METALLICA bassist Rob Trujillo reflected on an unusual situation he found himself in with Lemmy Kilmister, admitting that there’s a lot of the late legend’s sound and credo in the thrash giants’ new song “Lux Æterna”.

Sharp-minded fans have been noticing that the lead single from Metallica’s latest studio album “72 Seasons” has a Motörhead-esque vibe going on from the first day, and the thrash giants’ bassist now confirms to Hot Press in a new interview that some of it were definitely intentional. After all, the legendary hard rock band and its larger-than-life frontman have their footprint all over heavy music, and Lemmy was famously a dear friend to Metallica for a number of years before sadly passing away in late December of 2015.

Recalling how he performed “Ace of Spades” to honor Lemmy’s passing at the 2016 Dimebash event, Rob said:

“That was fun. Occasionally in a place like Los Angeles, you get the opportunity to jam with some of these fine musicians. Lemmy was a good friend to myself and a really good friend to my family; he was a sweetheart to my son. It was such a shame to lose him, at a time we were becoming a lot more friendly with him. We were developing a connection.”

Rob also recalled Lemmy’s calming and friendly demeanor during a time when they ended up stuck in a car together, saying:

“I remember him being in my car, because he was going to do a voiceover for an animated piece I’d put together. My car broke down, but he was cool. Basically, my car flooded and he goes, ‘It’s flooded!’ I couldn’t understand and I was getting nervous, cos I was pushing on the gas pedal. He was just sitting there calmly while I’m going, ‘I’ve got Lemmy in my car and it’s not starting!’
“He went, ‘Let’s hang out for five minutes. It’ll start again, trust me.’ As we were outside, he was telling me the history of Hollywood. He’d point to a place across the street from his apartment and go, Charlie Chaplin used to live there.’ Then point to another house and talk about how a famous actor used to own it.
“Eventually, he said, ‘Okay, let’s try it again’, and we get back in the car and it starts. He goes, ‘See, I told you – you flooded it!’ He was this wise man, but he was very cool. It’s a shame that he’s not with us, but his spirit lives on.”

Talking about Lemmy’s influence on “Lux Æterna”, Rob said:

“In fact, I attribute the first single from ’72 Seasons’ to Lemmy. The bass is pedaling, but it’s relentless. On ‘Lux Aeterna’, I really did channel Lemmy – I was thinking about him when I was playing.”

Last week, MOTOÖRHEAD released an animated version of their take on METALLICA’s breakthrough song ‘Enter Sandman’.