Metallica – Rob Scallon Backward Version Of ‘Enter Sandman’ Will Blow Your Mind

The Metallica hit “Enter Sandman,” played backwards and then listened to forwards by YouTube sensation Rob Scallon only gets more interesting the more you examine it.

Covers of Metallica’s music have been in the news several times over the last few weeks. There were the girls who played a rockin’ version of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” and the Finnish band, Steve’N’Seagulls, who offered up a new video of themselves covering Metallica’s “Seek & Destroy” in a decidedly hillbilly, bluegrass fashion.

Now, the latest Metallica cover to hit the net is the strangest yet. Rob Scallon records music completely backwards. That’s not to say that his technique is wrong, but it is actually backwards. Scallon figures out the sounds of all the instruments and the vocals if they were to be played backwards and records them like that himself. When the backwards track is then played backwards, you get the song – in this case, Metallica’s Enter Sandman – played forwards.

Confused? You’re not alone.

Here’s Rob Scallon’s backwards, yet played forward, video for Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”

What’s really amazing about Rob’s crazy rendition of the Metallica mega-hit, is that not only does he have to write out and sing all the words phonetically so he can sing them backwards, he also has to learn Kirk Hammett’s ripping guitar solos in reverse!

singing backwards is hard i just tried @YahooMusic @yahooo http://t.co/tFRyiLHF5Z

— Lenay Dunn (@LenayDunn) May 6, 2015

Here’s another video of Scallon’s Metallica cover, but this is the original, backwards – as recorded – version.

Not only does Scallon include all the word sounds in their proper order, but he also hits tone and accents, mimicking the way Metallica frontman James Hetfield actually sings the song. You might think that learning how to play Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” isn’t the most difficult of tasks. Let’s face it, the song is pretty basic, though learning the guitar solo would prove to be tremendously difficult. However, Scallon is calling this month Maytellica, and he pledges to deliver another new backwards cover of a new Metallica song each and every week. (Next week’s offering will reportedly be from Metallica’s debut album, Kill ’em All.) Rob’s Metallica cover has become a bonafide phenomenon with over a million hits on YouTube.

A million views on Enter Sandman already! Definitely a new record for me. Thanks everyone!

— Rob Scallon (@RobScallon) May 6, 2015

What do you think of Rob Scallon’s backwards version of Metallica? What song would you like to hear backwards next?

[Image via Twitter]