Many fans took note of Nickelback's heavier sound on "San Quentin," the lead single from their Get Rollin' album, but might the band go even heavier by tackling a metal covers album? It's something that's a hypothetical, with guitarist Ryan Peake at least entertaining the possibility during a recent interview with Rock Sverige.

The topic came up when the interviewer asked Peake about bassist Mike Kroeger's past comments in an interview that he would be interested in making a Slayer covers album. Peake initially laughed at the idea, explaining, "I don't know if it would be something we all could agree on because we are all have our different likes and dislikes when it comes to music. Mike's is really heavy, and I like Slayer, so I get that. I think we could probably agree on doing a heavy covers album or something like that."

The guitarist then added, "I got kicked out of [former drummer] Ryan Vikedal's garage for playing 'South of Heaven.' I went down to see him before he was actually in the band and I was just kind of jamming with him. We grew up with that."

Peake then added, "I don't know. This is what I like about this band. I don't think anything's going to be so crazy to hear from us. I think if a metal band went and made a full-on country album, it might be, like, 'What are you doing? You've got nine metal albums, and now this?' We've kind of dipped our toes in a lot of different music, I feel, and especially with No Fixed Address, where we kind of tried to stretch our legs a bit, that it's maybe believable."

"I love metal stuff, I love pop stuff, I love some country, for sure," he added. "Chris Stapleton is unreal. He is singlehandedly saving country music. I grew up with country music, but I haven't been listening to it in years until I heard him do something with an acoustic and another guy with an upright bass and his wife singing harmony. That was it. I had goosebumps like crazy, and I love when music does that. And it doesn't matter where it comes from."

Then teasing what he might like from a metal covers album, he concluded, "Maybe [we can] do a Testament, Slayer, Meshuggah album? I don't know. [Laughs]"

Though Nickelback took some time between their most recent album, the band did return in 2020 with a cover of the Charlie Daniels Band's "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," which would tap in to Peake's country side. They've also taken on ZZ Top's "Legs," Elton John's "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting," Queen's "We Will Rock You" and Neil Sedaka's "Love Will Keep Us Together" at different points in their career, but a metal cover (or covers) remains untapped potential at this point.

55 Best Metal Covers of Classic Rock Hits

More From 97.1 KXRX