Metallica Show What ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ Sounded Like in Pre-Production
Metallica on Tuesday (July 27) uncovered the latest of the rare Black Album gems the band has been doling out weekly ahead of the Sept. 10 release of a remastered and expanded reissue of their watershed 1991 effort. This time around, it’s a pre-production rehearsal recording of the album’s “Don’t Tread on Me.”
Just like another previously unreleased rehearsal take the metal legends recently revealed, the work-in-progress “Don’t Tread on Me” shows what the song sounded like in its early stages, before the group captured The Black Album in the recording studio starting in October 1990. It’s also similarly devoid of Metallica singer James Hetfield’s lead vocals, which may have not yet been completed.
Listen to the track toward the bottom of this post.
A tribute set called The Metallica Blacklist will emerge alongside the Black Album reissue. It boasts Metallica covers by over 50 artists, including Ghost, Weezer, Miley Cyrus, St. Vincent, Juanes and more.
Metallica have also shared a live “Wherever I May Roam,” a rough “The Unforgiven,” an alternate “Sad But True” and a rehearsal of “Holier Than Thou” as further excerpts from the expanded parent album.
A Metallica black-and-white photo book arrives in October. Jigsaw puzzles for Metallica’s three latest studio albums also come out this fall. Metallica and many of their metal contemporaries are currently leading a rock and metal surge in album sales.
Check out the various pre-order packages for the upcoming Black Album reissue here. Listeners can do the same thing for The Metallica Blacklist by going here.