I’m a Thrash Metalhead. I love Thrash Metal as much as the next guy, if the next guy is a badass who loves Thrash Metal as much as I do.
Metalheads have been speculating about The Big Four for a while now. Who deserves to be there, who would make it into a “Big Five” and so on…
It got me thinking… Who would be my personal Big Four? I couldn’t decide so I wrote a list of all the thrash bands I consider awesome and I came up with a total of 16 bands. Being the math genius that I am, I realized that’s four big fours because 4 times 4 equals 16. See? You’re learning about metal AND math from my lectures.
So I’m dividing my list into four separate groups. Each group is led by a genuine Big Four band (this week it’s Metallica, next week it’s Slayer, etc…) and has 3 other thrash bands that I like.
When you make the jump, keep in mind this is purely a list of thrash acts I like and has got nothing to do with success, influence or anything else.
What’s to say about Metallica? You can say what you want about them nowadays but their legacy speaks for itself. The first four albums of this band include some of the best vocals, lyrics, riffs, solos, basslines and yes, even drums in all of metal.
What? You don’t like them anymore because they’re not Thrash anymore? Metallica fucking invented Thrash, perfected it and fucked your mother while humming the solo of ‘Whiplash’. They could even do a song with Ja Rule and still be better than your shit band… hold on a second…
Despite some failures, you can always fall back on the first four albums. So quit your bitching and just listen to my favorite Metallica song ‘Fade to Black’!
Death Angel have been around since 1982. That’s until 1991, when the band broke up after a series of events. First, the band was involved in a car accident and drummer Andy Galeon was critically injured. Their label at the time, Geffen Records, pressured the band to hire a new drummer and just go on touring and recording like nothing happened. Disgusted by that, the band broke up soon afterwards.
In 2001, the band reunited, including Andy Galeon, and went on to record some of the best music they ever wrote.
My favorite Death Angel song actually comes off their latest album ‘Relentless Retribution’ and is called ‘This Hate’.
Evile aren’t oldschool because they started in 2004 but they sure know how to play oldschool Thrash Metal. These four British guys are the leading act of the so-called “resurrection” of Thrash Metal.
The band’s bassist Mike Alexander died shortly after the release of their second album ‘Infected Nations,’ from a blood clot on the lungs. He was only 32 years old. The band has since found a replacement and are still touring in support of the album.
My favorite Evile song was released on their first album ‘Enter the Grave’ and is called ‘We who are about to die’.
Warning was formed in 1982 and recorded a demo, entitled ‘Not a Chance in hell,’ in 1985. The band broke up shortly after that.
Over 15 years later, Mausoleum Records planned to re-release Warning’s demo. The band agreed, only if they could record new songs to complete a full album.
In 2002, 20 years after the band was originally formed, Warning, now called Warning S.F. (= San Francisco), released their first album ‘Aftermath’. The following song, ‘Thunderhead,’ is my personal favorite of the band’s catalogue.
This is it. The first four of my Big 16. Don’t miss next week’s Thrash ’til Death!
