For Master of Puppets, Metallica wanted to sound bigger without becoming smoother. The band wrote most of the record during a short, intense period before heading to Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen.
From September to December 1985, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Cliff Burton recorded the album with producer Flemming Rasmussen. Instead of the polished hard-rock production popular at the time, Metallica chose sharp riffs, long compositions and huge dynamics.
Metal without the polish
Battery, Master of Puppets, Welcome Home (Sanitarium) and Orion show how far the band was already willing to push things. Fast thrash passages sit next to quiet sections and almost classical structures.
It also became the final Metallica studio album with bassist Cliff Burton. That makes Master of Puppets not only a high point of 1980s metal, but also the closing chapter of a very specific line-up and chemistry.
Carbon Fibre Brush
Record Cleaner 200 ml