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Metallica - THE DAY THAT NEVER COMES - Guitar Tab

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Key E minor
Metallica - THE DAY THAT NEVER COMES guitar tab video
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Metallica Thrash Metal 2008 E minor
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About THE DAY THAT NEVER COMES

Few Metallica songs demand as much range from a guitarist as this one. It opens with a clean, fingerpicked passage in E minor that rewards patience and a light touch, a strong contrast to what follows. As the track builds, the clean work gives way to heavy riffing with palm muting and aggressive picking, so you need to shift your whole physical approach mid-song. The clean intro alone is worth isolating: the phrasing is deliberate and the notes need to ring clearly, so use the Practice Toolbar to loop it slowed down until each note speaks cleanly before you add any speed. The climactic lead section at the end of the song is where most players will struggle most, as it calls for sustained bends and controlled vibrato under pressure. Work that outro section in short loops, keeping the pitch of your bends accurate before worrying about the feel.

  • The song opens with a fingerpicked clean guitar passage in E minor that demands precise articulation and a controlled, gentle right-hand technique.
  • A mid-song shift from clean fingerpicking to heavy palm-muted riffing means you must practise both feels and the transition between them.
  • The extended lead outro features sustained string bends and vibrato that are best drilled slowly using the Practice Toolbar before attempting them at full tempo.

How to Play THE DAY THAT NEVER COMES

The song moves through: • Kirk Intro, • Verse 1 James, • Chorus 1, • Pre Verse 2 Theme, • Verse 2 Kirk, • Chorus 2 Kirk, • Interlude / RiFF, • Speed RiFF, • Harmony Kirk, • Harmony James, • Chords / Hammer / Harmo, • Quarter Riff, and more.

Key: E minor · Tempo: 60 BPM

The arrangement runs through 12 distinct sections, so it helps to learn it in blocks rather than front to back. At 60 bpm the slow tempo leaves every note exposed, so timing, vibrato, and dynamics matter more than raw speed.

Loop each section and focus on clean, even timing rather than speed, with the metronome at 60 BPM.

Gibson Les Paul Standard
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

Kirk Hammett's vintage 1959 'Greeny' Les Paul Standard delivers warmer, more dynamic PAF-style tones that contrast his EMG-equipped ESP guitars, adding organic sustain to his lead work. This guitar's traditional construction gives his solos a thicker, less compressed character than his signature models.

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

While not Hammett's primary choice, the Les Paul Custom shares the Les Paul's warm PAF pickup character and thick body resonance, offering heavier players an alternative to Strat-style designs for achieving Metallica's crushing rhythm tones.

Gibson Explorer
Guitar

Gibson Explorer

James Hetfield's early Gibson Explorer established his signature angular shape and thick body tone, delivering the aggressive midrange attack essential to Metallica's crushing rhythm style before his ESP signature models became his primary tool.

Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier
Amp

Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier

Kirk Hammett's Dual Rectifier heads provide the high-gain, midrange-forward aggression that lets his solos cut through Hetfield's scooped rhythm tone, creating definition and clarity in Metallica's dense wall of distortion.

EMG 81
Pickup

EMG 81

Hetfield's bridge EMG 81 delivers the hot, compressed output with tight low-end that defines Metallica's palm-muted riffs, the ceramic magnet and active preamp cutting through heavy arrangements with focused, aggressive attack.

EMG 60
Pickup

EMG 60

Both guitarists use the neck EMG 60 for warmer, more articulate rhythm tones and smoother lead voicings, balancing the 81's aggression with clearer note definition across Metallica's dense arrangements.

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