During a recent interview with Esquire, the Navy SEAL that allegedly shot Osama bin Laden claimed that the military had previously used the hard-hitting music of Metallica during interrogations. 

The service member then shared that, when the band heard rumors of the military’s methods, they asked them to stop:

“…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.’”

Now, the group has taken to their official website to ‘Clear the Air’, posting a statement that flat-out denies the SEAL’s story:

“There has been a lot of talk recently about us asking the military not to use our music to “soften people up before interrogation.” We NEVER commented to the military either way on this matter. Any statements that have been made otherwise are not correct.”

The statement makes it unclear whether or not Metallica actually supports the use of their music in interrogations; however, as of three years ago, drummer Lars Ulrich stated that the band did not.

During a 2009 interview with Gigwise, Ulrich said of the same topic, “It all seems so bizarre and so strange that Metallica's music, which generally sort of facilitates bringing people together, is used in these bizarre circumstances. It's certainly not something that we in any way advocate or condone.”

He also went on to recommend the military look into the genre of Norwegian death metal, which would apparently make Metallica sound comparable to Simon & Garfunkel.

Ulrich did note that the band was happy to hear of at least one use of their music in the military, and that was the troops listening to Metallica songs to lift their spirits, which is something we can all get behind.

For more of Lars Ulrich’s 2009 interview with Gigwise, click here, and head to Metallica.com for further updates from the band.