Duff Dives: A Rock & Metal Deep Dive Podcast · Duff Dives | Rock and Metal Album Reviews

The Birth of Thrash: A Deep Dive into Metallica's Kill 'Em All

·45 min

Host dives deep into Metallica's Kill Em All album (1983) and the band's outsized cultural impact on thrash metal and rock music broadly. Explores Dave Mustaine's contentious role in the band's formation, discusses how Metallica serves as a gateway band for metal fans, and reflects on personal musical evolution—from childhood Lars Ulrich fandom to discovering 'better' musicians like Dream Theater and Rush. Acknowledges Metallica as the exception to industry rules, capable of surviving poor albums, aesthetic shifts, and public backlash while maintaining market dominance. Concludes with Metallica's origins in the Bay Area tape-trading scene and the irony of their Napster crusade.

As heard by us

A look at how Kill 'Em All turned mixed influences into something that felt new.

The piece treats Metallica's early story as a familiar credit fight, with Dave Mustaine still hanging over Kill 'Em All and the question of who helped define thrash.

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Why you'd press play

Hear the argument over early Metallica, Kill 'Em All, and how much Dave Mustaine mattered.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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