Metallica: 10 Most Brutally Heavy Songs - Ranked
1. Fight Fire With Fire
After Metallica rocked the metal world with Kill Em All, the heat was on to produce another album that could rival their debut. Now that the band was making waves around the world, they needed to hunker down and see if they would be a flash in the pan act or one of the saviors of the metal world. With a slow acoustic build, Metallica didn't so much leave their critics in awe as much as they left them in shambles.
This is the most intense song of Metallica's golden period, with every single instrument dialed up to 1000 in terms of intensity. The riff doesn't seem to be that much on paper, but the furious pace will leave any metal fan in ecstasy. The lyrics are also biblical, as they talk about the destruction of the planet as the gods laugh overhead.
There was always a bit of light in Metallica's music, but the amount of fury on display in this song is up there with Slayer in terms of unhinged metal mayhem. This track even took its toll on their equipment, with the ending of the song featuring noise from the blown out amplifier the band was using.
Right at the start of Ride the Lightning, the future was set for this band to become the new titans of metal.