William Shatner reveals more about his cover of “Enter Sandman” by Metallica

Appearing on the September 29 episode of SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk, 95-year-old Star Trek icon William Shatner offered details on his upcoming heavy metal studio album, tentatively titled “What The F Is Heavy Metal?” and slated for a 2027 release through Cleopatra Records, as per Blabbermouth. Spearheaded by a production unit featuring Adam Hamilton (L.A. Guns, Brian Jonestown Massacre) and Cleopatra Records president Brian Perera—alongside production contributions from Derek Hughes (Nuclear Messiah), Marcus Nand, and Die Krupps‘ Jürgen Engler—the record boasts guest appearances from dozens of prominent rock and metal figures, including Brian May (Queen), Rob Halford (Judas Priest), John Moyer (Disturbed), and Dave Lombardo (Slayer).

Shatner recently debuted material from the album live on September 20 at Chicago’s Riot Fest alongside his new backing group, The *uckers. Their six-song set featured three original compositions co-written with longtime collaborator Rob Sharenow, as well as renditions of Metallica‘s “Enter Sandman,” Ozzy Osbourne‘s “Crazy Train,” and Motörhead‘s “Ace Of Spades.” Addressing his vocal strategy when tackling these heavy metal classics, Shatner offered his perspective on interpreting the material.

I reinterpreted it. Take ‘Sandman’, for example. So ‘Sandman’ is a weird lyric. The words are, ‘Never mind the noise you heard.’ ‘It’s under your bed, in your head.’ ‘Be a nice little child. Say your prayers.’ It’s bizarre… If you were an actor, as I am, you’re looking at the words you’ve gotta say. Who says this? I said, ‘Well, who would say this?’ A child molester would talk like this. ‘Say your prayers, little one.’ ‘Never the noise you heard. It’s under the bed, in your head.’ Come on. Who says that? A child molester. So ‘Sandman’ is a paean of praise for molesting a child… Well, I mean, maybe not molesting, but driving them nuts. How to drive a child mad… But this individual’s encouraging the bad dreams. ‘Say your prayers, little one.’ ‘Make sure you include everyone.’ That’s my reinterpretation of ‘Sandman’… So I gave my interpretation, not only of the lyrics of songs that we wrote, but the cover songs.