On this week’s episode of “The Metallica Report” podcast, METALLICA frontman James Hetfield discusses the band’s collaboration with Fortnite.
James said: “What I kind of equate it to is we have a huge family out there. The METALLICA family is international and obviously every corner of the earth, there’s a METALLICA family member. And Fortnite is kind of the same. They’ve reached many people all over the planet, so getting the two together makes sense. And they’ve got a lot to gain from our family and vice versa. So it is a really cool idea. And like it was explained to me, it’s like it’s a whole another continent. And we’ve played all seven, [so we] might as well play the eighth one. So let’s get in on that and, yeah, explore and be adventurous and see what comes out of this. Why would we not?”
Commenting on the similarities between the METALLICA and Fortnite communities, Hetfield remarked: “You’re able to be welcomed in no matter who you are or what you are or how you wanna dress or however you wanna accessorize or whatever.”
When asked if he could play Fortnite to his own song, Hetfield responded: “I haven’t tried it. I mean, I’ve tried Guitar Hero, and, um, it’s not much to do with guitar playing, really. It’s a game. You’re jumping around on stuff and you’re hitting things at a certain time. It’s more about timing. It’s more about being a drummer than it is a guitar player, really, in a way. It’s about the timing. But, yeah, it is fun. But, yeah, here you’re doing more than one note at a time. But [I’d] probably not [be] great. I’d be competitive and try to get better. Yes, of course… Especially if you’re living in this world and you’re doing it every day, you’re gonna get good at it — as simple as that. And gosh, there’s so much that I don’t know about it that it’s kind of interesting to be able to learn about it.
“And, yeah, it’s like it’s its own continent, it’s its own language, it’s probably got its own set of, I don’t even wanna call them rules, but etiquette and s**t like that, that is probably very different from the outside world, that I don’t even know about. And so people are kind of creating their own whole own universe, which is pretty unbelievable and fantastic.”
METALLICA is the first band to headline all Fortnite experiences, introducing METALLICA-themed gameplay to Fortnite Festival, Battle Royale, LEGO Fortnite, Rocket Racing, and more, starting tomorrow, June 13. Additionally, as part of a brand-new music experience in Fortnite, “Metallica: Fuel. Fire. Fury.” will feature a series of in-game concert performances exclusively on June 22 and June 23.
Completely customized and built from the ground up using Unreal Editor for Fortnite by technology studio Magnopus, Metallica: Fuel. Fire. Fury. is a brand-new playable concert that will journey through six of METALLICA‘s fan-favorite songs with themed gameplay that complements the intensity of a METALLICA live show. This immersive music experience will have six different showtimes across two days:
Saturday, June 22, 2024
2 p.m. ET
5 p.m. ET
11 p.m. ET
Sunday, June 23, 2024
10 a.m. ET
2 p.m. ET
5 p.m. ET
The above times will be the only chance to experience the concert live.
Reeder, the visionary behind Metal Addicts, has transformed his lifelong passion for metal into a thriving online community for metal aficionados. As a fervent devotee of black metal, Reeder is captivated by its dark, atmospheric, and often unorthodox soundscapes.
