I live because of Metallica

A year ago, as Metalfier, you played during the first edition of the Metal Festival in the Polish – Slavic Center, performing mainly your own songs. This time, you will perform as Metalika by Metalfier and, as the name suggests, you will play mainly Metallica songs. However, the line-up remains the same?

As Metalfier, for years, in addition to our own songs, we usually perform a few Metallica covers at concerts. Performing under the name Metalika by Metalfier, we have kind of reversed the proportions. We play mainly Metallica covers, and sometimes we throw in our own song. Since last year, our bassist has changed, as Jimmie was replaced by Johny. Naturally, the line-up of Metallica has also changed. However, only slightly, as Johny is a great musician and has fit in with our playing without any problems.

Where did the idea for a cover band of this type come from? Often, so-called cover bands are formed for financial reasons.

None of that. Metallica by Metalfier is my personal tribute to the band that really started my fascination with metal music. If it weren’t for Metallica, I would never have played the guitar and would never have gone on stage. So Disillusion and Metalfier wouldn’t have been formed and many positive things in my life wouldn’t have happened. I consider the songs collected on the first five Metallica albums to be the absolute canon of metal playing. You could say that I live and breathe thanks to Metallica. I even named my sons James and Lars, the names of the founders of Metallica (Metallica was founded in Los Angeles, California in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich – author’s note)

You started playing the guitar at the age of 11.

Yes. And it all started with a fascination with Metallica’s Black Album, which was released in 1991. That year, I flew to the States. When I heard this album, I picked up the guitar and that’s how it stayed. At the beginning, there was the aforementioned band Disillusion, which I founded when I was 14. In 2012, I founded Metalfier, which in terms of style is really a musical combination of Metallica and Slayer.

The Metalika by Metalfier project itself has only existed for a short time.

That’s true. As Metalika by Metalfier, we’ve only played a few concerts and each one was a success. Most people know these songs and we all have a great time together. Both us on stage and the audience. For Metallica fans, it’s a real musical feast.

You’ve just returned from Mexico, where you had the opportunity to play as a guitarist with the band Warrior Soul, which, after all, accompanied Metallica on their tours in the 90s.

Yes. From the original lineup from years ago, vocalist Kory Clarke remains. He often calls me before his band’s bigger tours. A performance with Warrior Soul is always a huge, almost mystical experience for me. I consider the stage experience I gained with them to be priceless. And that’s also why our Metallica sounds so good. I perform a lot live and I know all the songs of my favorite band well.

How many Metallica songs do you have prepared?

At the moment we have 20 songs ready, which we play during our performances. Not always all of them, of course, but the most famous and my favorites such as Master Of Puppets, Escape, Ride the Lighting, The Frayed Ends of Sanity or Enter Sadman are obligatory. I consider …And Justice for All to be Metallica’s best album musically, although I really appreciate all of their work. We often try to play songs that Metallica usually don’t perform at concerts at all. And there is plenty to choose from here. Especially from the first five albums, which, as I mentioned, are better than the subsequent ones in my humble opinion.

Which Metallica song is the most difficult to perform?

In my opinion, it’s Damage Inc. from the album Master Of Puppets. A fast and very technically demanding piece. Metallica doesn’t play it at concerts, but we pretty much always play it, precisely to show people how well we do with their repertoire. I have to emphasize that playing Metallica songs is generally not easy. However, we love doing it.

What are your musical inspirations as a guitarist and vocalist?

There will be no surprises here either. The biggest inspiration is of course James Hatfield from Metallica, who plays and sings. I’ve been modeling myself on him for years. It’s quite difficult to sing and play an instrument at the same time, but I really like it. Then there’s Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath, Jeff Hanneman from Slayer, or Rob Halford from Judas Priest. And from the Polish ones, Roman Kostrzewski and Piotrek Luczyk from Kat, Wojciech Hoffman and Grzegorz Kupczyk from Turbo, and Marek Piekarczyk from TSA. These are probably the most important ones, but there are a few others as well.

What can attendees of the metal festival at the Polish – Slavic Center expect from your performance?

Let everyone prepare for a good time and a mega-high with songs from one of the best bands in the history of music. We will definitely not spare ourselves on stage. We will play as many Metallica songs as we can, and we will also add other great songs, including, as always, a few of our own. In 1996, I played at the Polish – Slavic Center with my previous band Disillusion and I remember that the atmosphere was great then. And a year ago we played as Metalfier and it was even better. I am glad that the tradition of metal playing is continued at the Center. And we are a part of it all.

Thank you for the interview and I wish you good luck at the Festival.

Marcin Żurawicz