Recently, Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin appeared on the “2020’d” podcast where he reflected on Metallica’s new song “Lux Æterna.” Although praising the band and the new piece, Larkin explained that, if it was a new band that released the exact same song, they’d not get any significant attention.
When pressed about his feelings about taking over Metallica on the Billboard charts with their new song “Surrender,” Larkin said (transcript via Blabbermouth):
“In the real world, [Metallica] are the rightful heirs to the No. 1 slot in hard rock. They deserve to be No. 1. I listened to the song… I was, like, ‘Wow.’ It’s kind of an earworm. I get it. And it sounds like Motörhead… James [Hetfield] sang pretty high in that chorus. I was, like, ‘Wow.’ … I think it sounds fantastic. I heard it on the radio. I was, like, ‘Wow.'”
He then added:
“This is the first single, ‘Surrender’, that I’ve ever said, ‘This is a No. 1 hit at rock radio. We’ve got it.'”
Reflecting on Metallica and their new song “Lux Æterna,” he said:
“The Metallica song is pretty… It’s heavy. It’s old-school Metallica. And our song is more like radio rock — it’s a high-energy radio rock song. … I didn’t write either song, so I can sit back… I’m in the band — Godsmack — but I can look at it objectively, and I think ‘Surrender’, it’s more rock than metal, and the Metallica song is metal.”
“If that was some new band with the song ‘Lux Æterna’. Here they are… Soda Can, whatever the band is. And this is their new song, ‘Lux Æterna’. That shit wouldn’t be No. 2.”
“It might not even make the Top 40. Who knows? Even if it’s a great song. A great song, great hook, like I said.”
“But since it’s Metallica, they can do that at radio and put out a song that sounds like Motörhead, basically — double bass and all that. That’s some ’80s shit. They can do it ’cause they ruled in the ’80s.”
However, Larkin stressed out that he’s not bashing Metallica in any way. He explained:
“Had they put out a song that was not ‘Lux Æterna’, which is super heavy — it sounds like it could be early Metallica — they’d be at No. 1 right now. If they put ‘Unforgiven’ or something like that out, they would have beat us probably, because, like I said, they’re rightful kings to No. 1.”
Last year, Godsmack announced that they won’t be making any new music after the release of their upcoming album “Lighting Up the Sky.” Additionally, this marks the longest gap between the two albums with the last one, “When Legends Rise,” being released in 2018.
Discussing the band’s decision, Larkin said:
“We were happy to get a No. 1 because we got one on every record since I joined; from the third record on, we’ve had a No. 1.”
“And so being our final record, we really wanted a No. 1. ‘Cause we wanna go out on top. We don’t wanna keep making records till we’re not selling anymore.”
In a last year’s interview, Godsmack frontman Sully Erna said of this new record:
“It’s the most important record, I think, we’ve ever written and recorded. I’ve never been that artist who says, ‘Oh, this record is our newest record. It’s our best work ever.’
“You can read any interview you want over my whole career, and you’ve never heard me say it. I’ve always loved our records [and] I always knew there would be some good singles on it and hoped it did well, but I was never the guy that said, ‘This is our best fucking work ever.”
Photos: Stefan Brending (2019 RiP Godsmack – by 2eight – 8SC8529 (cropped)), Gage Skidmore (James Hetfield by Gage Skidmore)
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