Every year since 2012, Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants have held a "Metallica Night" to honor the legendary band that cut their teeth in the local area. This year has been a bit different though and even without a home game dedicated to 'Tallica, James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett still maintained a semblance of tradition and provided a pre-game virtual performance of the National Anthem.

The threat of the coronavirus pandemic has left the Giants to play at their Oracle Park home field with no fans in attendance, meaning the annual "Metallica Night" was a no-go. With the regular season coming to an end on Sept. 27, Hetfield and Hammett squeezed in an appearance with the MLB team, decked out in Giants uniforms.

Hammett took lead with a command over the National Anthem's melody, which was embellished by Hetfield's occasional harmonies that made for an impactful, triumphant rendition.

Watch the clip below.

Despite being unable to tour, Metallica have remained awfully busy amid a year marked by a pandemic and efforts to maintain social distancing. They recorded a special concert that aired at drive-in theaters, shared a quarantine jam of a new version of "Blackened," bested pop star Katy Perry on the Billboard charts with the highest-selling new album in a week with the release of S&M2, are working on an orchestral version of "Nothing Else Matters" for a Disney movie and may even record some new music this fall.

Just don't hold out hope for a Metallica biopic — Lars Ulrich said that would be "complicated" to do.

Watch: Metallica Perform the National Anthem for San Francisco Giants Game

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