10 Reasons Why The New Wave Of British Heavy Metal Was So Influential

4. The Birth Of Thrash Metal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnRkiAK_gZc When Metallica's Lars Ulrich decided to form a band it was because of one thing; the NWOBHM. The music which was making it's way across the Atlantic may have been hard to track down but it was prompting young musicians in the U.S to form bands which would rival the speed and ferocity of the NWOBHM. Angel Witch, Venom, Raven, Iron Maiden, Diamond Head... all were instrumental in ushering in an era of aggressive, fast and complex music which came to be known as Thrash Metal, a sub-genre pioneered and popularised as a direct response to the NWOBHM by the likes of Metallica as well as Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, Overkill and Exodus. At one point the two genres seemed to converge, almost uniting the British NWOBHM contingent with the fledgling Thrash/Speed Metal scene emerging from San Francisco's Bay area. Metallica's second ever show was as support to Saxon and Raven also toured with Metallica on the Kill 'Em All For One series of dates (Raven in support of their third album All For One and Metallica promoting their ground-breaking debut Kill 'Em All) but it wouldn't be long before the headliners and support bands swapped roles as the Thrash Metal elite eclipsed their heroes to find greater success on their own terms. Check out the video above; the elite of Thrash Metal historically joining forces to pay homage to "Am I Evil?", the greatest NWOBHM song of them all. To true fans of Thrash Metal and the NWOBHM the spectacle of seeing members of Anthrax, Slayer and particularly Megadeth and Metallica sharing the same stage was truly a sight to behold; as James Hetfield says "History, man". He was not wrong!