Guitarist Changes The Key of Metallica’s Songs and The Result Is Hilarious

Happy heavy metal riffs are just wrong.

When rock icons Metallica storm the stage at the Grammys tonight along with Lady Gaga it’s a safe bet they won’t come out roaring in a happy-sounding major key. Brooding, dark heavy metal doesn’t really have a place for such a bouncy sound, but guitarist Ben Eller decided he’d figure out what it might sound like if Metallica ever did make such a weird choice. The result was the video above, which gets funnier with each song.

Brobible wrote that Eller’s sparkling renditions of riffs from Metallica’s 1983 studio album Kill ‘Em All ended up sounding like music by 1990s pop punk hitmakers Blink-182 and we basically agree. Blink or just about any other similar group such as Green Day (in a good mood, anyway), Fall Out Boy, or even The Offspring. 

We’re not sure the Metallica of 1983 would have appreciated Eller’s viral video, but today the band has clearly relaxed, because in 2016 they willingly covered “Enter Sandman” on elementary school musical instruments with Jimmy Fallon and the result was oddly perfect.

For all we know Metallica will fool us all and take a cue from Eller and perform everything in those positive-sounding major keys at the Grammys. It would work, too, because their hardcore fans could just blame Lady Gaga and the internet if they hated it.

That’s a joke, of course, but it’s pretty fun to think about. 

h/t Brobible