Caggiano, who currently plays guitar with Volbeat, describes the Metallica frontman holding court during a dinner with members of his own band, Anthrax, Megadeth and Slayer on the opening night of the Big 4 tour in Warsaw, Poland, in 2010.

Speaking to HardDrive, Caggiano says: "There was one really cool thing that happened at the start of the Big 4 tour and I've got to give it up to James Hetfield and those guys because I think it was a brilliant idea. The first show we did was in Poland and he had the idea of getting everyone together to have dinner.

"It was this really private, little Italian restaurant. I guess over the years there has been tension between the Big 4 bands, but that just cleared the air and really set the tone for the whole tour. I think it was absolutely brilliant. We all walked out of that restaurant just totally excited about everything."

Taking the world's four biggest metal bands on a joint tour proved a massive hit with fans, but Caggiano says he got as big a thrill out of it as anyone in the audience.