Metallica is a band that, at this point, seemingly exists to be memed. It’s been eight years since its last studio album, 2008’s Death Magnetic, and, depending on who you ask, either two or three decades since its last good record. Yet the band presses on despite its management’s hatred of the internet, its songs getting hacked and chopped, vocalist James Hetfield’s emphatic “Yeah”s being made into a supercut, drummer Lars Ulrich’s inability to play his own songs getting a similar treatment, and the fact that bargains are imprisoning them.
Metallica just wasn’t made for these times, and we’re willing to bet it’s not too happy about this mashup that sees it’s ripping through the Pokémon theme song either. The Daily Dot credits the mashup to Gabriel Salles, who takes Pokémon’s triumphant theme, power-metal’s up the song, and sets it to a Metallica live performance. It’s a mashup that’s surprisingly tight, with the live footage matching the song’s ebbs and flows. And while it’s existence seems to be a cash-in on the recent Pokémon craze, it’s also a good excuse to get Metallica all riled up.