Metallica returns to Seoul stadium with classic metal

Metallica is to heavy metal what Rolex is to watches: cool, classic and standard setting. Over the band’s 25-year career, through massive commercial success and critical acclaim, it has become almost synonymous with the heavy metal genre itself.
The American metal quartet is coming to Korea on the National Liberation Day holiday next Tuesday. This will be the band’s second Korean show; the first was in 1998.
With some recent records, the latest being the 2003 release “St. Anger,” the band deviated from speedy, breakneck heavy metal and incorporated more hard rock and blues influences into their compositions. The commercial results of this have been mixed, with “St. Anger” selling just 2 million copies in the United States, the band’s lowest for a full-length album. Still, the album brought Metallica their seventh Grammy, as it won the Best Metal Performance category in 2004.
For two years following the release of “St. Anger,” Metallica embarked on a successful “Madly in Anger with the World” tour with alternative metal band Godsmack.
After an extended break last year, Metallica went on its “Escape from the Studio ’06” tour this year. They will arrive in Korea after playing the Summer Sonic Festival 2006 in Tokyo as a co-headliner alongside Linkin Park. The Seoul show will be the only independent concert for Metallica in Asia this summer.
Marking the 20th anniversary of the release of its third and breakthrough album “Master of Puppets,” Metallica is expected to mostly perform its hit tracks from the mid-’80s and early ’90s. Fans who have grown tired of the band’s recent changes in musical direction can soak in classics such as “Fade to Black,” “One,” “Creeping Death” and “Enter Sandman.”
Metallica’s lineup will be different from the unit that last played in Seoul. In 2001, bassist Jason Newsted left the band over disagreements between him and other members on Newsted’s desire to release a record with a side project. Robert Trujillo, previously with Suicidal Tendencies and Ozzy Osbourne’s band, became the new bassist in early 2003.
Supporting Metallica on stage will be Tool, an American metal quartet whose latest album “10,000 Days” shot to the top of the charts in its first week of release in 11 different nations. This will be Tool’s first appearance in Korea.

by Yoo Jee-ho

The concert will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Olympic Stadium in Jamsil, southern Seoul. Tickets are from 80,000 won ($83) to 120,000 won. For more information, call 1544-1555, or visit www.allaccess.co.kr.