As the centre piece for their 2012 festival shows, metal titans Metallica have chosen to play their multi-million selling 1991 self-titled release in it’s entirity.  The fact that ‘the black album’ is now twenty-one years old is enough to make many self-respecting rock fan feel the pangs of age, but the album itself has weathered the years rather well.

Such a revisitation of the past is surely interesting for Metallica too.  The album features material which has been absent from the live sets for some time, or in some cases – ‘The Struggle Within’ and ‘Don’t Tread On Me’ – has never been played live before.

With a selection of successful ‘black album’ shows already under their belts, on June 2nd 2012, Metallica took the stage in Germany at the Rock Am Ring Festival for another tour-de-force two hour set.

The complete performance can be seen below.  As a bonus, we’ve also included an embedded link to Metallica‘s headline slot at Rock Am Ring in 2008.  Enjoy!