
Back in September 2008, Metallica were promoting their ninth album Death Magnetic and doing all the necessary press that came with it. Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson happened to have a radio show on 6 Music in the UK at the time. So, the planets aligned for a meeting of two heavy metal titans, and the Air-Raid Siren sat down with frontman James Hetfield for a candid interview.
The chat (audio of which can be heard below) instantly got heavy: Bruce’s first question for James was about how the death of Metallica’s second bassist, Cliff Burton, in a 1986 bus crash affected the singer/guitarist.