I thought it might be interesting do an on going overview thread featuring the Thrash Metal bands for all over the world that don't get near the credit or limelight that has been granted the Big 4 in recent years. Many of these bands are my favorites of the genre and many are just as talented as the bands that the mainstream has, for whatever strange reason, decided to acknowledge suddenly.
Any thrash fans are welcome to contribute but please do a small bio, discography and feature some samples of the bands work. Anyone interested in having a look into the world of thrash that they were previously unaware of is also invited to ride along.
With that...First installment coming soon to this spot
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Just to make one thing clear before I start...
I am not leaving out the Big Four out of dislike or lack of respect toward their amazing accomplishments or their music.
The reason I am going to be by passing them is that there is plenty of coverage of these bands at just about any music site you might stumble upon that deals with rock music of various forms.
I do think a brief history of the formation of thrash is in order to start things of in a correct manner though and therefore a short discussion of these bands is a must. Metallica is generally credited with being the originators of the thrash sound and while that is true to a large extent there were also other bands at the same time heading in the same musical direction.
These bands were talking the speed and attitude of punk rock and mixing it with the technical playing ability of Metal
Various demo were being tape traded through ads in the back of metal mags as early as 1980...samples: 1980 Holy Moses- Black Metal Masters , 1981 Metal Church -Red Skies, 1982 Hellhammer -Rehearsal '82 , 1982 Metallica -No Life 'Til Leather ,82 Holy Moses Satan's Angel, 1982 Anthrax-The Neil Turbin Demos,Exodus -1982 Demo, 1982 Metallica - Hit the Lights ,1982 Sodom - Witching Metal , Death Angel -Heavy Metal Insanity 1983, Dark Angel -1983 Demo,1982 Metallica-Metal Up Your Ass,
1982 Artillery -We Are the Dead ,1983 Dark Angel-Gonna Burn, 1983 Hellhammer-Death Fiend, 1983 Overkill Power in Black.
Though all the above bands were thrash metal bands not all of them had evolved into what can truly be sited as Thrash Metal in the very beginning. It is well established that when Metallica moved up to the Bay Area in Northern California it was due to the fact that there was already a decent thrash metal scene evolving there w/ Exodus in the forefront. Overkill and Anthrax were also already out on the east coast thrashing out the new metal sound. It is quite clear however that Metallica was by far the most influential band on the scene.... The band consisted of Dave Mustaine,Lars Ulrich , James Hetfield and the late Cliff Burton at that time. Dave Mustaine is generally credited w/ originating the rapid fire, machine gun, like rhythm guitar churning that came to define Thrash Metal. While Motorhead's Philthy Animal Taylor [Philip Taylor] is no doubt the father of the double bass drum assault that Lars Ulrich lifted from the song Overkill and incorporated into the Metallica sound. Mustaine basically
started the guitar style that rubbed off on Hetfeild and made Metallica what they were. After Dave was kicked out of Metallica for being a violent drunk he went back to LA with a pissed off attitude and swearing musical revenge on Metallica he formed Megadeth. While there he took Kerry King under his musical wing and taught him this new extreme style of guitar playing he had given birth to.
Therefore in light of the historical facts I am of the opinion that Dave Mustaine is the true father of thrash metal. He not only
started the playing style that now defines thrash metal but he also heavily influenced the aggressive style of the 3 biggest thrash metal bands on the planet. Thrash is born ....next installment ..an over view of The Big 6 ( - The Big 4 that is lol )
James, Dave and Cliff thrash out Jump In The Fire live in San Fran 1983
Thanks Bob, MP, I'm sure you have a few figured out at the very least
Magic, who knows you might actually take a liking to some of it and LG, I have less hope for knowing his love for Euro Power Metal and some of the things I have heard about the vocals of extreme Metal from him ..but you never know .
Anyway, I'll be concentrating on some of the more obscure bands but I'm sure that somethings I touch on will be well known by many and even some have threads here already but I will giving my own personal opinions along w/ histories and samples etc.... until next time
The Thrash Metal bands sometimes referred to as the Big 6 are Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, Testament and Exodus.
Having already stated that The Big 4 were not going to be a priority ( for a change ) here we are left with Testament and Exodus.
EXODUS was formed in 1980 in Oakland CA and later moved to San Francisco around 1982. They were the leading force driving the early Bay Area Thrash scene in the very early days before Metallica arrived from L.A. having recently appeared on a Metal Massacre Compilation. The scene was centered around playing small clubs like Ruthie's Inn, and later grew into a worldwide tape trading phenomenon that soon had thrash metal bands popping up across the globe. EXODUS had a handful of
personal changes but in 1982, Exodus included Kirk Hammett and Gary Holt on guitars, Paul Baloff on lead vocals, Jeff Andrews on bass and drummer Tom Hunting. This lineup recorded the band's 1982 Demo.
In 1983, founding member Kirk Hammett left Exodus to join Metallica and was replaced by guitarist Rick Hunolt and Rob McKillop replaced Andrews on bass. This line-up recorded and released their debut album, Bonded by Blood in 1985.
Shortly before the recording of Pleasures of the Flesh in 1987, Paul Baloff was replaced by Steve "Zetro" Souza, who had previously been the lead vocalist for the San Francisco band Legacy (later Testament). Baloff later went on to form the band Piranha.
Exodus' line-up remained fairly stable for the next few albums but the band never garnered the success of their peers. After two studio releases (Fabulous Disaster and Impact is Imminent) the band released their first live effort, Good Friendly Violent Fun.
After the release of Good Friendly Violent Fun, the band toured sporadically for a year and released another studio album, Force of Habit. This album was a departure for the band, containing several slower, "heavier" songs with less emphasis on the speed/thrash basis of their older material. The 11 minute song "Architect of Pain", is probably the slowest song Exodus ever recorded.
After a few dormant years, Exodus released only another live album in 1997 titled Another Lesson in Violence and featuring the return of vocalist Paul Baloff. Exodus disintegrated again, partly due to a falling out with record label Century Media over the way the live album was promoted, and over an aborted attempt at a live concert video which was filmed but never released due to a financial dispute.
In 2001, Exodus reformed again, initially to play the Chuck Billy benefit( Chuck Billy of Testament was suffering from cancer which he fought and over came), the Thrash of the Titans mega concert. There was talk of recording a new studio album and the band continued to play local gigs in and around the San Francisco Bay Area. In February 2002, Paul Baloff suffered a seizure/stroke and died. Former vocalist Steve Souza ( Testament's original vocalist ) was recruited back into the band to finish the rest of their concert commitments.
Although it appeared to outsiders that with Baloff's death Exodus would cease to exist, guitarist Gary Holt was determined to release a new studio record. The result was 2004's Tempo of the Damned released on Nuclear Blast Records. An oddity of the recording sessions was that one track, "Crime Of The Century", was dropped under mysterious circumstances. The song chronicled Exodus' time under Century Media (of which Nuclear Blast is a subsidiary). Although it was publicly denied, rumors swirled that Century Media forced the song off the record. "Crime" was replaced with "Impaler"; a song written back when Kirk Hammett was still in the band, and which was featured on the Another Lesson In Violence live record.
Exodus continues to record and tour to this day
MEMBERS:
Paul Baloff (vocals, 1982-86, 1993, 1997-2002), Gary Holt (guitar), Kirk Hammett (guitar, 1982-83), Geoff Andrews (bass, 1982-83), Tom Hunting (drums, 1982-89, 1997-2005, 2007-present), Mike Maung (guitar, 1983), Rob McKillop (bass, 1983-91), Rick Hunolt (guitar, 1983-93, 1997-2005), Steve "Zetro" Souza (vocals, 1986-92, 2002-04), John Tempesta (drums, 1990-93), Mike Butler (bass, 1992-93), Jack Gibson (bass, 1997-present), Rob Dukes (vocals, 2005-present), Paul Bostaph (drums, 2005-07), Lee Altus (guitar, 2005-present)
DISCOGRAPHY:
1985 Bonded by Blood
1987 Pleasures of the Flesh
1989 Fabulous Disaster
1990 Impact Is Imminent
1991 Good Friendly Violent Fun
1992 Force of Habit
1997 Another Lesson in Violence
2004 Tempo of the Damned
2005 Live at the DNA
2005 Shovel Headed Kill Machine
2007 The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit A
2008 Let There Be Blood
2010 Shovel Headed Tour Machine
2010 Exhibit B: The Human Condition
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The last video Thorn In My Side isn't the best sound quality but I included
here anyway as it was a favorite of mine growing up for what may be obvious ( other then that it kicks ass ) reasons
Thanks man, TESTAMENT is next and then on to the some what more obscure Bay Area Thrash bands, the rest of the California scene, and then I'll have to figure out what area to cover next.....and on and on it goes. Hope to turn a few people on to some great thrash they might not have heard before.
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