Which Metallica song is the longest track on the standard edition of The Black Album?

“My Friend of Misery” is the longest track on the standard edition of Metallica, running 6 minutes and 49 seconds.

The song appears as track 11, immediately before “The Struggle Within.” Its music was written by James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, and Jason Newsted, while Hetfield wrote all of the album’s lyrics. Newsted originally developed the main riff for an instrumental piece, continuing a tradition of instrumentals that had appeared on Metallica’s earlier albums.

Listeners often guess “Nothing Else Matters” or “The Unforgiven” because both are prominent, spacious songs. However, “Nothing Else Matters” is 6:28, “The Unforgiven” is 6:27, and “Wherever I May Roam” is 6:44, all shorter than “My Friend of Misery.”

The track’s placement near the end of the record gives the album another extended, reflective moment before its brief closing song.