According to former EXODUS guitarist Rick Hunolt, early METALLICA performances were “The Dave Mustaine Show”
In a new interview with Zetro’s Toxic Vault hosted by EXODUS singer Steve “Zetro” Souza, former EXODUS guitarist Rick Hunolt said that Dave Mustaine was the reason people used to go see METALLICA play live. Hunolt went on to say that James Hetfield wasn’t much of a mic talker between songs back in the early days of the band, yet Mustaine was considered the one who would engage the crowd, especially when intoxicated.
Hunolt also added that former EXODUS guitarist Kirk Hammett was a great replacement for Mustaine after his firing from METALLICA in 1983 due to their similarities in playing style.
Hunolt says: “This is why I think James chose Kirk. It’s because Dave and [Kirk’s] styles back then were similar — pentatonic, bluesy. James didn’t want no effects on his shit. He wanted Kirk to play dry — no echo; just a real dry Marshall tone. Wah-wah [pedal] is cool, I guess. But he had a similar style to Dave. Individually, personality-wise, [they were] completely two different human beings.
He continues: “Back in the day, when you went to go see Metallica, the reason why you went to go see Metallica is because we wanted to go see Dave — that’s it. Dave played lead guitar. He spoke in between songs. James sang — that’s all he did. He didn’t play rhythm guitar. It was the Dave Mustaine show. Period. That’s it. And he was funny as shit — drunk. Oh, God, he was awesome. Dave was, like, the king back then.
He added: “How you get kicked out of your own band, I don’t know. I don’t wanna talk about that… But as far as I’m concerned, personally, Dave Mustaine is the godfather of thrash metal.”
Check out the full interview below.
Hunolt, who had stints in EXODUS between 1983 and 2005, has a new band called DIE HUMANE who have new material on the way.