Big Four of Thrash
Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax defined thrash in the 1980s, and the Big Four label still works as the genre's front door.
In this piece
Who are the Big Four of thrash metal, and why do these four bands always get named together? The label refers to Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax, the American bands that did most to take thrash from small clubs and tape-trading circles to arenas and international sales in the 1980s.
Where the label came from
There was no official ceremony behind the name. Fans and music media began grouping the four bands together because they rose at the same time, reached the widest audiences, and set the standard for the genre. Other important thrash bands, such as Exodus, Testament and Overkill, are often mentioned as the ones left just outside the circle, which says more about commercial reach than about quality.
The four also came from different scenes. Metallica formed in Los Angeles and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1983, where the local thrash scene around bands like Exodus was already growing. Slayer and Megadeth came out of the Los Angeles area, and Anthrax represented the East Coast, from New York. That spread helped thrash become a national movement rather than a local one.
One album per band to start with
| Band | Album | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Metallica | Master of Puppets | 1986 |
| Slayer | Reign in Blood | 1986 |
| Megadeth | Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? | 1986 |
| Anthrax | Among the Living | 1987 |
Metallica's Master of Puppets shows the band at its most ambitious, with long, carefully arranged songs that never lose their speed. Slayer's Reign in Blood is the opposite in shape: ten songs in under half an hour, relentlessly fast and aggressive. Megadeth's Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?, the band's second album, mixes technical guitar work with Dave Mustaine's sharp, sarcastic lyrics. Anthrax's Among the Living adds a crossover edge from hardcore punk and a lighter, more playful attitude than the other three. For the rawest early sound, Metallica's debut Kill 'Em All (1983) and Megadeth's debut Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! (1985) are the natural next steps.
The joint shows and the German counterpart
For decades the Big Four were a talking point rather than a line-up. That changed on 16 June 2010, when all four played the same bill for the first time at the Sonisphere festival in Warsaw, Poland. The show in Sofia, Bulgaria, on 22 June 2010 was filmed and released as The Big Four: Live from Sofia, Bulgaria. More joint dates followed, and the run ended at Yankee Stadium in New York on 14 September 2011.
Europe had its own answer. In Germany, Kreator, Sodom and Destruction are often called the Teutonic big three of thrash. Their sound was rawer and harsher than most American thrash, and it fed directly into early death and black metal. Kreator's Pleasure to Kill (1986), Sodom's Agent Orange (1989) and Destruction's Eternal Devastation (1986) are good places to start.
The simplest next step is to play the four albums in the table in order of release, then compare them with the German three. Hearing both sides back to back makes it clear how one genre developed so many different accents in just a few years.
