A savvy heavy metal fan has brought together two of the genre’s most iconic bands, Metallica and Slipknot, to demonstrate how easily they can crossover.

As reported by Loudwire, heavy metal fanatic Pete Cottrell – whose channel sees the Briton reinterpret songs and riffs of many bands, among other audio oddities – posted a video to YouTube titled ‘What if Slipknot sounded like Metallica?’

With a focus on ‘Enter Sandman’ – the opening track of Metallica’s self-titled 1991 album – Cottrell’s video demonstrates how with a little technological tweaking and a good ear, a Metallica classic can be made to sound almost exactly like Slipknot.

Firstly, Cottrell points out the contrasting styles of both bands; “Metallica is more old school, with everything from ’80s thrash to modern rock ballads,” he says. “Slipknot is more modern and frantic and brutal.”

Cottrell then shares some of the key things that helped him transform ‘Enter Sandman’ into something closer resembling a Slipknot track, starting by changing the tuning from E to B – making it “sound darker and more menacing”. Cotterell then adjusted the tempo, taking the original song from 120bpm (beats per minute) into a more rabid 190bpm that echoes Slipknot’s potency.

As for the rhythm, Cotterell discussed what he referred to as “the Joey beat”, explaining the drum beat that late Slipknot drummer, Joey Jordison, was known for and how it was incorporated into the fresh take.

Take a listen to Metallica’s original ‘Enter Sandman’ below:

Now have a listen to Cottrell’s Slipknot-style take – and his full explanatory video – of the same song:

Slipknot are on target to release their seventh studio album this year, frontman Corey Taylor confirming the fact earlier this week.

The vocalist revealed that the follow-up to 2019’s ‘We Are Not Your Kind’ was currently at the mixing stage and should be released in around “three months from now”.

Meanwhile Metallica dusted off some older songs – ‘The End Of The Line’, ‘Dirty Window’ and more – when they performed in San Francisco on December 19, as part of their run of dates celebrating their 40th anniversary.

The metal monoliths performed a 16-track set that included some special moments, like the performance of their 2000 single ‘I Disappear’ (from the Mission: Impossible 2 soundtrack) for the first time since 2013, before 1996’s ‘Bleeding Me’ was performed in full for the first time in 10 years.