Tag: Thrash Metal

What? Another metal documentary? And why the hell not, eh?

Before the review, let me share with you a funny story. Back in the late 80s, I came across a Rolling Stone article (somewhere in the back, mind you) extolling the virtues of a young metal band named Metallica. Now, I loved hard rock in the 70s (Deep Purple, Led Zepellin etc) and had more or less lost touch with the genre by the mid-80s, so I was curious. Well, I ended up purchasing cassettes of Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax and found them a little extreme (for the time) but could appreciate the skill and talent that went into the music. Although I did get Metallica’s Black album and a few Megadeth cassettes in the early 90s, I never really quite got into the music ever again.

So I definitely found this documentary, detailing the history of thrash metal, very intriguing. Interesting to note how thrash come forth as a hybrid of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (e.g. Motorhead, Iron Maiden, Saxon) and hardcore punk. It seems to me that each succeeding generation of metal bands and fans are looking for a more extreme version of what is in existence. And so thrash metal basically needed to be faster and louder than their influences.

The documentary highlights the “Big Four” of thrash metal viz. Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax with interviews with the relevant folk involved. Not only that but the documentary also features bands who did not make it quite as big as the aforementioned groups but still played their part in making thrash metal one of the best-selling musical genres of its time.

Unlike Sam Dunn’s (Metal, Global Metal) method of breaking down the material for better understanding, Get Thrashed is more for diehard thrash metal fans and scholars of the genre (like yours truly). I cannot imagine casual people being able to get into this. That said, if you’re interested in where the extreme metal of today had its origins then Get Thrashed is certainly instructional.

Official Site | Amazon