What is the closing track on Metallica's The Black Album?

The closing track on Metallica's The Black Album is “The Struggle Within.”

It appears as track 12, ending the original studio-album sequence after “The God That Failed.” The song is one of the record's more direct, aggressive performances, with fast guitar work and a compact arrangement that provides a forceful conclusion after the slower, groove-oriented songs elsewhere on the album.

The album's sequence is easy to confuse because several songs became famous singles while “The Struggle Within” remained an album track. “Enter Sandman” begins the record, while “The Struggle Within” completes it. On the original vinyl configuration, tracks 10 through 12 occupied the fourth side.

The song was written by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, the principal songwriting partnership on the album. Jason Newsted and Kirk Hammett also contributed to the record's music, but the standard credits identify Hetfield and Ulrich as the writers of “The Struggle Within.”