Rare: Metallica Play ‘Am I Evil’ With Diamond Head’s Brian Tatler

At their headlining set at the Tons of Rock Festival in Oslo, Norway, Metallica welcomed Diamond Head founder Brian Tatler to the stage for their cover of “Am I Evil?,” which they last performed in 2022.

Since 2023, Tatler has been a member of NWOBHM icons Saxon, who were among the 12 total bands that played on the first day of the annual festival. Obviously Metallica seized the opportunity and treated fans to a rare and special moment.

Metallica have only played “Am I Evil?” 11 times since it was a regular part of the set in 2011, so the performance alone was a bit of a rarity, much less getting the man who wrote the original song onstage with them.

Tatler had joined Metallica onstage at least two times prior — at the Big 4 show in Bulgaria in 2010 where he and all four groups played the cover song together, and in again in 2011 in the U.K. with some returning familiar faces onstage.

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The cover came ninth in the metal legends’ 15-song festival set, which kicked off with “Whiplash” and concluded with “Master of Puppets.”

Watch fan-filmed footage of Metallica with Tatler directly below and view the setlist from the Tons of Rock Festival further down the page.

Metallica, “Am I Evil” (Diamond Head cover with Brian Tatler)

Metallica first covered Diamond Head’s Lightning to the Nations track as a B-side on the 1984 “Creeping Death” single. It has been released on subsequent live albums, compilations and covers albums as well. And, because of Metallica’s staggering album sales, the royalties have made Tatler quite a lot of money over the decades — enough for him to live off of.

“I was very flattered that Metallica had covered one of my songs and was very impressed with how accurate they had worked out the song and arrangement even in the guitar solo,” Tatler told Loudwire in a 2018 interview. “It was a very faithful cover, but tougher sounding and a more aggressive vocal. It’s since been featured on 18 different Metallica releases.”

Metallica Setlist — Tons of Rock Festival (June 26, 2024)

01. “Whiplash”
02. “Creeping Death”
03. “For Whom the Bell Tolls”
04. “Enter Sandman”
05. “72 Seasons”
06. “If Darkness Had a Son” (followed by “Vill, vakker & våt” Kirk & Rob’s doodle)
07. “Fade to Black”
08. “Shadows Follow”
09. “Am I Evil? (Diamond Head cover with Brian Tatler)
10. “Nothing Else Matters”
11. “Sad but True”
12. “Lux Æterna”
13. “Seek & Destroy”
14. “One”
15. “Master of Puppets”

via setlist.fm