Today marks the release of Metallica’s latest studio album “Hardwired…To Self-Destruct” and I’m happy to say that as a life-long fan of the band, they are back and they’re just as loud, fast, and great as ever. Not surprisingly, listening through the album for the first time got me thinking about Halloween Horror Nights – as most things do – and I couldn’t help but wonder, wouldn’t a Metallica house be amazing?!
This idea isn’t so far-fetched, as Universal Orlando is no stranger to creating attractions incorporating and inspired by music. The popular Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit coaster separates itself from other thrill rides by allowing visitors to select their own personal soundtrack from a varied – albeit limited – track list. Halloween Horror Nights itself has also been musically influenced as recently as 2012. Many may remember Halloween Horror Nights 22’s Alice Cooper: Welcome to My Nightmare; a demented walk down memory lane through some of Cooper’s greatest hits. Personally, I don’t recall too many specifics from the house (courtesy of the infamous “HHN Blur”), but I can clearly remember a trashed high school setting during the “School’s Out” section. Cooper’s music was the perfect fit for the HHN treatment. His songs are often story-driven, and with the help of some great classic music videos, are also very visual and atmospheric and oftentimes horrifying; three mandatory qualities in any HHN house.
The same can be said, in my opinion, of Metallica. Coming out of the thrash metal scene of the 80s and into the 90s, the band has remained relevant across four consecutive decades, a rarity in a field of entertainment that doesn’t often allow for such longevity. With an ever-growing catalog of great tracks and a theme park event that only increases in popularity with each passing year, the merging of Metallica and Halloween Horror Nights seems like a no-brainer from a creative standpoint.
Still need convincing? Here are just a few tracks that I feel would make for some great scenes in a future house I’d like to call Metallica: Welcome Home (Sanitarium):
Master of Puppets:
One:
Enter Sandman:
Welcome Home (Sanitarium):
Of Wolf And Man:
Four Horsemen:
Trapped Under Ice:
Any other songs or bands you can think of that would make great attractions for Halloween Horror Nights? Or do I just need to be locked up in the sanitarium myself? Let us know!
FUN FACT: In the queue line for this year’s Lunatics Playground 3D house, you can hear a musical mash-up by The Black Sweden featuring the vocals of Abba’s “Take a Chance on Me” sung to the melody of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”. Possible Easter egg for a Metallica house next year???
-Freddy