Even at this stage of their career, Metallica can still pull out a few surprises. One of those instances happened Friday night (May 29) at the Rock Im Rivier festival in Gelsenkirchen, Germany when the group performed the rare live rendition of "The Unforgiven II."

Technically, the song has been performed live once at a Las Vegas-based 1997 awards show, but as far as a traditional concert, the German performance was their first time bringing it to the stage. They also performed the track at Rockavaria in Munich, Germany, on Sunday night (May 31).

"The Unforgiven II" was the second single released from the band's 1997 Reload album. The track, which was meant as a sequel to the popular Black album favorite "The Unforgiven," The track peaked at No. 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart, but did much better on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart where it topped out at No. 2.

Fan filmed footage from the Rock Im Rivier performance can be viewed below, but it does not provide the quality of sound that Metallica's official release of the live performance has in the player above. In fact, the band has officially put up the full Rock Im Rivier show for purchase at their Live Metallica site. Check it out at this location.

Fan Filmed Footage of Metallica, "Unforgiven II' (Live in Gelsenkirchen, Germany)

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