Hear Jason Isbell turn Metallica's Sad But True into a frenzied, country-fried blues romp
The radical re-interpretation features on the upcoming Black Album tribute, The Metallica Blacklist
Just yesterday, we heard St. Vincent deconstruct Metallica's leviathan rocker Sad But True into a serrated slice of industrial funk. Now, we've been graced with another, perhaps even more radical, interpretation of the song, this time from Americana A-listers Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit.
Taken, like the St. Vincent cover, from the upcoming The Metallica Blacklist – a sprawling, 53-track tribute to Metallica's record-shattering, 1991 self-titled album – Isbell reimagines the bludgeoning tune as something that wouldn't feel out of place on the Red Dead Redemption 2 soundtrack.
You can give Isbell's reimagining a spin – complete with some awesome Western visuals – below.
Aside from kicking up the tempo a few notches, Isbell and his trusty band drench the song with a feast of wicked slide licks and gale-force, nervy, fuzzy riffage. Hell, there's even some fiddle to top off the proceedings.
We can't help but feel like James Hetfield – a country/roots music aficionado himself – will have a particular appreciation for this one.
Both the Black Album remastered and The Metallica Blacklist are set for a September 10 release via Blackened Recordings.
All proceeds from the latter will be split evenly between Metallica's All Within My Hands foundation and over 50 charities chosen by artists who appear on the record.
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Jackson is an Associate Editor at GuitarWorld.com. He’s been writing and editing stories about new gear, technique and guitar-driven music both old and new since 2014, and has also written extensively on the same topics for Guitar Player. Elsewhere, his album reviews and essays have appeared in Louder and Unrecorded. Though open to music of all kinds, his greatest love has always been indie, and everything that falls under its massive umbrella. To that end, you can find him on Twitter crowing about whatever great new guitar band you need to drop everything to hear right now.