Over 250 photos of the band by their top photographer—plus reminiscences by managers, music writers, and members of Metallica themselves.

Legendary music photographer Ross Halfin has documented Metallica from their beginnings as a scrappy, furious garage band to their current status as the heaviest and most popular metal band in the world. The Ultimate Metallica collects the best of Halfin’s amazing images, taken over the years with access granted exclusively to him as the band’s main lensman. His candid photographs—taken on stage, backstage, on and off tour—are supplemented by text from many people close to the band, including managers and music writers, plus some colorful personal observations from Halfin himself.

“Ross Halfin’s mark is often imprinted when I access the Metallica memory bank, located deep in the bowels of my thick Danish skull.” —Lars Ulrich