Remember When: Metallica Paid Homage to Spanish Metal Gods Obús and Barón Rojo

Metallica are among the metal gods, but they are also aware that they are part of a larger pantheon that stretches around the world. When the famed foursome played Spain on their WorldWired Tour in 2018, they did two shows at the WiZink Center in Madrid, and each night they decided to pull out of cover of a revered Spanish group. On the first night (February 3) it was Obús, and on the second (February 5), Barón Rojo. Both were preludes for the Kill ‘Em All bass instrumental “(Anesthesia) – Pulling Teeth.” The covers were performed by guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo, who handled the vocals. This was a thing the twosome did throughout the tour—playing a cover of a song from the country and/or region they were in. And it wasn’t always metal.

Paying Respect to Spanish Heroes

Since Robert fluently speaks Spanish he could engage the crowd in Madrid, and Kirk was clearly game to take on the challenge. Frontman/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich were not on stage as the duo performed shortened versions of each song to the clearly elated crowd. Watch the video for their cover of Obús’ rowdy drinking anthem “Vamos Muy Bien” (“We’re doing great”), and then for Baron Rojo’s “Rockers Van Al Infierno” (“Rockers go to hell”), and listen to how loud the crowds sing along. Robert is leading Kirk along and reminding him of all the song changes, which makes it very likely they had rehearsed these songs just prior to the shows. While it would have been great to have the whole band perform them, it was still nice that they paid homage to two Spanish heavy metal/hard rock icons. And the crowds loved it.

Starting in the 1980s, both groups were popular in Spain. Barón Rojo got American distribution for a couple of their albums, including the English-language version of Volumen Brutal in 1982 for which Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson reportedly helped with lyrical translations. Back then, it was not easy for non-English-speaking groups from Europe or Asia to break through without having albums with English lyrics. That was their one attempt.

Obús and Barón Rojo are clearly still revered in their home country. Obús’ El Que Más was one of the best heavy metal albums of 1984, while Barón Rojo’s En Lugar De La Marcha was one of the best of 1985.

Appreciation for the Props

Obús and their singer Fructuoso Sánchez (aka Fortu) were very happy that Metallica covered them and they expressed their pleasure to the Spanish media. “On behalf of Obús we would like to thank Metallica for playing the legendary ‘Vamos Muy Bien’ at their concert last weekend in Madrid,” the band stated through the press after the concert.

In a 2022 interview with La Voz De Galicia, Barón Rojo frontman Carlos de Castro recalled, “I was very pleased to hear it. I think the bassist sang it. I would have liked it to be Hetfield, but the detail was there and many people remembered it. We played with them [Metallica] twice.” Barón Rojo performed “Rockers Go to Hell” with Jørn Lande and former Rainbow/MSG frontman Graham Bonnet on vocals at the WiZink Center in December 2021.

Both Barón Rojo (reportedly doing their farewell tour) and Obús have played numerous Spanish festivals this year.

When rock bands play different cities they often try to cozy up to the crowd, whether giving props to the local sports team, bringing out a famous local guest star, or offering a compliment for something about their culture. It’s great that Metallica decided that to pay tribute to two groups that resonated with Spanish people and frankly deserved more attention in America. This writer went to Spain in 1986 and collected cassettes from Obús and Barón Rojo, along with Angeles del Infierno and Goliath, who represented classic Spanish metal. So I appreciated Robert and Kirk acknowledging them in front of arena audiences on their home turf.

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Photo by Mariano Regidor/Redferns