Metallica are on a good roll right now. Their new song, “Lords Of Summer,” is arguably the best original music they’ve released since “Black Album,” and now, they’ve contributed a four-song medley of old Rainbow songs to the forthcoming Ronnie James Dio tribute album, This Is Your Life, which captures both the spirit and sound of Metallica’s great 1987 covers album, The $5.98 EP: Garage Days Re-Revisited. Three of the four songs included in this medley are lifted from Rainbow’s 1976 album, Rising (“Stargazer,” “Tarot Woman,” and “Kill The King”), and the other (“A Light In The Black”) comes from 1978’s Long Live Rock N Roll. Metallica are a stiffer, more explosive and intense band than Rainbow ever were, and James Hetfield’s growl is a good octave lower than RJD’s, but Metallica don’t try to be something they’re not — they play to their strengths, and in doing so, more than suitably honor one of metal’s true icons. Check it out.

[Via Rolling Stone.]