'Take the Leech': Watch Metallica Perform 'Bleeding Me' Live

In a 2001 interview, James Hetfield was asked about the meaning behind Load's "Bleeding Me." In the conversation, he opened up about the deeply personal connection he has to the song:

Around the time of Load, I felt I wanted to stop drinking. 'Maybe I'm missing out on something. Everyone else seems happy all the time. I want to get happy' ... I lost a lot of days in my life. Going to therapy for a year, I learned a lot about myself. There's a lot of things that scar you when you're growing up, you don't know why. The song "Bleeding Me" is about that: I was trying to bleed out all bad, get the evil out. While I was going through therapy, I discovered some ugly stuff in there. A dark spot.

Given the distinct nature of the song and Hetfield's continued struggle with drinking over the years, it's no surprise that when Metallica performed it at their second 40th anniversary show, he told the crowd, "That was therapeutic."

It may be because of the emotional weight of "Bleeding Me" that the song has rarely been performed live. Metallica debuted it onstage at Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria, on Sept. 6, 1996, the same show they also premiered another Load track, "Wasting My Hate."

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Since that show, Metallica have perfromed it 163 more times; it's never been a regular staple in any particular tour's setlist, so when it gets played, it's a big, big deal.

Big enough, in fact, that Metallica have decided to share their performance of "Bleeding Me" from COPENHELL in Denmark on June 15 as their latest official live video. Check it out in the player below.

Watch Metallica Perform "Bleeding Me" Live in Copenhagen

Metallica have three live shows left in 2022: Chicago, Buffalo and Pittsburgh. You can find their tour itinerary here.

Some of Our Favorite Live Photos of Kirk Hammett

Kirk Hammett is a shredder, plain and simple. Or more specifically, he's a ripper. The Ripper.

Whether you're listening to him ripping or watching videos or staring at photos, one thing is obvious: this guy is a six-string master. While we could never create a collection that covers Hammett's entire history with Metallica, we've picked a handful of some of our favorite photos over the last 20 years showing the guitarist rocking out and having fun.

Here Are Some of Our Favorite Metallica T-Shirts

Metallica have not only created some of the best heavy metal in the last 40 years, they've also created some of the most iconic T-shirts. In the last four decades, they've worked with incredible artists like Pushead, Brian Ewing and others to bring their songs and albums to life. In the gallery below, we've picked out some of our favorite T-shirts that are currently available at Metallica's official online store. Which one is your favorite?