There are two Metallica songs in particular that James Hetfield finds really “tough” to play.Bands that are around for as long as Metallica need to really challenge themselves every now and again. According to an interview the frontman did with MusicRadar in 2021, they certainly did that on their 2008 album Death Magnetic.Since Hetfield sings and plays rhythm guitar, he explained how difficult it can be to play syncopated guitar riffs while singing a different melody. He admitted he had a tough time doing it at first and named two songs from Death Magnetic that are especially challenging.”Take ‘My Apocalypse’ off Death Magnetic, for example. The rhythm of the guitar is doing the complete opposite of the vocal. Singing along with ‘That Was Just Your Life’ is tough too, as there’s a part where the vocals go, ‘I close my eyes and find it all fit into place’, where I’m playing a counter rhythm on the guitar, which gives me real trouble,” Hetfield explained.Metallica, ‘That Was Just Your Life’Despite the songs being challenging for Hetfield, Metallica have still performed them live quite a few times.According to Setlist.fm’s Tour Statistics page on Metallica, they’ve tackled “My Apocalypse” 37 times live, with the last time being in 2011.READ MORE: The Metallica Song That Made Kirk Hammett Cry”That Was Just Your Life,” on the other hand, has been played a total of 170 times live, with the last being in 2010.Hetfield Described ‘Death Magnetic’ As a ‘Look Backward’Perhaps some of the songs on Death Magnetic are more difficult to play than other Metallica songs, but in a 2008 issue of Guitar World, Hetfield explained that the record was more technically in line with their earlier work.”I guess I would say that it’s a look backward – taking the essence of our earlier style and playing it with our current skills,” the frontman said.”It’s impossible to completely regain your innocence or virginity. When we recorded our first albums, we had no regard for authority or for the way things were supposed to be. We’d walk into a studio and we’d play what we knew and that was that… It’s one of the reasons we chose Rick Rubin to produce [the] album. He’s good at capturing the essence of the artists he works with.”Metallica, ‘My Apocalypse’Ranking the Opening Song on Every Metallica AlbumWe ranked the opening track on every one of Metallica’s studio albums.Gallery Credit: Philip Trapp + Chuck Armstrong