Special Subject Investigation Proposal

By Calum Lewis
For my special subject I will be investigating Thrash Metal. To research this topic I will use the following resources: Knowledge that I have from my experience with Thrash Metal. Various Magazines with Thrash Metal references in them. Biographies from certain Thrash Metal band members, namely Dave Mustaines Heavy Metal Memoir. Get Thrashed: The Story of Thrash Metal Documentary. The Decline of Western Civilization, Part 2: The Metal Years The Arsenal of Megadeth Sonisphere: Live from Sofia Other DVDs from various Thrash Metal Bands and Documentaries. Internet searches. Footnotes in Thrash Metal Albums. I will be focusing my research on the birth of Thrash Metal by looking at the origins of the genre, such as punk and Heavy Metal, The Big 4 of Thrash Metal (Anthrax, Slayer, Metallica and Megadeth), The Thrash Metal culture that grew from the Bay Area in the 80s, Thrash Metal bands that formed after it became popular in America, and the new wave of Thrash Metal that began in 2008 with bands like Sylosis, Evile, Black Tide and Bonded by Blood. More than anything else I will be researching Dave Mustaines life

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and input into the world of Thrash Metal and Metal as a whole, as Dave Mustaine essentially started Thrash Metal. I will be splitting my investigation into chapters, starting with: The formation of Metallica, early career. Their influences and the creation of Thrash Metal. How Metallica influenced the Metal industry. The early lives of individual members of Metallica: James Hetfield. Lars Ulrich. Dave Mustaine. Cliff Burton. Kirk Hammett. Jason Newsted.

Dave Mustaines exit from Metallica and formation of Megadeth. Dave Mustaines Life and the history of Megadeth, as well as their impact on the Thrash Metal Community. The Big 4 and the 80s Thrash Movement with references to Exodus, Annihilator, Sepultura and Kreator. The influence of Thrash Metal on other genres of Metal. The New wave of Thrash Metal, with references to Black Tide, Evile, Sylosis and Bonded by blood and their link with 80s Thrash Metal and 80s Thrash Metal bands. Conclusion, my opinions on Thrash Metal. Timeline

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My plan is to spend around 2 weeks on each topic, though some topics I will be looking at are rather long and some a fairly short. So the time frames may vary. Weeks 4 5: Researching the history of Metallica, its formation and its creation of Thrash Metal. Weeks 5 7: Writing about The formation of Metallica and their influences. Weeks 8 9: Researching how Metallica influenced bands and the industry since they began in the 80s up into the modern day, by looking at bands and musicians known influences. Weeks 9 11: Writing about How Metallica influenced the Metal industry. Weeks 11 12: reading online biographies of the all the Metallica Members. Weeks 12 14: Writing about the Metallica members early lives and their early musical history. Weeks 15 16: Researching why and when Metallica sacked Dave Mustaine from the band, and how and why Dave started Megadeth. Weeks 16 18: Writing about Dave Mustaines exit from Metallica and formation of Megadeth. Weeks 19 21: Reading Dave Mustaines Biography and various publications of about his life and his work in Megadeth (via magazines and websites). Weeks 21 23: Writing about Dave Mustaines Life and the history of Megadeth, as well as their impact on the Thrash Metal Community.

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Weeks 24 25: Reading about the rivalry between Megadeth and Metallica. Weeks 25 27: Writing about the rivalry between Megadeth and Metallica. Weeks 28 29: Reading and researching The Big 4 and other notable bands that started and engaged in the Thrash Metal Movement across the world with references to Exodus, Annihilator, Sepultura and Kreator via the internet and DVDs. Weeks 29 31: Writing about The Big 4 and the 80s Thrash Movement and what it all means Weeks 31 32: Reading and writing about the influence of Thrash Metal on other genres of Metal. Weeks 32 33: Researching and writing about the New wave of Thrash Metal, with references to Black Tide, Evile, Sylosis and Bonded by blood and their link with 80s Thrash Metal and 80s Thrash Metal bands. Weeks 33 34: Writing my Conclusion and final thoughts on the topic of Thrash Metal, talking about my opinions on the genre and what I have learnt during the write-up. Week 34: Finishing up the write-up and proof reading.

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Metallica and the Birth of Thrash Metal

Metallica started in 1981 after Lars Ulrich (at this point a soon to be Tennis prodigy) placed an ad in the Los Angeles Newspaper The Recycler. The ad read: "Drummer looking for other metal musicians to jam with, Tygers of Pan Tang, Diamond Head and Iron Maiden." James Hetfield and his friend Hugh Tanner (both of which were in the band Leather Charm) answered the ad. Supposedly Lars Ulrich at this point was not a very good drummer, according to this quote from James Hetfield: "Lars had a pretty crappy drum kit, with one cymbal. It kept falling over, and we'd have to stop, and he'd pick the fucking thing up. He really was not a good drummer." -James Hetfield, on his first jam with Lars, Playboy Magazine, 2001 Even at this time, when Lars didnt have a band, he still asked his friend Brian Slagel, founder of Metal Blade Records, if he could record a song for the labels upcoming compilation album Metal Massacre I. When Brian Slagel said that he could, Lars Ulrich recruited James Hetfield to play rhythm guitar and sing. On October 28th 1981 the band was officially formed. In the Fall of 1981 the band still did not have a name, Ulrich made a list of several potential band names including: Blitzer, Grinder, Helldriver, Thunderfuck, as well as "Lars Ulrich" spelled backwards. At this same time Lars friend Ron Quintana was brainstorming names for his upcoming Fanzine, among the names he had were: Metal Mania, and Metallica. Lars Calum Lewis 5

convinced Quintana to use Metal Mania and then stole Metallica to use as his bands name. Without a Lead guitar player, Lars Ulrich placed another ad in The Globe newspaper asking for a lead guitar player. Dave Mustaine, who recently left a band called Panic, responded to the ad purely because of the bands that Ulrich mentioned in it. The bands mentioned were three of Mustaines favourites. They were Iron Maiden, Motorhead and Welsh band, Budgie (Mustaines favorite band). Mustaine met with Lars prior to his audition and Lars played him a rough recording of Hit the Lights. Later, Mustaine took all of his gear and went to audition with Metallica. When Lars and James saw Mustaines expensive equipment and heard him warm up, they decided to recruit him into the band. Dave has this to say about the situation: "Before the rehearsal, I went to Lars's house and he played me the tape of 'Hit the Lights.' I said, 'This song sucks! You need more guitar solos.' And Lars went, 'Oh, fuck, reeeeaaallly?!' I convinced him that I should be in the band and went to rehearsal. I was tuning up when all the other guys went into another room. They weren't talking to me, so I went in and said, 'What the fuck? Am I in the band or not?' And they said, 'You've got the gig.' I couldn't believe how easy it had been and suggested we get some beer to celebrate." Dave on his memories of the first Metallica rehearsal, Metallica: Unbound Later, Metallica recorded their first hit song Hit the Lights for the Metal Massacre I compilation. The line-up included: James Hetfield (Vocals, Bass),

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Lars Ulrich (Drums), Dave Mustaine (Lead Guitar) and Lloyd Grant (Jamaican Delta Blues guitarist and band friend) was also credited with a guitar solo. In March of 1982, Metallica played their first show with their first complete line up: James Hetfield (vocals), Dave Mustaine (Guitar), Lars Ulrich (Drums) and Ron McGovney (Bass) who joined the band soon after they recorded Hit The Lights for Metal Massacre I. Before the band played their first show, Hetfield thought that the band needed a front man, and thought that playing guitar and singing at the same time didnt look right. Originally James wanted to just play guitar in the band and wanted another singer to be the frontman for Metallica, so they recruited Sammy Dijon. After a few unsuccessful practice sessions with Dijon, the band decided that Hetfield should be the singer and that Mustaine should handle all the guitar parts. James Hetfield didnt start playing guitar and singing until May 25th 1982 at Backbay High School in Costa Mesa. They played their first show at Radio City in Anaheim, California. Their set list included: Hit the Lights Blitzkrieg (Diamond Head) Helpless (Diamond Head) Jump in the Fire Let it Loose (The Rolling Stones) Sucking My Love (Diamond Head) Am I Evil? (Diamond Head) The Prince (Diamond Head) Killing Time (Sweet Savage) 7

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Metallica gained a lot of popularity very quickly. So much so that by late March, only a couple of weeks after Metallica played their first show, they opened for the Heavy Metal band Saxon. Originally Motley Cre where scheduled to open for Saxon but gave up the position because they thought they were too big to open ( Tommy Lee & Vince Neil). Tommy Lee and Vince Neil then introduced Ron McGovney to the Booking agent and Metallica ended up playing two shows that night. Later that year in April of 1982 Metallica recorded their first demo, it was titled The Power Metal Demo the reason behind this name came from bassist Ron McGovney. When the demo was recorded Ron McGovney made business cards which read: METALLICA Power Metal McGovney coined the phrase Power Metal because he thought it had a nice ring to it. Lars Ulrich apparently hated the term, so he changed the name of the demo to The Power Metal Demo. Soon after The Power Metal Demo was released Hetfield decided to start playing rhythm guitar in the band whilst singing. The songs featured on The Power Metal Demo where: 1. Hit The Lights (Hetfield, Ulrich) 2. Jump in the Fire (Mustaine) 3. The Mechanix (Mustaine) 4. Motorbreath (Hetfield) Metallica played several gigs around LA, gaining some popularity. Their true success began when Metal Massacre I was released with a rough recording

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of their song Hit The Lights. Although the album incorrectly spelled Metallica as Mettallica the bands fan base grew. A Month later, Metallica recorded the bands second demo No Life Till Leather it featured the songs: 1. Hit The Lights 2. Mechanix 3. Motorbreath 4. Seek and Destroy 5. Metal Militia 6. Jump in the Fire 7. Phantom Lord This demo was recorded with the new line up with James Hetfield on Rhythm Guitar and Lead Vocals, Dave Mustaine on Lead Guitar and Backing Vocals, Ron McGovney on Bass Guitar and Lars Ulrich on Drums. Soon after, Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield began to dislike bassist Ron McGovney, claiming that he didnt contribute. Acting on this feeling, Hetfield and Ulrich went to see the band Trauma that featured a bassist by the name of Cliff Burton. After being blown away by Burtons performance, Hetfield asked Burton to join Metallica. He initially declined the offer. In November of that year, Metallica played a show at The Old Waldorf in San Francisco. This was the first time Metallica had come in to contact with the band Exodus, and was also the first time Hetfield and Ulrich met Kirk Hammett (Lead guitar player for Exodus at this point). The night after this Calum Lewis 9

show, Ron McGovney left the band after constant clashes with Lead guitarist Dave Mustaine, such as when in rehearsal Mustaine poured a can of beer into McGovneys pick-ups, which resulted in Ron getting an intense electrical shock. A month later Cliff Burton was offered the chance to join Metallica again. This time Burton accepted the offer, but on the condition that the band moved to San Francisco. On December 28th 1982, Metallica had their first rehearsal with Cliff in El Cerrito and on March 5th 1983, Metallica played their first show with Cliff, at a club called The Stone in San Francisco. Incidentally this was also one of the last shows the band played with Lead guitarist Dave Mustaine. In April 1983, Metallica moved to the east coast of America in order to meet Johnny Zazula and to start rehearsing for their debut album, which originally was to be titled Metal Up Your Ass, but after refusal from their record company (Megaforce records) and distributors they changed the name to Kill Em All. Whilst on the east coast the band lived in their rehearsal space, as they had nowhere else to go. Metallica made friends with other Thrash Metal band Anthrax who let Metallica use their fridge, toaster and also their shower. Soon after, tired of his excessive drinking, drug taking and violent mood swings. Ulrich and Hetfield decided to kick Mustaine out of the band. They woke Mustaine up one morning, handed him a bus ticket back to L.A. and reportedly said You know what? Youre out. In response Mustaine claims to have said What? No warning? No second chance? That morning Mustaine left for L.A. on a bus with all his gear and months later formed Megadeth. Calum Lewis 10

Later that day, in the afternoon, Mustaines replacement Kirk Hammett joined Metallica. Metallica played a few shows with their new line-up before entering the studio in May. On July 25th, 1983, Kill Em All was released both in the U.S. and Europe. It was a critical success. Selling over 3 million units worldwide (3 times platinum). The Kill Em All track list is as follows:

1. Hit The Lights Written by Hetfield and Ulrich 2. The Four Horsemen (Mechanix, but with different lyrics and a new
section)

Written by Hetfield, Mustaine and Ulrich. 3. Motorbreath Written by Hetfield. 4. Jump in the Fire Written by Hetfield, Mustaine and Ulrich. 5. (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth Written by Burton. 6. Whiplash Written by Hetfield and Ulrich. 7. Phantom Lord Written by Hetfield, Mustaine and Ulrich. 8. No Remorse Written by Hetfield and Ulrich. 9. Seek & Destroy
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Written by Hetfield and Ulrich. 10. Metal Militia Written by Hetfield, Mustaine and Ulrich. No one knows where the actual term Thrash Metal came from, but the term is given to music that is usually fast, loud, angry, has several guitar solos and typically shouted vocals. It was primarily created when James Hetfield took the angry playing styles of Punk Rock and mixed it with the Heavy Metal style. However, personally I think that it was Dave Mustaine that gave life to Thrash Metal, by infusing his own love for Punk Rock and NWOBHM bands, making the songs and playing style, faster, louder, more intricate and complex.

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Metallica and the Metal Industry

Metallica has influenced several bands in their career; they even influenced some bands before they got signed. Bands like Slayer and Anthrax were heavily influenced by Metallica when they entered the scene, Kerry King stated in an interview that seeing Dave Mustaine playing fast solos and head banging in Metallica was unlike anything hed ever seen. Also former Anthrax singer, John Bush cites James Hetfield as one of his top 20 vocal influences in an interview on Ranker.com, and Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian in an interview with noisecreep.com states that Metallicas Kill Em All and Megadeths Killing is my business and business is good are some of his most influential albums. Of course Megadeth was also influenced by Metallica, but in a different kind of way. Dave Mustaine, after he was kicked out of Metallica, vowed to form a band that could blow Metallica out of the water. Whether or not he succeeded is subject to opinion. Since the 80s, Metallica has influenced a cornucopia of bands, spanning several genres and sub-genres. In fact I think I would go as far as saying that Metallica has influenced almost all modern metal. For example Trivium guitarists Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu cite Metallica as one of their main influences, in fact Matt Heafy claims that James Hetfield specifically is his main influence and the reason he started playing guitar.

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Machine Head based their highly popular album The Blackening on the songwriting style of Metallicas Master of Puppets and And Justice for all by having fairly long progressive Thrash Metal based songs. Some more people and bands that claim Metallica is a main influence are Jonathan Davis (KoRn), Godsmack, God Forbid and Ill Nino. Some Bands have even been accused of ripping off Metallica riffs and songs, Bands such as Disappear by Bullet for My Valentine that has a section that is very similar to a riff in Creeping Death by Metallica. Also a riff in Avenged Sevenfolds Nightmare was compared to Orion by Metallica. Several Metallica Tribute bands and Tribute albums have been made too, a brief list of these would be: Tribute bands: Misstallica (All Female tribute band) Mentallica Damage Inc. Metalleeka Metal Militia (Tribute band that became Evile) Tribute Albums: The Blackest Album: An Industrial Tribute to Metallica Various Artists Plays Metallica by Four Cellos Apocalyptica Metallica Tribute CD Kerrang (Various Artists)
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 Hip-Hop Tribute to Metallica: The Ultimate Mash-up Various Artists Metallic Attack: The Ultimate Metallica Tribute Album Various Artists During their career, Metallica has recorded and sold 10 studio albums and are reportedly working on an 11th. These albums in chronological order are: Kill Em All (1983) [sold over 3 million copies in the US to date] Ride the Lightning (1984) [sold over 5 million copies in the US to date] Master of Puppets (1986) [sold over 6 million copies in the US to date] And Justice for All (1988) [sold over 8 million copies in the US to date] Metallica (AKA Black Album) (1991) [sold over 15 million copies in the US to date] Load (1996) [sold over 5 million copies in the US to date] ReLoad (1997) [sold over 3 million copies in the US to date] St. Anger (2003) [sold over 2 million copies in the US to date] Death Magnetic (2008) [sold over 2 million copies in the US to date] Lulu (collaboration with Lou Reed) (2011)[sold over 100,000 copies worldwide in its first 2 weeks]

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Since they began, Metallica have had several achievements, including nine Grammy awards, three Billboard Music Awards and they were also inducted into the Rock n Roll in 2009.

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The Early Lives of the Individual Members of Metallica

James Hetfield: On August 3rd 1963, in Downey, California, James Hetfield was born; he has two older half-brothers and a younger sister. Virgil, James father, abandoned Hetfield when he was young, then Hetfields parents divorced in 1976 when James was 13. Hetfields mother died of cancer when he was 16. Hetfield has been quite musical since he was fairly young, his mother was a light opera singer and James started playing piano at the age of 9. Hetfield didnt start playing guitar until he was 14. Lars Ulrich: Lars Ulrich was born on December 26th 1963 in Gentofte, Denmark. He was born into a fairly wealthy family, as his father (Torben Ulrich) was a Tennis-pro. Ulrich had his first experience with heavy metal when he was 9, when his father got hold of passes to see a Deep Purple concert in Copenhagen. Since then Lars has been obsessed with Heavy Metal and when Lars was 12, he received his first drum kit from his grandmother. In 1980 when he was 17, Ulrich moved to San Francisco.

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Dave Mustaine: Dave Mustaine was born in La Mesa, California on September 13th, 1961, His mother (Emily) was a Jehovahs Witness and his father (John) was an abusive alcoholic. He is the youngest of four children, he has three older sisters. Mustaines parents divorced when he was very young and since the divorce the family has moved around a lot in order to avoid Daves father, John, this was until Dave was 16, when he began to live on his own, he rented an apartment and paid the rent by dealing drugs. It was through dealing drugs that he got his fix of heavy metal. One of Mustaines clients was a clerk at a record store and didnt have the money to pay for the drugs she wanted, so in lieu of money she paid Mustaine with sex and records from artists such as Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Budgie and Judas Priest. Dave Mustaine didnt have a particularly musical upbringing, but he did start playing guitar briefly when he was a pre-teen with mainly folk, country and pop influences. It was when Mustaine was 15 that he started playing electric guitar, initially though he started playing electric guitar seriously in order to get girls. Cliff Burton: On February 10th, 1962, Cliff Burton was born in Castro Valley California, and was the youngest of three children. Burtons initial interest in music came from classical music, which his father introduced him to, from this interest Cliff began to play the piano at the age of six. Burton started to play bass at the age of 13, after acquiring a taste from Rock and Heavy
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Metal. Though Cliff Burton was very involved in the Thrash Metal Scene, he was very unlike many other Metal Musicians at the time, in the sense that he liked other genres such as classical, blues and jazz and that he also took college courses on Music Theory. He was a very dedicated bass player. Kirk Hammett: Kirk Hammett was born on November 18th, 1962 in San Francisco, California. Hammett gained his interest for heavy metal and rock music from his brother. His brother Rick had a large record collection; from listening to these records he developed a taste for bands and artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and UFO. With his newfound love for Heavy Metal and Rock music Hammett started to learn how to play guitar when he was 15 years old. Hammetts love for Thrash Metal however truly started when he made friends and started a band with Paul Baloff, this band was called Exodus, it was because of Exodus that Kirk Hammett met Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield. Jason Newsted: Jason Newsted was born on March 4th 1963 in Battle Creek, Michigan. Newsted first got into heavy metal music when he was 14 after he heard/saw Kiss for the first time. Newsted idolized Gene Simmons for his showmanship. It was because of his idolization of Gene Simmons that he started learning how to play bass. Newsted soon found more to love in the

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Rock and Heavy Metal genres with bands such as Blue Oyster Cult, Rush and Black Sabbath. It wasnt long before Newsted started playing in local bands. Newsted heard Metallica for the first time in 1983, they soon became one of this favorite bands. His band at the time was called Dogz but they soon changed their name to Flotsam and Jetsam, this band was fairly popular, but after hearing news of the tragic death of Metallicas bassist Cliff Burton and also hearing that Metallica was holding auditions for a new bassist, Newsted jumped at the opportunity.

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Dave Mustaines Exit From Metallica And The Formation Of Megadeth

When Dave Mustaine was fired from Metallica in 1981 for excessive drinking, drug use and violent mood swings he was pushed onto a bus headed to Los Angeles with all his equipment. It was on this bus ride that a vengeful Mustaine made a vow to form a band that could blow Metallica right out of the water. Mustaine has been quoted as saying this about the event:
"After getting fired from Metallica, all I remember is that I wanted blood. Theirs. I wanted to be faster and heavier than them."

It was on this bus ride that Mustaine wrote the lyrics to Set The World Afire. Shortly after arriving in Los Angeles, Mustaine formed a new band; its name was Fallen Angels the original line-up was: Lor Caine (Lead Vocals) Dave Mustaine (Lead Guitar) Robby McKinney (Rhythm Guitar) Matt Kisselstein (Bass Guitar)

During this time, Mustaine had rented an apartment in Hollywood, California, more specifically it was in the 1736 North Sycamore apartment building. Mustaine was living directly above a young, 19 year old bassist called David Ellefson. The two met when Ellefson was playing the bassline

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to Runnin With The Devil by Van Halen fairly loud one morning. Meanwhile, upstairs a very hung over Mustaine was trying to sleep. Getting evermore pissed off at the loud bass player playing downstairs, Mustaine grabs a plant pot, drops it on Ellefsons air conditioner and yells at him to shut up. Later, Ellefson knocks on Mustaines door and asks him if he knew anywhere that sold cigarettes, Mustaine told him that there was a liquor store down the street, he then slammed the door on Ellefsons face. Ellefson knocks on Mustaines door again and asks him if hes old enough to buy beer, Mustaine simply said Now youre talking and the two became friends and Mustaine decided to ask him and his friend Greg Handevidt to join Fallen Angels to replace Robby McKinney and Matt Kisselstein. Soon after this happened singer Lor Caine left the band and the band changed its name to Megadeth, they recruited a drummer called Dijon Carruthers and began to hold auditions for a new lead singer. These auditions where unsuccessful and Ellefson purposed that Mustaine should become the lead singer and lead guitar player, Mustaine agreed. In 1984 the band drummer Dijon Carruthers left the band and was replaced with a drummer called Lee Raush. It was with this line up that Megadeth recorded their first demo. The track listings on this demo was: 1. Last Rites / Loved To Death 2. The Skull Beneath The Skin 3. The Mechanix Soon after this demo was recorded Lee Raush left the band. Megadeth hired Kerry King who had just left Slayer to fill in on guitar. Kerry King

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played in Megadeth for about a week before leaving to rejoin Slayer. The band then fired Lee Raush and replaced him with Gar Samuelson who was a former Jazz-fusion drummer. To fill the guitar slot, the band hired Gar Samuelsons friend Chris Poland who was also a jazz-fusion musician. Then finally in November of 1984 the band got singed to Combat records and their first record Killing Is My Business and Business Is Good was released.

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Dave Mustaines Life, The History of Megadeth and their Impact on the Thrash Metal Community

To say that Dave Mustaine has had a tortured life is an understatement. He had to grow up with an abusive, alcoholic father. He had to live in a devoted Jehovahs Witness home. He had to constantly move house from state to state to avoid his father. He had to take up drug dealing in order to keep a roof over his head and food in his stomach. Hes fought with drug and alcohol addiction for the majority of his life (even going to rehab 17 times). He has had a near death experience, fought with his identity, lost friends and family, and hes also suffered setbacks that threatened his career. Ive covered the early portion of Mustaines life in the previous chapters, ranging from his childhood, his adolescence through to his early adulthood. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. For the majority of the time that Megadeth has been going, Mustaine has been on a constant drink and drug binge. One binge in particular after a gig, ended with Mustaine dying briefly and then being revived. Throughout the years Mustaine has admitted to using: Pot, Hash, Opium, Psychedelics, Speed, Magic Mushrooms, LSD, Heroin, Cocaine and several others. It was all part of the party attitude he had. Not surprisingly his addictions lead to several of his band members using drugs. He was taken to rehab sixteen times, but he never stayed sober for very long. That was until late 2001 when he kicked

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drugs for good. Dave had gone to rehab for the seventeenth (and last) time to kick his addiction to pain killers, he was there until January, 2002. It was at this time that Dave had quite a career-jeopardizing accident, an accident that ended up with Dave suffering from something called Radial Neuropathy AKA Saturday Night Palsy. This happened because Mustaine was sleeping in a chair with his arm resting over the top. The doctors told him that he probably would never be able to play the guitar ever again. Mustaine had to disband Megadeth and start physical therapy. During this time Mustaine finished his rehabilitation, he also got baptised and became a Christian. After four months of gruelling physiotherapy, Mustaine was told that his arm was 100% healed. He eventually reformed Megadeth in 2004 and the band has been going strong since. During the almost 30 years that Megadeth has been going, the band has influenced several people and bands, in the early days the bands faster and darker sound influenced Slayer, more specifically, Kerry King. Lamb of God has cited Megadeth as a huge influence to their sound, their guitar player Mark Morton, claims that Megadeths album Peace Sells But Whos Buying is the reason he started playing Metal. Overkills singer believes that Dave Mustaine is one of the best songwriters in Metal. Canadian Thrash Metal band Annihilators guitar player Jeff Waters drew a lot of influence from Megadeths speed. Shadows Fall state that they are big fans of Megadeth. Death Angel holds Megadeth as one of their biggest influences. Scott Ian from Anthrax has even said that he believes that

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without Dave Mustaine, there would be no Metallica and that Thrash Metal may not even exist at all. Mustaine has said and done some controversial things in the past but whether you like him or not, he has changed the face of metal forever with his raw energy, virtuosic guitar playing and his staggering song-writing skills.

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The Big 4 and the 80s Thrash Movement

As soon as bands like Metallica, Anvil and Venom (With albums like Welcome To Hell [1981] and Black Metal [1982]) started playing shows in the early 80s, a new style of metal started to sweep the nation. Thrash Metal. To follow these artists on stage, bands like Exodus, Slayer and Anthrax started to pop up. This started the beginning of the Thrash Metal Movement. At the forefront of this movement were four bands; Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer, these bands, collectively where known as The Big 4. They were known as the Big 4 because they were the biggest Thrash Metal bands that started the trend. To follow these bands, bands started to pop up around the world, bands such as Annihilator (1987) (Canada), Sepultura (1984) (Brazil) and Kreator (1982) (Germany). More of them also started to show up in America. Bands like Testament (1983), Suicidal Tendencies (1981) and Death Angel (1982). The Thrash Metal scene was pretty extreme, and the fans were quite particular. In fact they had a dress code, the typical Thrash fan would have long hair, tight jeans, white sneakers (usually the jeans where slightly tucked into their shoes), Black Bands tour T-shirts and a jean jacket with the sleeves cut off, which was covered with patches and buttons.

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The Influence of Thrash Metal on other genres of Metal.

Thrash Metal ended up directly influencing many genres of music, most notably, Black Metal and Death Metal. Black Metal spawned mainly from Venoms album Black Metal (1982), but other bands such as Celtic Frost and Bathory also played a hand in the formation of Black Metal. Collectively they were known as the First Wave of Black Metal. Black Metal characteristically involves Blast beat drum, fast tempos, double bass, tremolo picking, high pitched screamed vocals and mainly satanic lyrical themes. Black Metal gradually became more unique, but it really came into stride in the 90s with the second wave of Black Metal with bands like Burzum, Mayhem and Immortal. Of course Black Metal has its own incredibly rich history, but thats a whole other story. Like I said earlier, Thrash Metal also influenced Death Metal. This was mainly thanks to Slayer and early Black Metal. Theyre extreme, heavy styles swayed bands like Death, Possessed and Deicide to make even heavier music. Death Metal gets its name from its lyrical content; most of the songs are about death, suicide and murder so the name Death Metal seems fitting, though the term Death metal was fuelled by musical releases across the globe. In 1984, Possessed released a demo entitled Death Metal, Hellhammer (A Swedish band) was featured on a compilation album called Death Metal and Death released their demo Death By Metal. It was Death that was credited for evolving Death Metal into its own genre though. Their songs featured harsh screamed/growled vocals, fast, tremolo picked minor

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key riffs and, most importantly, fast drumming. Death Metal truly came into its own in 1986 though. This was when Slayers Reign In Blood was released. The vivid and violent lyrical themes, heavy, tremolo picked riffs and double bass drumming, courtesy of Dave Lombardo, set the stage for the plethora of Death Metal bands that would come. Over the years Death Metal went on to form its own subgenres as well, the most notable being Melodic Death Metal, this is quite a large part of the modern metal scene with bands like In Flames, Soilwork and Carcass. Thrash Metal has influenced another genre, very heavily in fact, a genre that has been prominent in the Metal scene for the past 20 years, Groove Metal. Pantera essentially created groove Metal with their album Cowboys From Hell which was released in 1990. Groove Metal is the term used for bands that play music that is, in essence, Thrash Metal played at a slower tempo and contains some form of groove aside from the monotonous, infamous blastbeat or Thrash-beat. Many Groove Metal bands have popped up over the years, such as Sepultura, who originally played Thrash Metal, but changed up their style with their album Chaos A.D. which was released in 1993. Lamb of God who started in 1994 as Burn the Priest and released their first, self-titled album in 1999 and Machine Head who started in 1991 and released their first album Burn My Eyes in 1994. Groove Metal and Thrash Metal have also spawned a few other sub-genres as well, such as Nu Metal, which was intensely popular in the late 90s and early 2000s with bands like Korn, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Linkin Park and Metalcore which gained a lot of popularity in the early to mid 2000s and is

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still a very popular genre today. Metalcore was made popular with bands like Trivium, Killswitch Engage and Bullet For My Valentine. So as you can see, Thrash Metal is one of the most important pieces in the history of Metal, without it, we wouldnt have the diverse and vast amount of styles we have in Metal today.

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The New wave of Thrash Metal

Thrash Metal, during the 90s and early 00s was pushed out of mainstream metal culture. Other genres and sub-genres were emerging and people wanted change. However, saying that, Thrash Metal didnt really die, it was simple pushed back into its underground roots. Well, that was until the mid-2000s when a sudden resurrection happened in the scene. Bands like Municipal Waste, Evile, Toxic Holocaust and Gama Bomb started to crop up all around the same time. Hazardous Mutation by Municipal Waste came out in 2005 and received a lot of attention, especially with their song Unleash The Bastards. From that, Thrash Metal bands from across the globe started to get picked up by record labels, SSS from Liverpool, England were signed in 2007, Evile, from Huddersfield, England were also signed in 2007, Warpath from Swansea, Wales were signed in 2008, Toxic Holocaust from Oregon, USA were signed in 2003 but only started to get popular in 2008 with their album An Overdose of Death, Gama Bomb, from Northern Ireland were signed in 2008, Violator from Brazil were signed in 2007 and Merciless Death from California were also signed in 2007. But it wasnt just original bands that popped up at this time, older Thrash bands either got back together and/or started to produce Thrash albums again. Testament, who had various problems in the band since around 2001, released their album Formation of Damnation in 2008. Slayer, who had been going through a bit of a dry spell with their music since around

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1998, released their album World Painted Blood in 2009 and even Metallica, who had been going through quite a serious case of identity crisis since around 1994, released their album Death Magnetic in 2008. Also with this Thrash Metal revival, a very special and monumental tour took place. The Big Four Tour, this was a seven show long tour that involved Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax sharing one bill, this had never been done before and was something that fans of Thrash Metal had wanted to see since the 80s, this took place in 2010. There is no real clear reason why Thrash Metal had such an explosion of popularity. The general consensus is that the unrelenting energy in Thrash Metal is something that other genres cant replicate, or at least not as well. But my view on it is that all Metal fans at some point have listened to Thrash Metal from the 80s, its pretty much the only genre in Metal that all metal fans seem to like. When Thrash became popular initially in the 80s, the power driving it started to subside because it became something that certain people were trying to commercialize, it lost its meaning. When Thrash went back to the underground that initial momentum and energy came back to the genre, and when the right band and album came along (Hazardous Mutation Municipal Waste), people where immediately thrown back into the 80s Thrash albums. It was something that all Metal fans could unite in loving.

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Conclusion

I am a self-proclaimed lover of Thrash Metal, I love everything about it, its raw energy, the blistering guitar riffs and solos and the political, semisatirical and violent vocals/lyrics. I was even in a Thrash Metal band of my own that started in 2009, Teratoma (Now Amnesia), I was the lead singer and guitar player; it was the first band I was a part of. Ive followed the Thrash scene ever since I started listening to Metal, which was when I was around 11. Ive gone to see quite a few Thrash Metal shows and I also have quite a good collection of Thrash Metal Albums. In my opinion, without Thrash Metal, the entire metal genre would have collapsed, without Thrash Metal in the 80s there would have only been Glam Metal bands, it would never have lasted. Plus without Thrash, Other genres would not have come to be, as I said in a previous chapter, without Thrash, there would not be Death Metal, Black Metal, Groove Metal, Metalcore, Thrashcore, Extreme Metal, Nu Metal, Speed Metal, there may not even have been Grunge music. No other genre of music, for me, can match the unrelenting energy that Thrash Metal conveys, Ive listened to and am a fan of many genres of music, not just those found in Metal, but I always find my self flicking to the Thrash Metal songs on my iPod when Im on the bus. Even if you dont like it yourself, you still cannot argue that without it the Metal scene would be non-existent or at least, almost non-existent.

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SSI: Thrash Metal Bibliography

http://www.ilikethat.com/metallica/ A Website about Metallicas History. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lars_Ulrich An Article about Lars Ulrich, drummer for Metallica. http://www.starpulse.com/Music/Ulrich,_Lars/Biography/ A Biography about Lars Ulrich. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Mustaine An Article about Dave Mustaine, original lead guitar player for Metallica and founder of Megadeth. http://www.allmetallica.com/info/biography/dave.php A Biography about Dave Mustaine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Burton An Article about Cliff Burton, bassist for Metallica, 1982 - 1986. http://www.allmetallica.com/info/biography/cliff.php A Biography about Cliff Burton. http://www.allmetallica.com/info/biography/kirk.php A Biography about Kirk Hammett, Dave Mustaines replacement in Metallica. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirk_Hammett An Article about Kirk Hammett. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/jason-newsted-p109562/biography A Biography about Jason Newsted, Cliff Burtons Replacement in Metallica. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Newsted An Article about Jason Newsted. http://youtu.be/ggcHwmIfeVw A video of David Ellefson, co founder and bassist of Megadeth, talking about how Megadeth started. Mustaine: A Life In Metal (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mustaine-A-Life-Metal- Dave/dp/000732409X/ref=pd_sim_b_1) Dave Mustaines Autobiography. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megadeth An Article about Megadeth.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Megadeth_band_members An Article stating the members that Megadeth has had throughout the past. http://megadeth.rockmetal.art.pl/band_fun.html Various facts about Megadeth and its individual members. http://members.fortunecity.com/thektulu/ellefson.html An Article about David Ellefson. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsssBWQDxbc Get Thrashed: Megadeth, clip from documentary about thrash metal, talking about Megadeth. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=penfZb8FZfs Clip from VH1 behind the music special on Megadeth talking about drug use. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallica An Article on Metallica. http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Metallica- Biography/0E308BFFDCDCDDE24825688D002128F6 Another Article on Metallica. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hetfield An Article on James Hetfield, co-founder, lead singer and rhythm guitar player for Metallica. http://www.metallicaworld.co.uk/James-Hetfield.htm Another on James Hetifield. http://suite101.com/article/canadian-thrash-metal-pioneers-anvil-a109304 An Article on Canadian Thrash Metal band, Anvil. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venom_(band) An Article about Venom. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_to_Hell An Article about Venoms album Welcome To Hell. http://www.venomslegions.com/ Venoms website. Get Thrashed (2006) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780524/) A Documentary on Thrash Metal. Big Four: Live From Sofia (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sonisphere-The-Big-Live- DVD/dp/B0040PVPYQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338132438&sr=8-1) Live DVD and mini-documentary on the Big 4 and the Big 4 show.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teutonic_thrash_metal An Article about Teutonic (Germanic) Thrash Metal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_thrash_metal An Article about Brazilian Thrash Metal. http://www.wikihow.com/Appreciate-Thrash-Metal An Article about the Thrash Metal scene. http://www.anus.com/metal/about/metal/black_metal_history/ An Article about the history of Black Metal. http://heavymetal.about.com/od/heavymetal101/a/101_deathmetal.htm An Article about the history of Death Metal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melodic_death_metal An Article about Melodic Death Metal, a sub-genre of Death Metal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groove_metal An Article about Groove Metal. http://pantera.com/band.htm An about section on the Pantera official website. http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/metal_meltdown/news_feature_030124/ An Article about N Metal. http://heavymetal.about.com/od/heavymetal101/p/metalcore.htm An Article about Metalcore. http://rateyourmusic.com/list/EJ_082887/rise_from_your_grave__the_thrash_re vival A List of the New Wave of Thrash Metal bands. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrash_metal#Recent_popularity_.282000s.29 An Article about The Thrash Metal Revival. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlH-5aAHSYs A Clip from the Big 4: Live In Sofia DVD where the Big 4 of Thrash Metal (bar Slayer) share a stage and play Am I Evil by Diamond Head.

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