Mexican acoustic maestros Rodrigo y Gabriela have unveiled a stunning acoustic interpretation of Metallica’s The Struggle Within.
The song was recorded as their contribution to the metal legends' Metallica Blacklist compilation, which sees 53 artists from across the board assemble to cover tracks from The Black Album.
In this version, Gabriela Quintero’s right hand handles the rhythmic elements, replacing Ulrich’s marching snare rolls and Hetfield's tight riffing with rapid-fire strums, while Rodrigo Sánchez takes on the vocal lines and cleanly reproduces Kirk Hammett’s solo at the track’s peak.
“Coming from the metal world we know how important solos are for the fans,” Sánchez recently told Guitar World. “So I knew I was going to do that. And I started out playing thrash-metal tunes on guitar, and I spent my first 15 years as a musician playing metal. So I have all these techniques quite settled in my bones. Also, I've known this song from forever.”
Given their shared love of metal, this project represents something of an ideal pairing for the acoustic duo. The duo played in metal bands throughout the early 90s and their first album featured a cover of Metallica’s Orion, which they later performed with Robert Trujillo at their 2014 Red Rocks Show.
Down the line, the song Attman, from 2009 album 11:11, featured a guest spot from Alex Skolnick (of thrashers Testament) and was dedicated to Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell
The duo’s contribution to the Metallica Blacklist album follows St Vincent’s Enter Sandman, Weezer’s take on Sad But True, as well as Phoebe Bridgers’ haunting Nothing Else Matters and IDLES (typically raucous) The God That Failed.
Both The Metallica Blacklist and the huge Black Album Remastered package are set for release on 10 September.
