Swedish rock band Ghost joined forces with metal outfit Candlemass to cover Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” while members Lars Ulrich and Robert Trujillo were honored with the Polar Music Prize.

Rolling Stone reports The King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf, presented the award, which is regarded as the musical equivalent to the Nobel Prize. During his acceptance speech, Ulrich spoke about the band’s unlikely path to international acceptance saying, “The type of music that we played was not supposed to be acknowledged or embraced by the mainstream, the media or even large audiences,” he said. “In 1981 when this band formed, I just wanted to play music in a collective setting and feel like it belonged to something bigger than myself.”

Ulrich concluded his remarks by saying, “Receiving this prize solidifies the idea that no matter how alienated you feel, connecting to other people through music is not only possible but can be outright inspirational and life-changing.”

On June 1, Ghost released their album, Prequelle, which debuted at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. The group will begin their North American tour in support of the new album this fall. Consequences of Sound reports the tour will begin in October and run through December with stops in Kansas City, Chicago, Albuquerque, San Diego and Los Angeles.

The Swedish metal band Candlemass formed in Sweden in 1984, and have 11 studio albums including their most recent, Psalms for the Dead.

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Photo Credit: Alyssa Fried