Remember when Marcin Patrzalek released his awe-inspiring cover of Led Zeppelin's Kashmir and the entire guitar world stopped, stared and marveled at its magnificence?
Well, at the risk of breaking the internet, the percussive fingerstyle acoustic guitar virtuoso has once again picked up his Ibanez AE900-NT for another rip-roaring cover, this time taking on Metallica’s 1986 anthem, Master of Puppets.
As you’ve probably guessed, the cover is a Marcin masterclass. Aided by the thunderous natural reverb of the underground venue – the same car park in which he recorded Kashmir – the Ibanez-wielding fingerstyle wizard serves up a blistering tour de force of his unique six-string skills.
Suited to boot with two-hand tapping sequences, body-based rhythmic beatings, effortlessly executed harmonic pinches and almost every other extended acoustic technique under the sun, Marcin’s monstrous effort leaves no fret unplayed and no inch of the guitar unexplored.
Replacing James Hetfield and co’s chugging, high-gain riffs with open-string slaps, and transforming Lars Ulrich’s pounding drums with intricate finger rolls and knuckle knocks, Marcin exceeds his own high standards in a worthy addition to his roster of rip-roaring renditions.
We said it before and we’ll say it again: please excuse us while we pick our jaws up off the floor.
As was the case with his last cover, the Polish guitar player has already attracted a number of guitar hero commentators, with Mark Holcomb of Periphery simply commenting, “Sheesh.”
The only critique we can fathom is that it’s about seven minutes too short. Not to worry though, as Marcin has already recorded and released a full, extended studio version of Master Of Puppets on One Guitar for us to marvel at.
You can check out that performance, released way back in 2017, in the video below.
For those of you who fancy giving it a go, we admire your bravery, and you can purchase tabs for Marcin's take on the track via his official online store for €3.49 (approximately $4.20).
