Metallica: Hear Volbeat Cover "Don't Tread on Me," See Alternate "Enter Sandman" Video | Page 2 | Revolver

Metallica: Hear Volbeat Cover "Don't Tread on Me," See Alternate "Enter Sandman" Video

As well as "Don't Tread on Me" rehearsal take from "Black Album" box set

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In case you've been living under a rock, Metallica have been throwing an epic celebration for the "Black Album"'s 30th anniversary. In anticipation, the band have been dripping out nibbles on a weekly basis from the gigundo deluxe box set edition of the upcoming reissue and the star-studded covers album, The Metallica Blacklist.

Today (July 27th), the main course is Volbeat's cover of "Don't Tread on Me," but Metallica have also served up a demo of the song as well as an alternate music video for "Enter Sandman."

Unlike J Balvin's reggaeton reinvention of "Wherever I May Roam" or St. Vincent's funky re-imagining of "Sad But True," the Danish "Elvis metal" band's take on the "Black Album" centerpiece stays pretty true to the original composition. It definitely has Volbeat's signature sound, but the heaviness of "Don't Tread on Me"'s lead riff remains intact — albeit a little cleaner and a little brighter. 

"We didn't want to touch any of the big hits on that album, which is quite difficult because they're all hits, somehow," Volbeat frontman Michael Poulsen commented. "We were trying to pick a song that you don't hear as much from that album, and the most important thing was to pick a song where we could transform it into a Volbeat song. 'Don't Tread on Me' definitely had a swing that I could turn into a Volbeat swing, and it turned out really great."

On top of Volbeat's rendition, Metallica reached into the vast pool of box set demos to for a pre-production rehearsal take of "Don't Tread on Me," which was recorded live at Bayview Studios in Richmond, California, on October 4th, 1990. It's an instrumental version and the recording quality is obviously rough compared to the version we all know and love, but it's still sounds pretty gnarly. 

Lastly, they spotlighted a piece of the box set's six-disc DVD section by sharing a "Psycho Band Pass" version of the "Enter Sandman" music video. It has the same choppy, strobey effect as the official version, but there's no footage of the kid having terrible nightmares — just the band's contorted faces. 

Listen to the Volbeat cover above and the other two below via YouTube. 

Both the Black Album reissue and the covers album are set for release on September 10th. Revolver has copies of the Remastered Deluxe Box Set — which includes six LPs, six DVD, a 120-page book and a ton more — available in our shop.