4) Exodus, “Salt the Wound” (featuring Kirk Hammett)

[youtube]https://youtu.be/CMs9yNlBp4c[/youtube]

This isn’t ranked highter only because it made it in on a technicality. See, while Hammett showed up to shred a solo on Exodus’ last album, 2014’s Blood In, Blood Out, he’s technically returning to a band he formed in 1979. Granted, it’s been a long time since anyone’s associated him with anything other than Metallica. So him popping up to play a wah wah-infused solo 31 years after leaving was a hell of a way to bring attention to the band’s excellent 10th album.

3) Corrosion of Conformity, “Man or Ash” (featuring James Hetfield)

[youtube]https://youtu.be/xABX0R4D1r0[/youtube]

Corrosion of Conformity had just broken through to the rock mainstream with their 1994 album Deliverance. The decision to embrace stoner metal with Pepper Keenan paid off, and they’d garnered rock airplay. For their 1996 follow-up Wiseblood, not only did they tour with Metallica, but Hetfield popped up to sing on this mid-tempo track. While giving credence to C.O.C., it also gave Hetfield some cred in the wake of those outraged the band had cut their hair and released Load earlier that year.

2) Mercyful Fate, “Return of the Vampire” (featuring Lars Ulrich)

[youtube]https://youtu.be/oXa602M1tMo[/youtube]

Looks like the Danes stick together. When Mercyful Fate reunited in 1992, their third album, In the Shadows, featured a re-recording of “Return of the Vampire,” a demo track from the early ’80s that hadn’t made it to any of the band’s official albums. The re-recording featured Ulrich on drums, and if you want to hear where Ghost got “Ritual” from, you’ll want to give this a listen.