BLUE ÖYSTER CULT lead guitarist (and sole consistent member!) Buck Dharma on meeting Metallica; the band’s cover of “Astronomy”; the famous “more cowbell” Saturday Night Live sketch with Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken; writing, recording, and making music videos during the pandemic; participating in the 1986 metal all-star project Hear ’n Aid; his solo work; and BOC’s fourteenth studio album, The Symbol Remains.

ARMORED SAINT (and Fates Warning) bassist Joey Vera discusses the band’s long career and the group’s history with Metallica.

ARMORED SAINT vocalist and former Anthrax frontman John Bush talks about turning down an invitation to sing for Metallica; touring with Metallica and W.A.S.P. back in the day; Sound of White Noise; balancing life, family, and career; singing with Metallica at the band’s 30th-anniversary shows; and the possibility of a solo tour doing material from his era fronting Anthrax.

ARMORED SAINT: THE MOVIE director Russell Cherrington tells the behind-the-scenes stories of interviewing James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich for his documentary. His relationship with Armored Saint goes all the way back to the tape trading days of the early ‘80s metal scene. Metallica once extended an invitation to Armored Saint vocalist John Bush to join their band. Russell is also the award-winning director of Nightbreed - The Cabal Cut, a restoration of the Clive Barker horror classic. He’s worked with Peter Gabriel, Nine Inch Nails, and Brian Eno, and is a senior lecturer at the University of Derby.

Patreon Only! A never-before-heard 30-minute chat with Kirk Hammett from Downey's interview archives. Conducted in 2016, the interview covers his signature pedals; his reinvigorated relationship with the guitar; the role Lars Ulrich plays in his solos; the band's relationship with producer Greg Fidelman; and a bunch of conversation about Kirk's plans to write and produce a horror film.

ALL WITHIN MY HANDS Executive Director Edward H. Frank talks about his relationship with Metallica and the work they do together. Ed worked in the computer industry for more than 30 years, including a stint as Vice President of Macintosh Hardware Engineering at Apple, where he led the development of several generations of Macintosh computers.

AVENGED SEVENFOLD bassist Johnny Christ talks about his upbringing and his band’s fantastic relationship with Metallica.

DIRTY DONNY hand-illustrated the Metallica Stern pinball machine and is responsible for several of the band’s posters and the artwork that adorns Metallica HQ. Donny talks about his career in the arts, meeting Metallica, how he ended up working at HQ for several months, and more. The work of Dirty Donny (aka Donny Gillies) can be seen on skate decks, pinball machines (including Aerosmith’s game), hot rods, posters, album covers, toys, and more.

BAY AREA GODFATHERS director Bob Nalbandian met Lars Ulrich in Huntington Beach before the formation of Metallica. Envious of the young Dane's New Wave Of British Heavy Metal records, Bob was witness to the first shows by Metallica: Lars, James, Dave, and Ron. In 1982, at age 17, he started a fanzine called The Headbanger, interviewing then-unsigned bands like Metallica, Slayer, and Armored Saint. He wrote for Hit Parader and Creem through the 90s and worked for Enigma and Roadrunner Records. He was even instrumental in Marty Friedman joining Megadeth. Bob talks about Metallica's early days, his career, and the documentary films he's directed, including 2020's Inside Metal: Bay Area Godfathers.

RAVEN frontman John Gallagher tells hilarious and candid stories from 1983's Raven/Metallica tour, Kill 'Em All For One. 17 people in a Winnebago, what could go wrong? Plus, Raven's early days, Neat Records, the NWOBHM, and their new album, Metal City.

Patreon Only! Never before heard. Glenn Danzig and I talk about Garage Days, analog recording, the Elvis comparisons, the song on the Less Than Zero soundtrack credited to Glenn Danzig & The Power And Fury Orchestra; various covers of his music; some of the songs on his Skeletons record; The Hangover movies; A&R executive Monte Connor; his reputation; Danzig Sings Elvis; and the Verotik films. Recorded in 2015, ran as a very short print Q&A. This is the full thing, for SN'D Patrons only! Become a Speak N’ Destroy Patron!

The Decade That Rocked. Mark Weiss is responsible for multiple iconic photos of Van Halen, Mötley Crüe, and Aerosmith. As the main photographer for Ozzy Osbourne, Mark first shot Metallica during the 1986 Ozzy/Metallica tour, and was soon after drafted to do the band's first publicity photos with Jason Newsted. It's all chronicled in his new book, The Decade That Rocked, focused on his work from the 1980s. In this episode, we also talk about Ozzy dressed as the Easter Bunny; Dokken and Freddy Krueger; Sammi Curr; the Moscow Music Peace Festival; Dee Snider at the PMRC hearings; Mark's brush with Glenn Danzig; shooting a very strung-out Dave Mustaine; and of course, a lot of Metallica.

TRAUMA is best known as Cliff Burton's pre-Metallica outfit, but they're a solid heavy metal band in their own right. I was hired to write a new bio for them in 2017 and spoke with vocalist/cofounder Donny Hillier by phone. Donny was going to come on to Speak N' Destroy to talk more about Cliff, but we never made it happen. When I heard the sad news of Donny's passing in September 2020, I remembered this recording. This interview covers some of Trauma's history, including some great stuff about Cliff toward the end. I'm posting this to give people a chance to hear the same sweet guy that spoke to me. Donny Hillier, R.I.P., thanks for all of the great music, and for sharing Cliff with the world.

Comedian! Musician! Metallica fan! Dave Hill is one-half of the psych-garage duo Painted Doll, together with Chris Reifert (Death, Autopsy). As an actor and personality, Dave has appeared on The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Tick, @midnight, and Inside Amy Schumer. He’s written three books, appears all over the world as a standup comic, contributed to The New York Times and GQ, and is the mastermind behind the "mostly imaginary” black metal band Witch Taint. In this episode, we talk about Phil Anselmo, Fenriz, Portal, The Replacements, Dokken, The Jackson Five, depressing pubs in England, Corrosion of Conformity, Mayhem, Emperor, a-ha, a whole bunch of Danzig, and yes, plenty of Metallica. 

We saw Metallica at the drive-in! Andrew Carter returns to Speak N' Destroy along with Kevin Burwick for an in-depth conversation about the Metallica drive-in experience. The setlist, the sound, the atmosphere, and a whole bunch of well-researched facts about the vineyard, among other things. Andrew is the former Deputy Editor for Terrorizer Magazine, an ex-music manager, and longtime entertainment attorney. Kevin is the guitarist for Golden Ram and an entertainment news writer for MovieWeb and TVweb.

BLACK VEIL BRIDES drummer Christian "C.C." Coma details what it was like to work with Bob Rock on the band's 2014 album. The band's self-titled set was recorded at the Warehouse Studio in Vancouver and mixed at legendary A&M/Jim Henson Studios in Hollywood, just like the Black Album. A ton of relatable stories about Bob reaching out to the band; Paul Stanley visiting the studio; tones, technique, and technology; what Lars Ulrich brings to Metallica; CC's early bands and his introduction to Black Veil Brides; and much more.

Ex-FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH drummer Jeremy Spencer talks about discovering Master of Puppets; what makes the early Metallica records so special; Lars Ulrich; his early Indiana band, Cornucopia Of Death; Metallica on the Monsters of Rock Tour in 1988; moving to California at 19; playing with one of the BulletBoys and briefly, W.A.S.P.; the formation and rapid ascent of Five Finger Death Punch; dinner with Judas Priest; Jason Newsted; what led him to step down from FFDP; the theatrical metal band he now fronts, Psychosexual; and his top five favorite Metallica songs.

BAD WOLVES. Doc Coyle returns! The first repeat guest, with all new Metallica-related stories to tell. Doc was one of the guitar players in The Wedding Band, alongside Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo, performing a set of songs by AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Billy Idol, Kool & The Gang, and more, first in July 2019 and then again in March 2020. Doc tells the story behind his role in both shows. He also talks in-depth about the success of Bad Wolves (a platinum single with "Zombie" and a bunch of No. 1 songs at Rock Radio), creative partnerships, movies and TV shows he's watching, and politics.

ZAO guitarist Scott Mellinger talks about discovering Metallica; learning his first Metallica songs and covering them in his first band; the unique partnership between him and the rest of the guys in Zao, past and present; and to top it off, he's composed an original theme for Speak N' Destroy!

TETRARCH shredder Diamond Rowe, who AfroPunk described as "the guitarist repping for black women making metal," talks about growing up with a music business father; discovering Metallica via the MTV: Icon television performance; learning "Enter Sandman" on guitar; covering "Master of Puppets"; seeing the band for the first time; her favorite bassist; the nuances of each member's playing; her Top 5 Metallica songs, and more.