In a new interview with Kerrang!, Avenged Sevenfold’s M. Shadows shared his thoughts about Metallica. When the topic switched to age and their joint 2008 tour, the frontman mentioned the members’ age and said the following:
“I think Metallica have aged really well. I think they look like dudes who are out there doing what they want to do. Maybe a few years ago it looked a little bit more …forced, but they were going through growing pains.”
In Shadows’ words, things have changed and now both James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich are ‘aging dudes’:
“But now you see them and it’s James smoking a cigar before he goes onstage. Lars is Lars. They’re not trying to fill up their faces with Botox. They’re just guys who are ageing dudes who are playing thrash. I think there’s something really human and cool about that.”
Shadows’ Thoughts On His Tour With Metallica
In April 2023, M. Shadows talked about his band’s experience touring the U.S. with Metallica seven years ago. He chatted with Jason Bailey on Audacy Check In and mentioned the challenges he faced during the tour:
“Well, that was definitely a little more uncomfortable, because you’re not in your setting and you’re in the daylight and you don’t have your toys with you and you’re playing a quick set. And you’re the opening band. So it’s a different thing. Because when you’re headlining, everybody’s in the palm of your hand before it even happens. When you’re opening for Metallica and the place is sort of like slowly filling up, half the venue’s full, you’re in the daylight getting hit by the sun, so you almost have to go to war. You might have some people in the pit that are into this, but there’s a lot of skeptical arms crossed, like, ‘I don’t like these new bands. I don’t want anything to do with this. I’m waiting for the real metal gods to show up.’ And so it’s really a lot more feeling like you’re going to war.”
Is Metallica Retiring Soon?
In April last year, Ulrich confessed that retirement isn’t on his or his bandmates’ radar at all. He mentioned that the band is putting in work to stay healthy to make sure that they still have some more time. But he hinted that eventually, age might catch up with them:
“It’s not something we’ve talked a lot about, no. I think most of the energy and resources go into trying to stay healthy, stay cohesive, stay functioning. As I get older, I spend more and more of my time on my daily workouts, on my cardio, on my strength training. I’m chained to my Peloton hours a day. It’s all about trying to stay healthy: eating healthy, living healthy, whatever it is each of us need to bring to the table.”