It’s hard for avid metal fans to believe that thrash is turning 25 this year. In 1983, three of the genre’s four defining bands (Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer) crammed their debut albums full of speed-riff fury and set off a movement. Heavily inspired by the technical playing of British metal bands Iron Maiden, Budgie, Diamond Head and Angel Witch, these four young California bands upped the ante that year. (Coincidentally, 1983 was also the year KISS took their makeup off and kissed overblown rock theatrics goodbye.) Today Mastodon, Shadows Fall and Lamb of God carry the thrash torch, but almost all of the originators are still active and touring. Here’s a refresher course on the thrash class of ’83.
Metallica/Megadeth
Thrash metal got its maiden voyage when the fledgling quartet dropped their first LP Kill ’Em All on an unsuspecting public. Though today Metallica’s sound is worlds removed from the punchy garage band riffage of their debut record, the band is still very much active, with three original members still on board. Right before the band recorded their debut, they very famously booted founding guitarist Dave Mustaine, who penned a number of songs that ended up on both Kill ’Em All and the follow-up Ride The Lightning. Mustaine wouldn’t stay silent for long; after being booted from Metallica, he wasted little time and regrouped with Megadeth, with which he’d re-record several of the songs he wrote for Metallica’s debut. Here’s the original Metallica lineup (with Mustaine and Cliff Burton) live in ’83 with “Mechanix.” The song would eventually become one of their signatures when it was renamed “The Four Horsemen.”
Slayer
Slayer’s style would be refined immensely over the next couple decades, but their ’83 debut Show No Mercy would bridge the proto-black metal of Venom with the forward-looking shreddage popular with So Cal guitarists at the time. Several of the album’s cuts still turn up in Slayer’s live sets, and the band has remained pretty much intact — save for a spell in the ’90s when original drummer Dave Lombardo left to pursue other interests. Check out this brutal vintage live footage of Slayer in LA in March of ’83 doing “Die By The Sword.”
Anthrax
Since 1981, Scott Ian — the goatee’d lead shredder in Anthrax — has led his long-running band as the East Coast counterparts to Slayer and Metallica. In early 1983 the band teamed up with former Dictators and Manowar guitarist Ross The Boss to record their debut single “Soldiers of Metal.” The single caught fire quickly in the underground, and before the year was over Anthrax would drop their Fistful of Metal LP and sign with Megaforce Records, which already counted Metallica as part of its roster. Despite numerous lineup shifts, the band became a metal stalwart and was one of the first groups to combine rap and rock when they paired with fellow New Yorkers Public Enemy. Here are a pair of tunes from their very aptly named and illustrated ’83 debut Fistful of Metal: