Lars Ulrich has been closely associated with the heavy metal genre for many years. Ulrich’s love of all things heavy has led him to make progress for every band he idolizes, even though he may not have the most impressive background behind the drum kit for Metallica. He even gave a passionate speech for his idol Deep Purple at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Ulrich believed that one band stands apart as the epitome of the genre, superior to all other heavy rock acts that came before him.
Lars Ulrich moved to California from Denmark when he was still figuring out what kind of music he liked. After arriving in America, he experienced a cultural shock upon hearing English-language heavy metal bands like Saxon and Diamond Head. These bands quickly won him over to the world of heavy metal.
In an attempt to bring together a metal band, Ulrich contacted many people. Through these contacts, he met James Hetfield, the core member of Metallica. While the two first jammed together, heavy metal was still a relatively new genre in the late 1970s.
Following the British blues explosion, a lot of bands tried to create songs that were more intense than their predecessors. One could also argue that Led Zeppelin was the first true heavy metal band, drawing inspiration from Cream and Jimi Hendrix. They played songs at extreme volume levels without sacrificing a strong sense of melody.
Zeppelin may not have been a perfect fit for the metal subculture. However, other American psychedelic acts like Blue Cheer and the MC5 were also pushing rock toward darker genres. Four men from Birmingham were about to upend the rock world. This stood in stark contrast to the hippy movements dominating the charts every day.
Black Sabbath, with Tony Iommi’s angry guitar riffs and Ozzy Osbourne’s terrifying howl, helped define the dark sound of heavy metal. The band channeled the fear of horror films and the soulfulness of the blues, creating a unique and powerful sound. Even though Ulrich had grown up listening to Judas Priest, he was aware that Sabbath was the band that best embodied heavy metal.
Ulrich recognized Black Sabbath for popularizing dark music in his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction speech. Ulrich passionately declared, “Black Sabbath is and always will be synonymous with the term heavy metal.” No matter how you fucking cut and dice it, “Black Sabbath” will always loom large in the background, vying for top billing. Black Sabbath’s music casts a long shadow over the heavy metal genre, making it almost synonymous on any given day.
Even though Metallica created their masterpieces by accelerating Sabbath songs to punk levels, their riffs still borrow from Sabbath’s legacy. James Hetfield uses Tony Iommi’s signature guitar tone in songs like “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” Even the main guitar lick bears a resemblance to the song “Fairies Wear Boots.” Ulrich emphasized that a metal band failing to borrow from Sabbath’s lyrics isn’t honoring the genre properly.
