Muse’s Matt Bellamy Says They Play Like Iron Maiden

dr_zoidberg, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
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Muse takes in a lot of influences for their maximalist sound, and it makes sense that heavy metal is a major genre they lean into.

In a recent interview with Classic Rock, frontman and lead guitarist Matt Bellamy spoke to Muse’s 2022 album Will Of The People, and how they took a very major metal influence on their music.

Of the band’s upbringing and early influence, Bellamy says,

“Metal has always been around for us. When we were growing up we were listening to bands like Iron Maiden. And though we connected more through Nirvana, Rage Against The Machine and the Smashing Pumpkins, we always had this love for eighties metal. Metallica were also a big one for us, but Iron Maiden were the British band and also felt a bit more punk rock in ways.”

He calls out Iron Maiden’s “Phantom of the Opera off the band’s debut record saying,

“The song “Phantom of the Opera” doesn’t feel as bloated or overtly classical as other metal songs. There’s still something quite angry and scary about it. That’s why Maiden are a band we’ve always looked up to.”

As to the similarities between bands Bellamy says,

“That usage of the harmonic minor scale and the progressive approach to arrangements is something that we share even if we never sounded like them and live in a different genre,” he explains, “We have a lot of respect for them as musicians, especially Steve Harris, who is one of the best bass players around.”

He also shouts out Rage Against the Machine’s penchant for blues riffs and that being something he connected with, saying

“That’s one thing I learned from Rage Against The Machine. You can get away with straight blues riffs as long as you make the production unique. That’s the key.”

It will be exciting to see how metal intersects with Muse’s future work if Will of the People is a sign of things to come.

Check out the full interview here.

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