GHOST's TOBIAS FORGE Says METALLICA's 'The Thing That Should Not Be' Has Been 'A Huge Inspiration' For Him For Over 30 Years

In celebration of the 30th anniversary of METALLICA's "Black Album" and the upcoming "The Metallica Blacklist" 53-song covers album, GHOST, Juanes and RODRIGO Y GABRIELA have curated exclusive Apple Music playlists showcasing their love for METALLICA as well as tracks from other beloved rock icons.

GHOST frontghoul Tobias Forge includes METALLICA's "The Thing That Should Not Be" on his playlist and tells Apple Music: "This is one of METALLICA's darker songs, almost more in line with death metal… Definitely not the norm if you listen to the catalog. It's slightly different in tonality, which makes it stand out and makes it super heavy and evil. Very Lovecraftian lyrics. This song has been a huge inspiration of mine for over 30 years." Forge also includes cuts from SLAYER, MORBID ANGEL, VOIVOD, DEAD BOYS, BAD RELIGION and more.

In a 2019 interview with Impericon, Forge said that METALLICA is "one of the most important bands for me — has been for a long time. Definitely a band without whom I probably wouldn't do these things," he said. "I wanted to be a rock musician before I knew, or before I was enamored with METALLICA, but they definitely inspired me. When I was a kid and liked THE ROLLING STONES and PINK FLOYD and Jimi Hendrix and all that, they were clearly from another time doing something that sort of belonged to the past, whereas METALLICA, when I started listening to them, they were very much current and they were very now. They were the biggest band in the world at that time, and still are. But they inspired me in many, many ways. And nowadays, of course, I get the amazing opportunity to be inspired and be taught, firsthand, by a band that I've spent so many years learning from from a distance."

"'Master Of Puppets' changed my life forever," Colombian singer/songwriter Juanes tells Apple Music. "Without a doubt, it's one of the most important albums for me and one of the most influential in my life. I remember how the city smelled in those days, I remember what I was thinking, I remember my METALLICA T-shirts, I remember the photos I had in my room of the whole band. I remember wanting to practice to sound equal or better than them. It was an obsession, and it still is to this day, fortunately." Juanes's exclusive playlist for Apple Music shows off not just his love for METALLICA, but contemporaries like SLAYER, TESTAMENT, SEPULTURA and ANTHRAX, as well as forebears like LED ZEPPELIN and BLACK SABBATH.

"Our musical lives can be basically defined as BM and AM: Before METALLICA and After METALLICA," Rodrigo Sanchez of virtuosic acoustic guitar duo RODRIGO Y GABRIELA tells Apple Music. "We grew up listening to and loving classic rock in Mexico City, but everything changed for us when we first heard 'Master Of Puppets'. That album was, and remains, a huge influence for us. It set us on our musical path." Their exclusive playlist thighlights that album's "Battery", as well as tracks from other beloved metal and classic rock icons.

Stream all three playlists below, and for all things METALLICA on Apple Music, go to this location.