Metallica Detonate Perth with a Ferocious, High-Voltage Performance of “Holier Than Thou”
Metallica’s November 1, 2025 performance at Optus Stadium in Perth felt less like another stop on a world tour and more like a long-awaited reconnection between Australia and one of the most powerful live bands on the planet. As the massive M72 stage structure lit up under the Western Australian night sky and “The Ecstasy of Gold” rolled across tens of thousands of fans, the atmosphere carried a crackling tension that suggested something special was about to happen. After so many years apart, the band’s return already felt historic before a single note was played.
The excitement had been building for hours. Opening sets from Suicidal Tendencies and Evanescence had already filled the stadium with big riffs, soaring vocals, and a rising kinetic energy that bounced off every tier of seating. But when the house lights finally died completely, the shift inside the stadium was immediate. A wave of anticipation swept forward from the back rows to the floor, and the crowd erupted as Metallica walked onstage—an eruption shaped by nostalgia, relief, and pure adrenaline.
“Creeping Death” blasted open the night with the subtlety of a wrecking ball. Hetfield marched across the stage like a battlefield commander, barking out the verses with an authority that felt sharpened by years of anticipation. The crowd answered with the legendary “die, die, die!” chant, a thunderous echo rolling around the stadium. It was instantly clear that this would not be a rusty, slow-warmup kind of show; the band was firing at full voltage from the start.
“For Whom the Bell Tolls” added even more weight to the atmosphere. The thunderous intro riff reverberated across the stadium, drawing a roar that sounded almost reverent. Rob Trujillo attacked each bass note with a physicality visible even from the upper levels, while Kirk Hammett sliced through the mix with his cutting, metallic lead tone. Perth responded as if rediscovering the full gravitational pull of classic Metallica in real time.
The night’s first major shock came when the band launched into “Holier Than Thou,” a track often overshadowed on the Black Album but explosively alive onstage. Hetfield spit out each line with a snarling intensity, leaning into every lyric as if daring the crowd to keep up. Lars Ulrich drove the song forward with unrelenting force, turning the entire stadium into a pulsing, fast-moving mass. Suddenly, the front pit was a chaotic ocean of fists, bodies, and shouted lyrics.
The song’s signature stop-start rhythmic punches hit the audience with precision. Each time the band locked into one of those tight, aggressive breaks, the crowd reacted instantly, shouting the chorus with the kind of conviction reserved for personal mantras. Hetfield’s right-hand downpicking was a blur of motion, carving the riff into the air with laser-sharp definition. In that moment, “Holier Than Thou” felt less like a deep cut and more like a declaration of the band’s enduring ferocity.
Lars’ drumming added a raw, muscular backbone to the performance. Every cracking snare and deep kick drum thumped through the crowd’s chest, aligning tightly with Trujillo’s subterranean bass tone. The groove was not clean or overly polished—it was gritty, swaggering, full of attitude, and perfectly suited to the song’s rebellious character. Fans who had waited years for this show were feeding off its energy like fuel.
The setlist began branching into different eras of Metallica’s catalog, but the aggressive momentum created by “Holier Than Thou” lingered. “Fuel” arrived with pillars of flame and pure velocity, igniting the stadium in a flash. “The Unforgiven” brought a slow, mournful depth that washed over the audience, before “Wherever I May Roam” unfolded like an odyssey beneath the night sky. Every shift in tempo and mood drew the crowd deeper into the band’s world.
Midway through the show, Kirk Hammett and Rob Trujillo took center stage for their nightly “doodle,” offering Perth a uniquely Australian moment. They blended a snippet of Budgie’s “Crash Course in Brain Surgery” with a tribute to John Butler Trio’s “Zebra,” sending the stadium into a burst of cheers. It was a small gesture, but an undeniably meaningful one—proof that Metallica wasn’t just visiting; they were connecting.
The emotional gravity of the newer material emerged soon after. “The Day That Never Comes” rose slowly like a gathering storm, its clean guitars shimmering across the stadium before erupting into furious double-time drumming. “Moth Into Flame” buzzed with high-speed, electrifying energy, demonstrating how comfortably modern Metallica stands beside their old-school giants. Perth became one of the rare crowds to experience both new and older tracks woven seamlessly into a cohesive narrative.
“Nothing Else Matters,” as always, marked the emotional center of the night. Under thousands of phone lights and raised hands, the stadium became a single swaying body. Hetfield’s voice carried that familiar blend of vulnerability and power, delivering each line like a personal confession to tens of thousands of listeners. Even after decades of live performances, the song maintained its ability to transform a massive venue into an intimate space.
“Seek & Destroy” reignited the crowd’s energy with full force, unleashing widespread movement from the floor to the farthest seats. Fans of every generation—young teens, longtime diehards, entire families—yelled the chorus together as though the song belonged to everyone equally. The sense of communal release in that moment felt uniquely powerful, amplified by the band’s long absence from Australian soil.
The closing run of the concert—“Lux Æterna,” “Master of Puppets,” “One,” and “Enter Sandman”—hit like a meticulously designed sequence of detonations. “Lux Æterna” brought relentless speed, a reminder that Metallica still thrives on intensity. “Master of Puppets” produced the loudest audience scream of the night, while “One” unfolded like a war scene painted in strobes and pyrotechnics. “Enter Sandman” transformed the finale into a victory lap, celebrating both the past and the unbroken momentum of the present.
There were moments of chaos during the evening, including two fans who climbed a lighting tower and had to be escorted away by security, prompting a brief distraction. Elsewhere, crowd complaints later surfaced online about behavior in certain sections. Yet for the vast majority in attendance, these incidents barely registered next to the magnitude of what was unfolding onstage.
As the final notes faded and fans streamed out into the Perth night, there was a shared sense that this show represented more than a long-delayed return. It was a reaffirmation that Metallica still plays with the hunger, attitude, and fire that built their legacy. And for many, “Holier Than Thou” became the unexpected emblem of that truth—a ferocious reminder that these songs are not relics but living, breathing forces.
When videos from the concert began circulating online, especially the official release of “Holier Than Thou,” the Perth performance quickly took on a second life. Fans replayed the intensity frame by frame, while viewers around the world got a taste of the electricity that had ripped through Optus Stadium. It became clear that this show was not just a highlight of the tour, but a defining moment in Metallica’s modern chapter—one that underlined, unmistakably, that the fire still burns as fiercely as ever.
