Metallica share footage of ‘The Unforgiven’ from first-ever concert in Saudi Arabia

Metallica have released footage of ‘The Unforgiven’ from their first-ever concert in Saudi Arabia earlier this month.

The metal icons performed at Soundstorm festival in Riyadh on December 14 as their final show of 2023, which also marked their first gig in the country.

The show was originally billed as the first-ever from a major international heavy metal act in the country, but Canadian death metal band Cryptopsy performed in Riyadh on December 1.

Metallica performed a 16-song setlist that included favourites like ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls’, ‘Master Of Puppets’ and ‘Enter Sandman’.

Now the band have shared an eight-minute, professionally shot performance video of ‘The Unforgiven’ from the show. Check it out below.

You can find fan-shot footage and the full setlist from Metallica’s first show in Saudi Arabia here.

A spokesperson for Heavy Arab Entertainment (per Metal Injection) said of Cryptopsy’s historic performance: “We take immense pride in pioneering the organization of the first-ever international metal band in Saudi Arabia, and we are incredibly honored to have Cryptopsy, alongside [support bands] Creative Waste and Necrosin, marking a significant milestone in the history of the Saudi metal scene.”

“Our commitment to promise and deliver, even in the face of imperfections, has truly been the driving force behind this milestone for the scene. Above all, our personal biggest achievement is finally providing a platform for our local metal bands to share the stage with their idols and major influences right here in their homeland.

“Every one of our bands has played an integral role as participants, co-creators, and enablers in realizing our collective vision to firmly establish Saudi Arabia on the global metal music map.”

Metallica will hit the road again in May 2024 for another leg of their M72 World Tour, for which they’ll play two nights in each city with two unique “no repeats” setlist and different support acts. The tour will wrap in Mexico in September 2024.

Robert Trujillo, meanwhile, recently revealed why they tweaked their ‘M72’ tour setlist.

Last week, drummer Lars Ulrich shared that his father, Torben Ulrich, had died at the age of 95.