Dave Mustaine says Metallica stole ‘Enter Sandman’ riff from another band

Dave Mustaine has claimed that Metallica’s riff from ‘Enter Sandman’ was stolen from another band.

• READ MORE: Metallica live in Amsterdam: still the greatest heavy metal band around

Mustaine, who was a part of the iconic metal band in the ‘80s and is now the founding member and frontman of Megadeth, accused his former bandmates of copying another metal band.

Speaking as part of The Shawn Ryan Show, the singer and guitarist claimed that Metallica’s biggest hit ‘Enter Sandman’ was based around a riff stolen from another band.

The band in question is the crossover thrash group Excel, and the song allegedly copied in ‘Enter Sandman’ is their 1989 track ‘Tapping Into The Emotional Void’. Some people have claimed they can hear similarities between the two tracks, not only in the guitar riff but also in the drum build-up at the beginning.

Mustaine’s comments arose when he started talking about Metallica in the interview and his departure from the line-up. “I made sure not to ever say that I quit, because I wanted people to know that I was unfairly dismissed and that I didn’t give a shit,” he said.

“Because we [Megadeth] may not be as big as they are. Hell, their biggest song, ‘Enter Sandman’ — go look up the band Excel right now… Look up their song, I think it’s something like ‘Into the Unknown.’ Pretty similar,” he added, referring to ‘Tapping Into the Emotional Void.’

This isn’t the first time that the hit Metallica song has been suspected of copying the Excel riff. Comparisons have been made since the trash icons shared the song, which would appear in the tracklist for their 1991 self-titled album (also known as ‘The Black Album’).

Mustaine himself has noted the similarities as far back as 20 years ago, and Consequence highlights that members of Excel were even considering taking legal action against Metallica for the song in 2003, although this did not materialise. Check out ‘Enter Sandman’ and ‘Tapping Into the Emotional Void’ below.

Elsewhere in the interview, Mustaine went into further depth about his departure from the band, and said how he initially took offence with his replacement Kirk Hammett using the material he had worked on.

“At the time, I was really mad and I didn’t wanna forgive them for what they did. And I told them when I left, ‘Do not use my music. And of course they used it,” he said.

‘Ride the Lightning,’ I wrote. ‘The Call of Ktulu’ I wrote. What else? There’s ‘Phantom Lord,’ ‘Metal Militia,’ ‘Jump in the Fire’, ‘The Four Horsemen.’ And I wrote a bunch of ‘Leper Messiah,’ too. They didn’t give me credit on that,” he added. “You listen to the riffs, you know they’re my riffs.

“I wrote a lot of their music that made them, and all the solos on that first record were mine — the best Kirk could try and copy them.”

In other Metallica news, the band have announced new UK and European dates for their ongoing ‘M72’ tour for 2026. The shows will see them return to the UK and Ireland for performances in Dublin, Glasgow and Cardiff, before playing two nights at the London Stadium on July 3 and 5. Opening sets will come from Gojira, Pantera, Knocked Loose and Avatar. You can buy tickets here (UK and Ireland) and here (Europe).

In a four-star review of Metallica’s ‘M72’ tour opener in Amsterdam, NME wrote: “Metallica have always been a gateway band for heavy music, but there’s a renewed excitement around them now. Tonight’s surprising, ambitious and giddy gig matches that energy at every turn.”

As for Megadeth, the band are gearing up for a UK and European tour with Disturbed, where the latter will be celebrating 25 years of ‘The Sickness’. Visit here to buy tickets.

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