Back to my roots

As a 37 year-old male who grew up on a steady diet of hard rock and heavy metal, I always had a soft spot for thrash. I first noticed thrash metal (and crossover) when my friend Matt played me Cryptic Slaughter, S.O.D. and Metallica. I hated 'em. I couldn't make sense of anything that these supposed musicians were trying to accomplish.

At the time (7th or 8th grade), I was knee-deep in bands like Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, but I still had this craving for something heavier. However, it didn't take long for those songs that Matt played for me to start getting into my head.

The night I finally gave into the sounds of thrash metal is the time I stayed overnight at Matt's house and asked him to play the "Battle Ray" song ("Battery" by Metallica). The next day, he recorded me a tape of Master of Puppets, and I was hooked.

In high school, I started a thrash band with a couple buddies called Judgement (sic). We covered an array of Big Four songs as well as a few choice cuts from Prong, Sepultura, and D.R.I. among others.

However, just as soon as I found my love for thrash, I discovered bands like Death, Obituary, Entombed, and Malevolent Creation. Soon, my friends and I were all about death metal.

Not that we left thrash in the dust - we would still buy from our favorite bands, but as for searching for NEW stuff, it had to be death metal. Make all the Cookie Monster jokes you want. To me, the sludgy growls only made the music heavier. It fit that type of music, and I loved it. Me want cookies and death metal.

Throughout the years, I dabbled in all things from the heavy spectrum of music, from hardcore (Biohazard, Hatebreed, Sick of it All), nu metal (Korn), metalcore (Demon Hunter, Machine Head), stoner rock (CLUTCH!), grind (Napalm Death, Terrorizer), and power metal (Edguy, Celledor).

I liked it all, and I STILL like it all, but after the dust has settled, I find myself wanting to go back to what got me into heavy music in the first place: Thrash Metal.

Bands like Kreator, I.N.C., Testament, Sacred Reich, Overkill, Exodus, Nuclear Assault, Death Angel, Vio-lence, and the classic Big Four.

So recently, I decided to rediscover my roots in metal, and maybe pick up a few albums that I missed back in the day. Little did I know that there was (and still is) a flourishing new movement in thrash. As soon as I hit the internet looking for my favorite classic bands, I found a slew of relative newcomers influenced by them.

Bands like Merciless Death, Bonded by Blood, Hyades, Fueled by Fire, Municipal Waste, Lich King, Zombie Holocaust, Mantic Ritual, Pitiful Reign, Dr. Living Dead, Gama Bomb, Evile, Warbringer, National Suicide, etc, etc, etc.

Now THIS is exciting, I thought. Look at all these bands! An overflow of them, really. Everything from crossover, Bay Area, and Germany-influenced thrash, with so much from which to choose, and many of them really freaking GOOD.

The thrash snobs may thumb their noses at the New Wave of Thrash Metal (which I cannot understand how one can be a "snob" about thrash metal. It sounds so Caddyshack), but I embrace it. I am a fan of heavy music.

People complain that the NWOTM bands are unoriginal, recycling ideas from 25 years ago. However, when a band adds some new elements to their sound, the purists will THEN complain that the music deviates too far to be actual thrash metal.

Screw all that. I like it. I like the classic stuff and the new stuff. I like THRASH.

So this blog will be a celebration of the New Wave of Thrash Metal (NWOTM) and its influences. Here I will dump links, vids, thoughts and news on all things thrash.

I'll try to keep this blog updated regularly, so I hope you check back often.

Take care and Thrash 'til DEATH!