.
Adding to the sonic foundation, bassist Cliff Burton plays with the melody by lifting the track with his musical counterpoint to James's riffs. Burton's performance on these songs were the best examples of him turning his four-stringed beast into another lead melodic instrument.
This song may seem a bit tame when it comes to some of the others in Metallica's catalog, but this song was where the band's sonic scope was brought into focus for the first time.