So in the hot flush of experiencing Metallica's first show on Australian soil in six years, we couldn't help but notice - and admire/appreciate/quiver at - the wide array of leather jackets, faded denim and severe mullets on display that night. (One guy even had a fake mullet on, in comedic hirsute tribute. Actually there were also a couple of guys down on the floor in Slipknot masks - wrong gig fellas).

Alongside such fashion triumphs were the glimpses of that most devoted of all personal Metallica merch items: the tatt. Creeping out from the neck on the guys or wandering about on the lower back of more than a few ladies in the house. And had it been warmer, such secrets of the flesh would've no doubt been on parade in all their questionable artistry. Perhaps when the band is back in November? (There's still time for the plastic to come off, people.)

Anyway, it got us thinking - and searching. Here we thought we'd compile some of the best and (mostly) worst of the fabled Metallica tattoo.

Set forth, gingerly.

Got a Metallica tatt? Send it in to citizens@thevine.com.au to share. And for our review and photo gallery of the band that inspires such devotion playing in Melbourne, go here.