Bruce Dickinson has been stirring up the argument that Iron Maiden is better than Metallica, but who’s the judge? Back in 2011 Dickinson repeated a claim he made previously to Metal Hammer Magazine saying “I got into trouble for saying that we’re better than Metallica […] and, it’s true!” Both Metallica and Iron Maiden will be headlining different days at the same U.K Sonisphere Festival beginning with Maiden on July 5th and Metallica at the forefront of the July 6th date. Although Dickinson has been testifying that Iron Maiden is the ‘better band,’ Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich didn’t give in to the temptation of arguing and instead offered a humble response. Ulrich responded to Dickinson’s comment in a recent interview with The Guardian stating:
I will never argue with that. I will always support Bruce Dickinson in whatever nonsense he says. That’s part of the fun. So go Iron Maiden! It’s fine.
OK, so if Dickinson was looking to start a war of words with Metallica, Lars didn’t take the bait. Metallica will be the first metal band to ever headline Glastonbury, however. Scottish postrock band Mogwai, who are scheduled to be playing the festival at the same time as Metallica, also ganged up on the band. In an interview with Gigwise, the band’s drummer Barry Burns took aim squarely at Ulrich:
“I can’t wait to hear that guy play the drums again – unbelievably bad. He’s terrible.”
The band’s Martin Bulloch, when asked why booking a metal band to headline the annual festival was a controversy, simply answered “because they’re shite.” OK, so Mogwai won’t find themselves at any Metallica shows anytime soon. Noted. As for the argument of which metal band triumphs between Iron Maiden and Metallica, I’m afraid that’s a question you’ll just have to answer for yourself.
