Down frontman Phil Anselmo has never been shy about calling out the guys in Metallica when he feels it's necessary, and he does it again in the Sept. 2014 issue of Metal Hammer.

The former Pantera singer took the hot seat for the issue's 'Discs of Doom' feature, which asks artists to talk about albums that have had a major impact on them -- as well as those that never should have been released. Faced with the latter question, Anselmo shrugged, "I would have to say 'Load' by Metallica. I mean, it's a terrible record, man. I just don't get it. If you're gonna put out a record like that, just do a f---ing side project or something, ya know?"

Anselmo first took his 'Load' scorn public in 2003, when he revealed that he'd challenged Metallica to a head-to-head concert duel between them and his band Superjoint Ritual. Arguing that "heavy metal lies in the underground" and criticizing them for touring with insufficiently metal supporting acts like Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park, he explained, "That was due to a conversation James Hetfield and I had years ago when I was talking to him about their new album. I think that was when 'Load' was out, and it kind of shocked everybody -- everybody was freaked out."

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich laughed off Anselmo's remarks, saying he "has a tendency to talk a lot of horses--- most of the time," but Anselmo doubled down in a subsequent interview, claiming that Metallica never would have shared a stage with Pantera in the U.S. "because they know what would f---in' happen. We would f---in' eat them alive! That's the end of the f---in' sentence. We would crush 'em."

Fences were mended later when Down toured with Metallica in 2008, and two years later, Anselmo told Ultimate Guitar that he considered Metallica to be the "Rolling Stones of metal" in terms of career longevity. But even the Stones have had their low points, and Anselmo clearly still hasn't come around on 'Load.'

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