Through The Never

Mainly produced by Bob Rock, The Black Album was a departure from the thrash metal style of Metallica's previous recordings and saw the band moving towards a more commercial heavy metal sound. This song was one of the departures from their previous output. Rock recalled to Music Radar in a 2011 interview: "It's funny talking about some of these songs and remembering my learning curve in understanding what Metallica were all about. While I was helping them be the best band they could be, I was gaining so much insight into what made them tick. Each day brought discovery on both sides, theirs and mine. It took me a while to realize what was good in 'Through The Never,' but once I did, I realized that it was quite good. And what's good is there's a bit of a fiery punk rock vibe to it. A new shade, a new color - that was exciting! Previously, I thought their influences were all metal, but talking to them and understanding that they had other sides to them really opened my eyes. Once I saw where they were coming from, the song made total sense."

Metallica named their 2013 American IMAX thriller concert film, Metallica: Through the Never, after this song. James Hetfield explained why to Artist Direct: "When we were naming the movie, it was similar to how we name songs or albums," he said. "We thought, 'What's this thing's nickname? What's it telling us?' Sometimes, there are song titles you write and they're intense. They need to have a song around them. Other times, you're just naming it. We had a working title for this movie. We had no idea." "With the album Death Magnetic, we had no idea what it was going to be called," Hetfield continued. "We came up with the encompassing topic or name that could sound-bite what it is. Through The Never just fit that because there was no way of describing this movie. What is it? Is it concert footage? Is it narrative? Is it an action film? Is it a documentary? What is this thing? Nobody knows what it is. We don't what it is to be known. We came up with a title that was just as vague as the movie could be [Laughs]." "On the episode of The Colbert Report we did, there was a joke like, 'What is Through The Never? Beyond the Sideways?' He was making fun of it, which put me in stitches, man," Hetfield added. "It was like, 'What the hell does that mean?' For me, the song 'Through The Never' was about exploring man's mind and how limited we are. In a way, this movie maybe breaks through some boundaries."