Metallica shared a version of “For Whom the Bell Tolls” today (Aug. 20) from their upcoming S&M2 (Symphony and Metallica²) concert film, which is due out Aug. 28. The nearly five-minute version of the song, which originally appeared on 1984’s Ride the Lightning, sees singer/guitarist James Hetfield leading the crowd in a sing-along while San Francisco Symphony Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas conducts the orchestra and its xylophone players get after it.
The film’s trailer and two previous songs, “All Within My Hand” and “Nothing Else Matters,” are here.
S&M2 will feature 20 songs for more than two-and-a-half hours of music, recorded during a two-night stand in September 2019 at San Francisco’s Chase Center. The concert film had a one-night-only theatrical appearance on Oct. 9, 2019.
In 2019, drummer Lars Ulrich spoke about the project, which he said “felt like a balancing act between the past and the present. Metallica always likes to keep looking into the future and try to make sure that these things always feel fresh and always have that kind of moving forward so it doesn’t just become these nostalgic exercises.”
Check out “For Whom the Bell Tolls” below.
