“Bob Rock said, ‘OK, tune up, and we’ll do the rhythm for this song now.’ I was like, ‘What?’” Kirk Hammett didn’t play rhythm guitar on Metallica's first five albums. That all changed with 1996’s controversial Load

Metallica, portrait, Berlin, Germany, 9th October 1996.

Metallica’s Load came after a period of intense reflection for the metal icons.

Following years of heavy touring between 1991 and 1993, all members broke off to explore influences outside heavy metal and the music realm, with the dynamic guitar duo of James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett taking a deep dive into hunting (for Hetfield) – and film, jazz, and Asian arts (for Hammett).