February 12, 2013 20:44

Man who killed Osama bin Laden says Metallica asked US military to stop using their music

The anonymous shooter says he thought 'Dude, you have an album called ''Kill 'Em All''

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Photo: PA

The US Navy SEAL who killed Osama bin Laden in 2011 has said that Metallica got in touch with the US military and asked them to stop using their music to weaken prisoners in Iraq.

Speaking in Esquire - via Spin - the anonymous shooter said:

When we first started the war in Iraq, we were using Metallica music to soften people up before we interrogated them... Metallica got wind of this and they said, 'Hey, please don't use our music because we don't want to promote violence.' I thought, 'Dude, you have an album called 'Kill 'Em All''.

The unnamed shooter said that the military stopped using Metallica following their request, and then started playing music by a Christian metal band called Demon Hunter.

He said: "...Then a band called Demon Hunter got in touch and said, 'We're all about promoting what you do.' They sent us CDs and patches. I wore my Demon Hunter patch on every mission. I wore it when I blasted bin Laden."

Spin adds that in 2008, James Hetfield of Metallica said of the alleged use of his band's music to psychologically break down Guantanamo Bay prisoners:

"Part of me is proud because they chose Metallica and then part of me is kind of bummed about it that people worry about us being attached to some political statement because of that. We've got nothing to do with this and we're trying to be as apolitical as possible, 'cause I think politics and music, at least for us, don't mix."

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