#violayne

When Metallica first released this song, some fans complained that the thrash metal band had "sold out" and gone soft by recording a contemplative ballad. Thirty years later, it's one of their most iconic and beloved songs, and fans cast a wary eye on anyone who dares to cover it. Luckily, VoicePlay's loyal listeners were quicker to get onboard with their a cappella rendition, and even a lot of old school adherants were won over.

Details:

title: Nothing Else Matters (feat. J.None)

original performers: Metallica

written by: James Hetfield & Lars Ulrich

arranged by: Geoff Castellucci

release date: 13 January 2023

My favorite bits:

recreating that unmistakable guitar arpeggio as bell chords

the smooth ebb and flow of their "instrumental" vocalizations

Geoff dropping down the octave on the third round to keep things interesting

the gentle rasp in Eli's voice on the opening lyrics

the brief trills J.None puts on ♫ "matters" ♫

Cesar and Layne's delicate repetition of ♫ "find in you" ♫

everything cutting out for just a moment before J continues with ♫ "Never cared for what they do" ♫

Layne kicking in the percussion to keep the rhythm going as Geoff takes the melody

the extra grit Eli puts on the beginning of ♫ "But I know" ♫

Cesar's beautiful vulnerability on ♫ "Never opened myself this way" ♫

the fantastic dissonance at the end of ♫ "I don't just say" ♫

the camera shake as the they start the gradual crescendo toward the bridge

that entire slow build to the trio's wailing ♫ "Yeah!" ♫

VioLayne flawlessly pulling off the guitar solo, and dropping a bassy ingressive in the middle just because he can 🎻

Eli's floaty descending counterpoint line as a transition out of the bridge

the syncopated ♫ "Whoa-o-oa" ♫

coming full circle to end as they began

Trivia:

The simple black backdrop and their mostly black clothing are a reflection of Metallica's 1992 self-titled album, often referred to as "the black album" for its cover art, which features a coiled black rattlesnake on an entirely black background. (The colloquial name is also a contrast to The Beatles' self-titled "white album".)

The guys did originally try doing the bridge and guitar solo in pure a cappella, but felt that it wasn't quite as epic as they wanted it to be. When Layne agreed to bring in his violin again, Geoff reworked that section of the arrangement.

They also considered having Layne beatbox and play at the same time, as he did in the "Warriors" video, but decided against it. Performing the two different rhythms at once was very difficult and didn't look as good on camera this time around.

Layne's cool prop violin was tossed to him by Tony Wakim, and they managed it successfully with only a few rounds of practice. (Though apparently he didn't do quite as good a job at catching it when Layne returned it.)

When some viewers complained that the inclusion of an instrument made the arrangement "not real a cappella", VoicePlay responded with their typical good humor by creating new merch.

This video was what caught the attention of Chicago's booking team, and earned VoicePlay a spot in the lineup for the band's 55th anniversary celebration shows in Atlantic City at the end of the year.

Cesar joined his fellow Throga vocal coaches a year later for a livestreamed reaction to this video, as well as his first appearance with VoicePlay in "We're Good".

Metallica's original music video was uploaded to YouTube in October 2009, and hit one billion views in August 2021, making it the band's first music video to do so. Four years later, it has now passed 1.5 billion.