Released as the fifth single from Metallica’s eponymous fifth album (also known as The Black Album), ‘Sad But True’ carries the hallmarks of a classic metal track. For the ominous-sounding opening chords (A5–Bb5), aim for clear contrast between the non-muted power chords and palm-muted ‘chugs’ (bars 1–2), then ensuring that no unwanted strings are ringing over the single-note lines in bars 3 and 4. In bars 7–14, try to keep the rhythms as even as possible, focusing on the accuracy of your fretting hand for the pull-offs (e.g., bar 7, beat 3, beat 4). There are only two repeated bars of the verse riff in this Rockschool arrangement, and these riffs again require clarity between unmuted partial chords and palm-muted open E strings. Watch out for the placement of the chords that follow in the chorus (bars 17–20), as these sometimes change in unexpected places (for instance, the A5 on beat 3 of bar 18).