JAMES HETFIELD’s Favorite Thrash Bands (That Aren’t METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH or ANTHRAX)

Summary

• James Hetfield names his favorite thrash bands, Exodus, Testament, and even Motörhead (sort of) make the cut.
• No Big Four allowed: Hetfield was asked to pick outside the usual suspects, and he actually stuck to it.
• Punk roots show up strong, mentions of G.B.H. and Discharge hint where thrash’s DNA really came from.

At this point, saying Metallica “isn’t thrash anymore” is like complaining MTV doesn’t play music videos.

Welcome to the last three decades. Sure, the band traded speed for stadiums a while back, but try telling the IRS they’re not the face of thrash metal and see how that goes.

Now James Hetfield, the guy who basically grunted thrash into the mainstream, sat down for a chat with Little Punk People (via Far Out) and got hit with a fun little restriction: name your favorite thrash bands, but don’t say Metallica. Or Megadeth. Or Slayer. Or Anthrax.

In other words, don’t mention the four bands that every high schooler with a patch jacket already knows.

To his credit, Papa Het didn’t panic. Instead, he went digging through the dusty corners of his Bay Area Rolodex and pulled out a few names that still matter, even if the algorithms have long stopped caring.

“Oh, my God! There’s a bunch,” he laughed, the kind of laugh you make when you’re trying to remember where you left your denim vest in 1986.

First out of the gate? Exodus. Of course. If you were playing thrash bingo, that’s a free space.

“We grew up with those guys in the Bay Area,” he said, before tossing in a classic Hetfield jab: “Oh, and we also stole their guitarist.”

No lies detected. Kirk Hammett jumped ship in ’83, joined Metallica, and the rest is headbanging history. To be fair, Exodus kept slugging it out with albums that were often more brutal than what Metallica was doing at the same time, just without the luxury of private jets or wrist therapy.

Next up, Testament, cus Hetfield hasn’t completely forgotten who else was holding it down in San Francisco while the “Big Four” were sucking all the oxygen out of the room. Testament’s always been that band everyone respects but somehow forgets to put on the playlist. Hetfield didn’t.

“So many bands in the Bay Area, so much thrash sound,” he said, before pivoting to his punk roots like a guy who still owns a Discharge patch: “Even before that, punk rock kind of started it all for me.”

And then he cheats a little, classic move, by name-dropping Motörhead, which is about as thrash-adjacent as a band can get without actually living in the neighborhood.

But look, nobody’s going to argue with Lemmy. That guy could’ve slapped a triangle and still been metal.

“They’re kind of thrash, but they’re also just pure rock ’n’ roll,” Hetfield reasoned, probably picturing Lemmy chain-smoking through a soundcheck.

Finally, he goes full punk historian and shows some proper love for G.B.H. and Discharge, two bands that sound like a broken bottle fight in a squat, and that’s meant as a compliment.

“I loved G.B.H., actually, I still love G.B.H., and I really like Discharge. That kind of thrashy sound is super cool to me.”

Look, none of this is shocking if you’ve been paying attention. But it’s still refreshing to hear a guy at the top of the metal food chain toss a bone to the bands that were out there bleeding for the cause while the rest of the world was just discovering Ride the Lightning.

Nice to know that under the layers of money, fame, and black wristbands, Hetfield’s still got some rust in the blood.

And if you’re one of those folks still screaming “Metallica isn’t thrash anymore!” from your basement, congratulations. You’re right. They aren’t. They’re a monument to it.

And sometimes, monuments still remember the bands that helped build the damn temple.

Watch the full interview right here 👇

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