Metallica Heading to Former Danish Prison for ‘Black Album’ Show
Metallica is going back to prison for a special performance of their self-titled album, better known as the Black Album, for a concert at Statsfængsel in Denmark.
The site no longer operates as a prison, because it closed down in 2006 and it was reformed into an entertainment venue. It was built in 1853 and it housed inmates serving long-term sentences for murder and other crimes, according to Road Runner Records.
The performance is set for June 6, 2012, and the legendary metal band will headline the Download Festival. It is not the first time Metallica have been associated with prisons – their hit video “St. Anger” rocked San Quentin State Prison in California in 2003. A number of their songs have also focused on anger, guilt and isolation issues, and they have dedicated past performances to inmates.
The Statsfængsel show will include a full rendition of the Black Album, according to NME, and tickets are expected to sell out quickly after going on sale Dec. 8 at 10 a.m.
Metallica has denied that it was their idea to play at the former prison, with Lars Ulrich telling Kerrang! Magazine that the organizers of the Download Festival made the decision.
"The thing is, although we haven't played at Donington for six years, we have been to the United Kindgom pretty much every single summer since then," said the drummer. "So they wanted us to do something different, and that's what they came up with. I quite like the fact that come next summer it'll be the 21st anniversary of the 'black album,' not the 20th."
The Black Album is the band’s most successful effort worldwide, with close to 16 million copies sold in the United States alone.
It produced no less than six singles that are still some of their most popular songs today, including "The Unforgiven", "Wherever I May Roam", "Sad but True," "Nothing Else Matters", "Enter Sandman" and "Don't Tread on Me."
Fans at the Statsfængsel arena will be able to hear and experience them all at the concert next summer.
