If the “Black Album” of 1990 presented a new Metallica for the coming decade, then Load upped the ante still further by going off in even more unpredictable direc­tions. Case in point is the unusual textural offering Hero of the Day, a track that is a study in dark and light musical shading, and a brief glimpse at the future of Metallica and metal as it evolves into a hybrid for the alter­native generation.

The Tuning

Tune all six strings down a half step. This was a career first for Metallica.

Hero Of The Day. The Riff

A mildly distorted guitar begins this atypi­cal Metallica piece with an atypical Metallica riff. It plays a series of arpeggiated three-note chords, labeled Rhy. Fig. 1, which includes a diatonically ascending bass line on the 5th string. At the heart of the entire progression is the A5 power chord. The top two notes of the A5 (E and A on the 4th and 3rd strings, respec­tively) are maintained as common tones throughout the riff, while the bass line melody of A-B-C#-D is heard on the 5th string. This movement produces the voicings A5-A5/B-A5/C#-A5/D [Fig. 1]. The final chord of the series, A5/D, becomes the outline for the E chord found in measures 3 and 4 of the riff. Notice the physical similarities in both chords. The A5/D could just as easily be a Dsus2 [Fig. 2]. The pattern established in Rhy. Fig. 1 is also used for Rhy. Fig. 2 – a heavier, more dis­torted version of the riff – as well as in Rhy. Fig. 3, a more chordal variant.

The Bridge

The bridge is built on a heavy, mondo-crunch riff (Rhy. Figs. 4 and 4A) and gives us a taste of the old Metallica. Here, the F# power chord is at the center of the riff and a low-register, three-note bass line on the 6th string is added to the voicing. The melody notes are E-F#-G and they give the figure a Spanish Phrygian sound endemic to the heavy metal and thrash idiom of the 80s, of which Metallica was a leading exponent. Applying James Hetfield’s efficiency fingering concept for power chord riffs (see For Whom the Bell Tolls tabs), we can make the briskly moving figure a little more manage­able. Try fretting the upper notes of the F#5 as a barre with either the third finger or pinkie and playing the F# and G on the 6th string with the first and second fingers [Fig. 3].

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Hero Of The Day. The Solo

Kirk Hammett’s textural guitar solo is more rhythmic than melodic, and is another indica­tion of the new Metallica. There’s not a hint of a string bend, wah-wah pedal, heavy gain and sustain, or rapid-fire virtuoso licks in this sec­tion. Instead, he milks an eighth-and-16th-note pattern in a manner more typical of a percussion instrument than a guitar. The melody is derived from the A major scale (A-B-C#-D-E-F#-G#) and is arranged in two com­posed, imitative phrases played entirely on the B and high E strings. The solo is very accessi­ble and should present no problems for even a beginning guitarist once the basic fingerings and position changes of the two-string A major scale are mastered.

It’s a part of Metallica Hero Of The Day guitar tab and sheet.

Through the link below you can download a full transcription of

Hero Of The Day with backing track

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