Gianluigi D'Autilia from Ultimate-Guitar.com recently conducted an interview with early METALLICA producer Fleming Rasmussen. Excerpts from the interview are below:

Ultimate-Guitar.com: I was wondering how you and Metallica initially made contact with each-other?

Rasmussen: "I worked on an album with RICHIE BLACKMORE'S RAINBOW, Difficult To Cure. Metallica had their first record out Kill 'Em All. They wanted to try out something different and record in Europe. The dollar at that time was so strong that they thought they could spend more time in a studio based in Europe than they could do in the US. They decided to call me up, to ask if I was interested. I did not know them at all, I did not know who they were at that time."

Ultimate-Guitar.com: Now..we can say that you were right ..and lots of people grew up listening to that guitar sound, which amps did they like to use?

Rasmussen: "Just before Ride (The Lightning), during Kill 'Em All, James (Hetfield) was really satisfied with his guitar sound, he modified his Marshall amp. Unfortunately that was stolen then he wasn't able to get the sound that he wanted. We decided to call up every metal band in Denmark in order to try out every Marshall that was in available at that time. He tried them all out and chose what he liked the most. Then, a few years later, Metallica's guitar sound shifted gradually from the Marshall to the Mesa boogie amps in the end of the '80s. I personally liked the Marshall more."

Ultimate-Guitar.com: How was the studio time with them?

Rasmussen: "In our studio sessions we worked pretty hard, at the same time having some really magical and inspiring moments: for example songs like 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' were fully composed at the Sweet Silence studio. Master Of Puppets was totally composed when they came into the studio. They used to produce really good demos before going into the recording sessions. I really appreciated that. Their first idea was to start in the States looking for a pro-studio, but then they decided to continue at Sweet Silence again. On that record everything flowed easily. Master took about four months to be finished, Ride two months. For Justice we recorded four months in a row, with no days off! Its production was a bit more hard as compared to the others, Cliff Burton had already died, and the situation was a bit strange at that time."

Read the entire interview here.