Killswitch Guitarist Shares Opinion on ‘Scooped’ Sound of Metallica’s ‘Justice,’ Talks How He Feels About ’80s Bands Like Def Leppard & Poison

Adam D. also discusses his problem talking to girls.

During an appearance on The NFR Podcast, Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam D. talked about Metallica, the ’80s, girls, and more.You can check out the latest KSE album “Atonement” here via Amazon.

When asked, “What’s the first Metallica song you learned?”, Adam replied (transcribed by UG):

“‘Justice’ just came out [in 1988], so I was like, I remember hearing, sonically, that record for the first time, being like, ‘Holy shit!’

“Now I can say it’s ‘scooped,’ but I was just like, ‘That’s so fucking balls tight and heavy, oh my god!’ It blew my mind, because, like, ‘Puppets’ didn’t sound that scooped.

“The kick drum on ‘Justice,’ tick-tick-tick, it got more tick than a clock, man. It’s like, ‘Holy crap, this is insanely sick!’

“So I think I started learning ‘Blackened,’ ‘…And Justice for All,’ going through that record – love the riffs.

“I know this is kind of strange I said that, but that could be my favorite Metallica record just because of the impact that it had on my life at the time. I know, it’s a crazy thing to say but ‘Frayed Ends of Sanity,’ dude…

“After the guitar section with all the harmonies, those fucking riffs are undeniably perfect – just badass. It doesn’t get any better, I love that shit.

“That’s right there, that’s the soundtrack of me learning how to down-pick – that and ‘Puppets.'”

Check out Metallica’s remastered “…And Justice for All” here via Amazon.

At that point, you then go, ‘OK, I want to listen to ‘Kill ‘Em All,’ I want to listen to ‘Ride the Lightning…’

“Yeah, absolutely. I was already listening to ‘Puppets’ at that point, but yeah, then I was just like, ‘This band is the sickest thing ever, I need to get all I can.'”

Elsewhere in the interview, Adam was asked for his thoughts on ’80s glam acts. He replied:

“I love the ’80s, man. I love Def Leppard – that’s like classic rock, though. ‘Pyromania,’ oh man, that record’s great from start to finish.

“I listen to some Poison, I listen to some Cinderella. Tom Keifer’s voice, wow, nobody sounds like Tom Keifer, man, he’s insane.”

How old were you when you got laid? Is it because you were in a band too?

“No, it wasn’t at all. It was my high-school girlfriend. I have no real game, man, there’s no game. [Laughs]

“Because talking to girls is hard, it’s difficult, you know? ‘So, you like metal…? You like beer…? No…? OK…’ [Laughs]

“I don’t know, man, that’s as far as I go. if you don’t like metal, beer, and sports – and music in general, what in hell are we going to talk about?

“Like, ‘Your purse is nice, OK, that’s great.’ I like having something in common with the girl, that’s really nice.”

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