Kirk Hammett reveals that Metallica snuck ‘Batman’ theme into riff

Metallica‘s Kirk Hammett has revealed that the band snuck the Batman theme song into the riff of one of their tracks.

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The song ‘Shadow Follows’ which appears on Metallica’s 11th album ’72 Seasons’ features a riff that happens about four minutes and 20 seconds in, which refers to the theme of the 1960s Batman TV show. The riff was nicknamed “The Batman Riff” during the production of the track.

In an interview with Total Guitar, in which Hammett was asked about the superhero reference, the guitarist said: “That’s really funny, because we called that riff ‘The Batman Riff’, and I know exactly what you are talking about.”

Fans had been speculating about the similarities between the riff and the signature Batman sound online, with many taking to Reddit to see if anyone heard the similarities. “Yes! I immediately heard it and it honestly took me out of the song for a second,” said one reply.

“Man, I laughed my ass off at that part the first time I listened to the song,” wrote another. “Great track overall.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Hammett shared his opinion that to most listeners, guitar solos aren’t that memorable. The guitarist was criticised by fans over his solo in the album’s first single, ‘Lux Æterna’.

“I hate to say it for all your readers out there, but non-musicians, who are the majority of the fucking listening world, they are not going to remember guitar solos,” he said.

He continued: “They are gonna helluva remember a great melody, and they’re really gonna remember a great song – especially a song that’s gonna bring them to a different place from where they were five minutes previously.”

In other news, Metallica recently played their first ever show in Saudi Arabia on December 14.

When it was announced on November 27, Metallica’s performance was billed as the first ever show from a major international heavy metal act in the country, but technical death metal band Cryptopsy got there first when they played in Riyadh on December 1.