Kirk Hammett just does not care about what haters have to say about his solo guitar performance for Metallica's "Lux Æterna."
Metallica will serve the whole "72 Seasons" album on Friday. Before the release, the band had already dropped its lead single, "Lux Æterna," in November.
The track, however, received several criticisms, with some fans saying that they hate the solo performance in the band's new song.
Kirk Hammett Unbothered by Criticisms
The guitarist recently spoke about the condemnation he has been receiving during an interview with Total Guitar. Per Hammett, he has heard all his critics but remains unaffected by them.
"Yeah, my f**king friends down the street could probably play a better solo than 'Lux Æterna' - but what's the point?" the guitarist said. "For me, what's appropriate is playing for the song and playing in the moment."
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Hammett added that he was just laughing the whole time amid the criticisms. He noted that he could do six or seven three-octave arpeggios but does not have any idea where to put them since they will not fit in any of the band's songs.
Meanwhile, he took his time to name the guitarists who can play arpeggios as smoothly as possible: Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert, and Yngwie Malmsteen.
Hammett indeed received the spotlight when critics called him out for his solo performance on the lead single. YouTube user Brandon D'Eon even posted a video with the title, "Why Everyone HATES the Solo in Metallica's New Song."
Kirk Hammett Explains Why Playing Solo Is Important
Elsewhere in the interview, the guitarist shared that it is more important to play solo to serve a song than "shredding for the sake of shredding."
"Sweeping to me is a weird thing to begin with because sweeping's incredibly easy, but it sounds incredibly hard," he said. "That's cool once or twice, but I mean, why do it? When it first came out in the late '70s, by the early '80s everyone was doing it. By not doing it, you stood out."
Hammett expressed how much he feels more concerned about creating melodies that are like vocal melodies. In fact, it is reportedly the reason why he prefers the pentatonic scale whenever he plays his instrument.
Aside from "Lux Æterna," Hammett also had to play a solo in Metallica's hit song "Master of Puppets." Although he is reportedly bored of it, the musician said he feels excited whenever people hear the track.
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