SEPULTURA's ANDREAS KISSER 'Loves' METALLICA's 'Hardwired' Album

During a brand new interview with Metal Temple magazine, SEPULTURA guitarist Andreas Kisser was asked for his opinion of METALLICA's new album, "Hardwired… To Self-Destruct". He responded (hear audio below): "I love it, man. I think it's the best work they did in a few years. Of course, they took so many years to release an album, but I like this better than 'Death Magnetic'. I think it feels a little more loose. It feels that they are enjoying themselves and they're really writing music with no other stuff in their heads — just really enjoying themselves as musicians and as a band. And it's really great."

He continued: "METALLICA is a fantastic band, man. They still influence so many people. And the way they put out the album — one video clip for each song. It's amazing, you know — so inspiring. And it's great. They deserve everything. They still are the biggest metal band in the world, and they're gonna keep their way for a long time, I guess."

In the January 2014 issue of Guitar World magazine, Kisser spoke about his experience auditioning for METALLICA as James Hetfleld's temporary replacement (on guitar only) while James recovered from being burned onstage back in 1992.

"Phil Rind, the singer and bass player from SACRED REICH, was very good friends with [then-METALLICA bassist] Jason Newsted," Kisser said about how his METALLICA audition came about. "He mentioned my name to Jason, and Jason said, 'Yeah, If you can manage to come to the United States, we're going to be in Denver auditioning different guitar players.' So I bought a ticket right away, and the next day I was going to Denver. I knew all the METALLICA stuff by heart — that's like my school — except the Black Album, which was very new at the time. But I went there and I practiced with them the first day. James wasn't there — only Lars [Ulrich], Kirk [Hammett] and Jason, and I played the songs, and they liked it a lot. Jason was really excited about my playing and they asked me to stay the second day, which were the finals. James was there that day. It was between me and John Marshall [METAL CHURCH guitarist and onetime METALLICA roadie], who had already filled in before when James broke his arm skateboarding."

In the end, METALLICA ended up using Marshall once again, with Hetfield handling lead vocals at all dates while sporting an arm-length bandage.

"Maybe they didn't choose me because I wasn't really ready with the full repertoire," Kisser told Guitar World. "I played many songs with them — 'The Shortest Straw', 'One' and 'Enter Sandman' — but 'The Unforgiven' was kind of hard for me, as was 'Nothing Else Matters'. Plus, I was nervous as well. To walk into a METALLICA practice room... The first time you see everybody there, it was like a dream/nightmare for me. But from there I got to be really good friends with them, especially Jason Newsted. We've met many times after that, and we've done demos together and jammed and stuff, so It was awesome. Even though I didn't get the job, it was an amazing experience for me."