Any fans here of Thrash? The 'Big Four', to use the press moniker for the four most successful Thrash acts of the 80s - Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer and Megadeth.

30 plus years on, incredibly, all four are still around and making albums. Metallica have morphed into the biggest heavy metal act of all time seemingly, and following their 2008 release, still awaiting their next studio record (2011's 'Lulu' with Lou Reed notwithstanding).

Anthrax's "For All Kings' released February 26th; it leaked 2 weeks ago and reviews thus far mostly are great. I've heard it and think it's absolutely excellent, and in years to come will be referred to among their very best.

Megadeth's 'Dystopia' out this Friday. And Slayers' 'Repentless' was released 2 or 3 months ago to mixed reviews.

Half of Slayer is dead since the Big Four outings a few years back. I saw The Three (sans Metallica) and it was a fun night out.

New Slayer is dissapointing, new Megadeth is mostly average with some good points. Haven't heard new Anthrax yet and lost hope for new Metallica album. But would love to see all of them on one stage again

If you're into that try powertrip- manifest decimation or kreator - enemy of god

I LOVE thrash...I'm probably a bigger metalhead at this point than a rock'n'roll fan.

I was at the Big Four show at Yankee Stadium in 2011, which was awesome. Dave Mustaine was recovering from neck surgery and their set was very sluggish. Anthrax just seems thrilled to be there

For me, Slayer was the best band of the night. They came onstage with a mission and owned the crowd.

Metallica was...Metallica. They're a great live band but I was a bit bored by seeing the same old setlist and stage shtick from them.

The best part of the evening was the jam. They played Overkill by Motorhead, with each drummer taking a turn at the kit when it came to the "restart" portion of the song.

Of course, Dave Lombaro of Slayer played it the fastest and everyone went nuts.

Agreed Whale, Kreator are fantastic, their last three are among the best thrash. Especially their 2012 release, a great band.

Haven't heard the new Megadeth, maybe its leaked already. Looking forward to hearing it.

Great story keefriff, i would love to see the Big 4 together. What do you think of thrashs recorded output the last few years? Kreator release some of the best thrash, Testaments last one and Overkill's last few were very good also.

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IrelandCalling4
Great story keefriff, i would love to see the Big 4 together. What do you think of thrashs recorded output the last few years? Kreator release some of the best thrash, Testaments last one and Overkill's last few were very good also.

slayer is my favorite of the Big Four, but Repentless was only okay. It was a bit sluggish at times, and losing Hannemann and Lombardo has really hurt their chemistry.

I don't really follow Megadeth much anymore because Mustaine's political antics annoy me. The guy is so full of shit that I have no interest in whatever he churns out nowadays.

Death Magnetic was a pretty good return to form for Metallica, but it felt too much like they were trying to make an album simply please their old-school fans, almost like Metallica-by-numbers. I'm curious to hear the new album, but it's been almost 8 years. To me, this is a bad sign of a band in creative decline.

Anthrax's latest is probably the best of the bunch. Catchy, great production, killer vocals from Joey...a very encouraging return to form.

Out of all the '80s thrash bands though, including the Big Four, I would give the most props to Overkill. They NEVER fail to deliver the goods both live and on record. I love their blue collar, working class ethos and take no prisoners attitude. Everything they do is solid and I can't wait to hear what comes next.

After that would be Exodus. Their reunion with Zetro was a fantastic...I love his vocals. I also love Kreator, Sodom, Destruction, and Testament.

new slayer was pretty good.

I'm less excited about the new megadeth than I use to be about this bands releases. this is one of my favorite bands ever but their releases are getting stale

can't wait for new anthrax. last one was a winner

honestly overkill, exodus and testament release better albums than the big 4 now

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keefriffhard4life
honestly overkill, exodus and testament release better albums than the big 4 now

Yup, no doubt about that.

I think other Thrash acts always released better Thrash albums than the Big 4; Anthrax a good example, I love them, but they were really only Thrash for 2 albums. They do not compare say, in Thrash terms, to the ferocity of albums by Kreator or Sodom in the 80s.

I'm a big fan of Megadeth, they have made a great return and albums from 2007, 2009 and even 2011 are fine works with 'Endgame' and 'United Abominations' being top quality. I look forward to the new one.

Anthrax's album is stellar, been listening all week. It's their best album in ages and very high quality writing.

Kreator and Sodom would be two of my favourites; only discovered Sodom in the last year really (saw them in Dublin last February), but I find their stuff to be excellent for the most part. Their last album, 'Epitome of Torture' was great.

Testament and Overkill are interesting; never been a big fan of either but I have been gaining ground over last few years and listening to their catalogues. Saw Overkill in Dublin 2 years ago and the show was simply wonderful! Their 2010 and 2012 albums are also wonderful Thrash albums. Testament's 'Dark Roots' was pretty good too.

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IrelandCalling4
I think other Thrash acts always released better Thrash albums than the Big 4; Anthrax a good example, I love them, but they were really only Thrash for 2 albums. They do not compare say, in Thrash terms, to the ferocity of albums by Kreator or Sodom in the 80s.

I'm a big fan of Megadeth, they have made a great return and albums from 2007, 2009 and even 2011 are fine works with 'Endgame' and 'United Abominations' being top quality. I look forward to the new one.

Anthrax's album is stellar, been listening all week. It's their best album in ages and very high quality writing.

Kreator and Sodom would be two of my favourites; only discovered Sodom in the last year really (saw them in Dublin last February), but I find their stuff to be excellent for the most part. Their last album, 'Epitome of Torture' was great.

Testament and Overkill are interesting; never been a big fan of either but I have been gaining ground over last few years and listening to their catalogues. Saw Overkill in Dublin 2 years ago and the show was simply wonderful! Their 2010 and 2012 albums are also wonderful Thrash albums. Testament's 'Dark Roots' was pretty good too.

overkill is the most consistent of any of the thrash bands.
megadeth has some hits and misses.
slayer only had a few misses for me. anthrax imo were great with either singer but the material was widely up and down even on the same album. I liked both guys though.
metallica imo should have stayed a hard rock band and never tried st anger or death magnetic. while death magnetic has some good tunes it sounds force
testament has 2 albums I really don't like and the rest is great

Overkill are very consistent, yes, but I think they don't have as many standout excellent albums; they have plenty very good and quite a few in 90s and 2000s I didn't get, but they have made a great comeback over the last 3.

I think Kreator have been exceptionally cocnsistent; the first 4 or 5 classics, and I loved their 90s stuff - Gothic, industrial, and also Thrashy still on one of the releases. Their 80s work is exemplary, 1992's 'Renewal' was Thrashy with heavy industrial tones but still a compelling album. And of course since 2001 they've comeback with high quality releases, with the last 3 in particular being among the best they've done. 2012's 'Phantom Antichrist' was terrific, the best metal album I'd heard in ages, I still listen to it. An amazing band really.

Metallica; I lost touch completely with them - didn't like the Loads', some decent tracks but a whole mess of forgettable filler. 'Death Magnetic' was good but it does sound a bit forced. They're having real trouble following it up.

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IrelandCalling4
Overkill are very consistent, yes, but I think they don't have as many standout excellent albums; they have plenty very good and quite a few in 90s and 2000s I didn't get, but they have made a great comeback over the last 3.

I think Kreator have been exceptionally cocnsistent; the first 4 or 5 classics, and I loved their 90s stuff - Gothic, industrial, and also Thrashy still on one of the releases. Their 80s work is exemplary, 1992's 'Renewal' was Thrashy with heavy industrial tones but still a compelling album. And of course since 2001 they've comeback with high quality releases, with the last 3 in particular being among the best they've done. 2012's 'Phantom Antichrist' was terrific, the best metal album I'd heard in ages, I still listen to it. An amazing band really.

Metallica; I lost touch completely with them - didn't like the Loads', some decent tracks but a whole mess of forgettable filler. 'Death Magnetic' was good but it does sound a bit forced. They're having real trouble following it up.

I think that Load and Reload both contain some of the most interesting and textured music they've ever released. In fact, Load was the album that eased me into the metal genre. I'd always tuned metal out up to that point (I was still a young teen into the Stones, ZZ Top, Aerosmith, etc.), but Load was accessible enough for me to get into heavier music, which in turn led to me exploring their back catalog, getting turned on to REAL thrash, and then delving deeper into the various metal subgenres, including death and black metal.

So ironically, I credit Metallica's "sellout" period for making me a lifelong metal head who just as often listens to Cannibal Corpse, Nile, Behemoth, Iron Maiden and Slayer as the Stones, Springsteen, and AC/DC. Because of that, I will always have a soft spot for those two mid-90s efforts.

I'm sure you've heard Overkill's Ironbound, which I think is a modern-day masterpiece and one of the greatest thrash albums ever. As you said, Overkill are always solid but rarely exceptional, but THAT album was such an unexpected, unrelenting ass-kicker. It truly ranks among the best albums of the last 20 years, and really came out of nowhere. The two albums that followed were good but not nearly as impressive.

I haven't checked out Kreator's non-thrash output, although I keep meaning to...albums like Endorama. Any recommendations?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-01-14 16:01 by keefriff99.

Hey keefriff,

Agreed on Overkill's 'Ironbound' - that was the album that really introduced me to them a few years ago. I'd never listened to much Overkill when initially getting into Thrash as a teen, but on hearing 'Ironbound', and actually 'The Electric Age' - which I found equally as great - that's when I discovered them. The most recent album is good but not quite as good as the preceding pair.

Kreator, ah yes, for me they are the masters. I just love them; German Thrash seems so much more vitriolic, vicious and extreme than it's U.S. counterparts. Kreaator's 'Pleasure to Kill' and 'Terrible Certainty' for example, fantastic, brutal Thrash. The 90s are very different, but, artistically, I find them as compelling as the Thrash stuff. 'Renewal' is much slower in tempo, definite sludgier, more industrial riffing, while traces of Thrash remain. Some good reviews on it on metalarchives. 'Endorama' is their 'rock' album for want of a better word; commercial, catchy, very gothic in places. It is horrifying for die-hard fans of the band, but again, many reviews out there praise the artistic side and taking those chances. Think Megadeth's 'Risk' but better written. 'Cause for Conflict' is Thrash with touches of groove - powerful, brutal Thrash without the usual Kreator melody. I think it's a fine album, and I would recommend. 'Outcast' is the only one I'm not mad on; it's good, and in parts very good, but it's not as inspired. Industrial, slow, heavy songs, some are very good, some just drag.

'Renewal' and 'Cause for Conflict' I would recommend, and then 'Endorama'.

The new MEGADETH album 'Dystopia' is excellent; released just 2 weeks ago and garnering mostly extremely positive reviews, I have to say it's up there with their very best. A fantastic heavy metal, and a very special Megadeth album.

The Japanese Edition is the one I got; great sound and includes bonus track 'me Hate You' to make a 12-track all killer no filler opus!

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IrelandCalling4
The new MEGADETH album 'Dystopia' is excellent; released just 2 weeks ago and garnering mostly extremely positive reviews, I have to say it's up there with their very best. A fantastic heavy metal, and a very special Megadeth album.

The Japanese Edition is the one I got; great sound and includes bonus track 'me Hate You' to make a 12-track all killer no filler opus!

I listened to a few tracks...they were decent, but Mustaine is such an appalling person to me that I have little interest in hearing him rant and rave about New World Order conspiracies. Incredible guitar talent aside, the guy is a grade-A fruitloop and a thoroughly distasteful individual. His recent slagging of his partner, Dave Ellefson, shows he has no class.