Dave Mustaine: Metallica Stole 'Enter Sandman' Riff from Another Band

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29-05-2025

The post Dave Mustaine: Metallica Stole 'Enter Sandman' Riff from Another Band appeared first on Consequence.
Dave Mustaine has once again asserted that Metallica stole their most famous riff from a song by another band.
In a new interview on 'The Shawn Ryan Show,' Mustaine accused his former band of lifting the 'Enter Sandman' riff from crossover thrash band Excel and their 1989 song 'Tapping Into the Emotional Void.'
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Comparisons between the songs have been made over the years — even by Mustaine himself some 20 years ago — and members of Excel once considered taking legal action against Metallica, per a report in 2003. The riffs do bare similarities, as does the tom-drum buildup in both songs, and Mustaine felt the need to remind people when he began discussing Metallica in the interview.
'I made sure not to ever say that I quit, because I wanted people to know that I was unfairly dismissed and that I didn't give a shit,' the Megadeth mastermind said of his tenure with Metallica. 'Because we may not be as big as they are. Hell, their biggest song, 'Enter Sandman' — go look up the band Excel right now. Look up their song, I think it's something 'Into the Unknown.' Pretty similar,' referring to 'Tapping Into the Emotional Void.'
Mustaine ended up discussing Metallica at length during the three-plus-hour conversation with Shawn Ryan, and elsewhere, took digs at the band and his replacement Kirk Hammett for using material he'd written.
'At the time, I was really mad and I didn't wanna forgive them for what they did,' Mustaine said of his ousting from Metallica. 'And I told them when I left, 'Do not use my music. And of course they used it. 'Ride the Lightning,' I wrote. 'The Call of Ktulu' I wrote. Let's see, what else? There's 'Phantom Lord,' 'Metal Militia,' 'Jump in the Fire', 'The Four Horsemen.' And I wrote a bunch of 'Leper Messiah,' too. They didn't give me credit on that. You listen to the riffs, you know they're my riffs.
He continued, 'It's, like, you think I'm gonna all of a sudden hear my riff and say, 'That's not me.' So, yeah, I wrote a lot of their music that made them, and all the solos on that first record were mine — the best Kirk could try and copy them.'
For what it's worth, Mustaine, Hammett, and James Hetfield all made Consequence's list of the 100 Best Guitarists of All Time.
Fans can catch Metallica performing 'Enter Sandman' and other classics on the current North American leg of their 'M72 World Tour' (pick up tickets here).
You can listen to the full interview below, as well as the Excel song 'Tapping Into the Emotional Void,' along with Metallica's 'Enter Sandman.'
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