James Hetfield’s son launches debut album with Bastardane

Bastardane – the Savannah, Georgia three-piece featuring James Hetfield’s son Castor – have released their debut album, Is This Rage?

Castor Hetfield handles drum duties in the band, which is completed by bassist/ frontman Jake Dallas and guitarist Ethan Sirotzki. 

The group have previously released three singles: Wealthy Fantasy, Let The Wasted Die and Above All. As you may suspect from the titles, their sound is an enticing blend of old-school thrash, hard rock and Kyuss-esque stoner rock. 

The trio first formed in 2019 and are based away from the West Coast. However, they have not completely shied away from the Hetfield family connections, having appeared at Metallica’s 40th Anniversary takeover in San Francisco in December. 

There’s been a noticeable wave of next generation Metallica-family bands taking to the stage over the past year. Tye Trujillo plays with the snotty thrash trio Ottto, who released the excellent single Ride Low in 2021 and are thought to be working on an album.

Meanwhile, Taipei Houston (a duo consisting of Layne and Myles Ulrich) started sharing clips of their music back in September and are down for some big bills this year, with appearances at Louder Than Life and Aftershock festivals.

Elsewhere in metal family fortunes, Des Moines band Vended – featuring Griffin Taylor and Simon Crahan, sons of Slipknot members Corey Taylor and Shawn Crahan – have been deservedly winning fans off the back of their vicious What Is It / Kill It EP. 

You can find Is This Rage? on the usual streaming services, or head over to Bastardane’s Bandcamp page to buy a copy.