Armored Saint guitarist Phil Sandoval recently discussed James Hetfield’s ongoing support for the band, revealing that the Metallica frontman will appear in their upcoming “Band of Brothers” documentary. He also candidly confessed that during the early 1980s, he highly doubted Metallica and the emerging thrash metal scene would ever succeed.
Speaking in a new interview with Eonmusic, Sandoval recalled Hetfield watching Armored Saint’s set at the Sonic Temple Festival in Ohio last year.
“Yeah, he did. We took a picture with him, and he stayed there the whole set,” Sandoval said. “It’s pretty amazing that he has endeared our band like that. All we need is a couple of shows with Metallica and that would be great. Just kidding! But that was pretty amazing.”
The guitarist then shared a brief update on the band’s long-awaited documentary, confirming Hetfield’s involvement in the project.
“We have a documentary coming out. Hopefully it’ll be out soon, one of these years, and he’s in it,” Sandoval stated. When asked directly if Hetfield is in the film, he replied: “Yeah, he talks a little bit about us.”
The conversation then shifted to the early days of Metallica. At the time, the band was still finding its direction, and there was talk that Hetfield might not sing, with Armored Saint vocalist John Bush potentially joining them. Looking back at how the emerging thrash scene was viewed, Sandoval admitted he did not see the genre’s massive potential at first.
“It was kind of unbelievable, but at the time, Metallica was so new, and it’s like, ‘Those guys aren’t going to make it.’ It’s like thrash, whatever,” he explained. “But of course, we were just like feeling like that, and look what happened. Little did we know that that was the thing.”
Sandoval noted how quickly the thrash movement took over the metal world, leaving traditional metal bands to navigate the changes.
“Look at Slayer talking about all these dark things, and that sold, and it gathered an audience, like a wave of an audience that crashed and took over,” he continued. “And we stayed true to our guns and stuff, and now we’re realising that the changes were ahead of us. And it happened. Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, all these bands became very successful playing thrash.”
Reflecting on their own musical roots, Sandoval joked about where Armored Saint might go next. “We were just doing our thing, playing metal. Maybe our next album should be a killer fucking thrash album!”
Sandoval’s comments point back to a period when the two bands were closely linked, and to a film that has been in the works for a long time.
“Armored Saint: Band of Brothers” was announced in October 2022 as arriving “soon” through select theaters and streaming outlets. Directed by Russell Cherrington, the film held its world premiere on May 23, 2023, at the Harmony Gold Theatre in Hollywood, the band’s hometown.
Hetfield is not the only major name in the film. Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich also appears, along with Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian, Metal Blade Records founder Brian Slagel, producer Ron Fair, and manager Cliff Burnstein. Hetfield and Ulrich are both set to discuss the early touring history shared by the two bands.
That shared history includes one of the best-known “what if” stories in metal. In 1983, after the release of Metallica’s debut album, “Kill ‘Em All,” Ulrich invited Armored Saint singer John Bush to audition for Metallica. Hetfield was reportedly unsure of his own singing ability at the time and wanted to focus on rhythm guitar.
Bush chose to stay with Armored Saint, which had formed in Los Angeles in 1982 around a group of school friends. Metallica kept Hetfield as its lead vocalist. The episode remains a central part of the connection between the two bands, and it is the period Sandoval was asked about in the interview.
