In the early 1980s, heavy metal was evolving. Flooring a distortion pedal while deforming Robert Johnson riffs no longer defined the genre, and in California, something big was brewing. The primal anger of hardcore punk met the driving power of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal in a biker bar, and hit each other with beer bottles. After a brief knife fight, both spent time with the same stripper, and thrash was born, in the form of bands like the mighty Megadeth, who will be playing Montreal’s Heavy MTL festival today at Jean Drapeau Park.
“I knew something was happening, but I had no idea as to what (extent),” says Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine, of the genre’s early years.
After a stint in unsigned band Panic, Mustaine played in Metallica’s earliest incarnation, but an acrimonious split inspired him to found Megadeth in Los Angeles in 1983. Along with Slayer, Metallica and Anthrax, Megadeth became one of the Big Four pioneers of thrash, releasing seminal albums like 1986’s Peace Sells … But Who’s Buying and 1988’s So Far, So Good … So What.

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