Metallica’s Enter Sandman reimagined as a Slipknot anthem is an absolute beast

Sliptallica — (Image credit: Pete Cottrell / YouTube)

Metallica’s towering influence upon modern metal is indisputable, with the likes of Slipknot, Lamb Of God, Trivium and Avenged Sevenfold freely acknowledging the huge debt they owe to the San Franciscan superstars.

But what if, hypothetically, Metallica had not kicked open the doors to the mainstream music world in 1991 with Enter Sandman, the lead-off single from their phenomenally-successful ‘Black Album’, and instead, that track had emerged at the close of the decade, as a key component of Slipknot’s self-titled 1999 Roadrunner debut?

If unpicking the possible ramifications of such a scenario is too much of a head-fuck, then at least we can now hear a sonic template for this imaginary modern metal re-boot, as YouTuber Pete Cottrell has taken it upon himself to rework the Bay Area ’bangers’ best-known stadium-levelling anthem as if it had been penned by Corey Tayor, Shawn Crahan, Paul Gray and Joey Jordison in a Des Moines, Iowa rehearsal room circa 1998.

Key to this reimagining of the track, Cottrell explains, is tuning the guitars down from E to B, to make the song "darker and more menacing," then ramping up the tempo from around 120bpm to 190bpm, ish, to add intensity and ferocity. Next up, Cottrell introduces ‘The Joey Beat’, imagining the much-missed Joey Jordison in the drum stool for the recording rather than Lars Ulrich, a concept less mind-blowing post-June 6, 2004. And... voila! Sliptallica! Or Metknot! However you want to label it, it’s a beast, and we’re here for it.

Nice work Mr Cottrell.

Artists

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.