Flotsam and Jetsam Family Tree

This is a project aimed at making it easy to see who inspired the bands you love or even hate. For this I try not to use any influences that the band don’t claim themselves. There will be a focus on predecessors but successors will be added as they site the band. These trees become more and more interactive as new bands are added, allowing you to click any band that has a tree and jump to it.

We want our lists to be better. If you know something that belongs on this list, let us know. When in doubt we will leave it out, so we need reliable sources.

Flotsam and Jetsam are a Thrash band, later they went in a more progressive metal direction but have since come back to a more Thrash base. Singer Eric "A.K." Knutson is the only member to appear on every album. The first core line up also included guitarists Edward Carlson and Michael Gilbert with drummer Kelly David-Smith. Jason Newsted of Metallica fame was the bassist for the first album. He was a main writer for it as well as wrote a lot of the second album although he did not perform on it. Troy Gregory would take his place for two albums. Jason Ward would then play bass on every album through 2013. Mark Simpson would replace Gilbert on guitar for four albums before his return 2010. Steve Conley replaced Edward on guitar in 2013. Michael Spencer who was with the band a short time in the 80s rejoined in 2013, replacing Ward on bass. Drummer Craig Nielsen would replace Kelly on four albums in the 2000’s. Kelly returned for an album. Jason Bittner of Shadows Fall played on one album and Ken Mary has been on drums since 2017.

The Beatles are one of the most important rock bands. Troy named them as an influence.

Deep Purple are a hugely influential hard rock and early heavy metal band. Craig named Ian Paice as a big influence.

Jeff Beck is one of the most influential guitarist out of the 60’s. Steve is a fan.

Yes were an influential progressive rock band. Troy named Chris Squire as one of his favorite bassists. In an interview with Newsted in 89 he is quoted as naming “Chris Flawyer”. I would postulate that the interview miss heard Chris Squire.

Genesis are a progressive rock band and later went into a more pop direction. Troy named them as an influence.

Black Sabbath are the fathers of metal. Newsted named them as an influence and named Geezer as his favorite bassist. Troy said they were one of his biggest influences. Eric named Dio as an influence.

UFO are an influential hard rock band. Newsted named them as an influence.

April Wine are a Canadian hard rock band. Kelly said they was a band he played along to as a kid.

Montrose were a hard rock probably best known as Sammy Hagar’s first band. Newsted named bassist Bill Church as a favorite.

Judas Priest had a huge and in shaping metal as a genre. Newsted named them as an influence. Erick named Halford as a big influence. Kelly said they were a band he would play along to as a kid.

Kiss are one of the biggest American hard rock bands. Newsted said they were an influence when he first started to play and named Gene as an influence. Eric said Destroyers was the first album to have a big impact on him. Edward said Kiss Alive was the album that really got him into music. Kelly said they were a band he would play along to as a kid.

Rainbow consisted of two of the most legendary people with Ronnie James Dio and Ritchie Blackmore. Troy named them as an influence. Eric also named Dio as an influence.

Ted Nugent is an influential hard rock / heavy metal guitarist. Newsted named his bassist Rob Grange as one of his favorites.

AC/DC are the quintessential hard rock band. Michael Gilbert said hearing “The Jack” is the reason he wanted to play guitar.

Journey are a huge arena rock band. Craig named Steve Smith as a big influence and also named later drummer Deen Castronovo

Motorhead are hard rock / heavy metal legends. Newsted named them as an influence and named Lemmy as one of his favorite bassists, second only to Geezer. Troy also named Motorhead as an influence.

Rush were a hugely influential progressive hard rock band. Newsted and Troy named Geddy as one of their favorite bassists. Jason Ward said Geddy is the reason he has a career playing bass. Kelly said Neil Peart is his main influence Craig also named Neil as an influence.

Van Halen were revolutionary in rock music. Steve is a fan.

Yngwie Malmsteen was huge for the neo-classical playing style. Steve named him as a favorite.

Iron Maiden are one of the most influential metal bands. Newsted named them as an influence. They were a big influence on Eric and he said after hearing Bruce it was goal to be able to sing like that. Troy is a big fan of Steve Harris. Steve is also a fan.

Accept are German metal legends. Newsted named Peter Baltes as an influence.

Wild Dogs were a traditional / speed metal band. Craig named Deen Castronovo as an influence.

David Weckl

David Weckl is a jazz-fusion drummer. Craid named him as the greatest all time drummer.

Metallica are the fathers of thrash. Newsted named them as an influence. Eric said that Master of Puppets changed very metal song every written after. Michael Gilbert said hearing “Hit The Lights” changed everything for him.

Exodus are an important early thrash band. Newsted named them as an influence.

Slayer was the most aggressive of the early thrash bands and hugely influential. Newsted named them as an influence.

After a his time in the legendary bands Rainbow and Black Sabbath, Dio created his own legendary band. Eric named Dio as a big influence. Steve is also a fan.

Vinnie Moore

Vinnie Moore is an influential shredder. Steve named him as a favorite.

Newsted said he was maybe influenced by a bit of punk but didn’t name any particular bands. He said he was influenced by a lot of funk and soul which is the stuff he grew up on as a kid and probably the reason he played bass. He also said his older brothers were listening to stuff like Jimmy Hendrix, Blue Cheer, MC5, Ted Nugent, Nazareth, and Kiss and that had an impact on him but Black Sabbath really got him into music.

Eric said he likes Frank Sinatra, Nickelback, and some Slipknot. Michael Gilbert has also said he likes Slipknot.

Eric said he has been singing his whole life and as a kid was in theater and choruses at school. He said he wasn’t into metal before meeting the guys in Flotsam when they asked him to learn stuff from Number of the Beast and Unleashed in the East.

Edward Carlson was in the band the longest amount of time besides Eric. Other than AC/DC noted above, I haven’t found any of his influences.

Michael Gilbert said that John Mayer and Dave Matthews are two of his favorite song writers. In metal he names Corey Taylor.

Troy was on two albums and collaborated on When The Strom Comes Down. He was previously in a band that played cover from bands including Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, Black Sabbath, The Who, Ten Years After, Talking Heads, and Devo. He also mentions being a fan of old Genesis. He auditioned for Metallica a year before joining Flotsam. He said some of his favorite metal bands were Metallica, Celtic Frost, Voivod, and Mercyful Fate. He was also a fan of man bands they played shows with such as Megadeth, Testament, Sanctuary, Forbidden, Vio-lence, and the band Meanstreak. He says he doesn’t see genre and is a fan of all types of music. Before he got into metal he was more into progressive rock and new wave.

Jason Ward was bassists from 1991-2013. Other than Geddy Lee I haven’t seen him name any influences. On a personal note, I met him when he was playing in a Black Sabbath Tribute band, so Geezer is likely an influence.

Craig Nielsen was the drummer from 1997-2011. He said as a kid he really liked Jethro Toll. He says he is a fan of Thomas Haake of Meshuggah.

Mark Simpson was on four albums from 1997-2010. I’m unsure of his influences.

Jason Bittner of Shadows Fall was the drummer for one album. His influences will on the Shadows Fall family tree eventually.

Bassist Michael Spencer was in the band a short time in the late 80’s. He returned to the band more recently and did two albums with them. I’m unsure of his influences.

Ken Mary has been on drum since 2017 has been on one album and will be on the next one. Drummerworld lists his influences as Buddy Rich, Louie Bellson, Neil Peart, John Bonham, Steve Gadd, and Tommy Aldridge. I have not verified these.

Sources:

https://guitar.com/features/metallica-jason-newsted-interview/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6bCDXTbFUM
https://userpages.umbc.edu/~thuff1/metallica.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20140222001214/http://wikimetal.uol.com.br/site/interview-with-jason-newsted/
https://loudwire.com/jason-newsted-bass-player-live-concert/
https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2019/01/17/five-heavy-albums-that-changed-my-life-with-eric-a-k-of-flotsam-and-jetsam/
http://www.flotsam-and-jetsam.com/interview1.html
https://myglobalmind.com/2013/04/23/exclusive-interview-with-eric-knutsonvocals-flotsam-and-jetsam/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIaVn2AGIVg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2Zv0e2Wpl8
https://www.powerofmetal.dk/interviews13/flotsamandjetsam_interview.html
https://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/michael-gilbert-of-flotsam-and-jetsam
https://www.noecho.net/interviews/troy-gregory-flotsam-and-jetsam-prong-wasted-youth-the-witches
https://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Ken_Mary.html
http://metalsludge.tv/classic/?p=28283
http://www.friday13thmetal.co.uk/Page%203%20-%20Interviews/Flotsam_And_Jetsam_11/new_page_1.htm
https://allthatshreds.com/interview-guitarist-steve-conley-flotsam-jetsam/

Exodus Family Tree

This is a project aimed at making it easy to see who inspired the bands you love or even hate. For this I try not to use any influences that the band don’t claim themselves. There will be a focus on predecessors but successors will be added as they site the band. These trees become more and more interactive as new bands are added, allowing you to click any band that has a tree and jump to it.

We want our lists to be better. If you know something that belongs on this list, let us know. When in doubt we will leave it out, so we need reliable sources.

Exodus are among the earliest of the thrash bands. With few exceptions, guitarist Gary Holt has written nearly all of their music with lyric writing being shared more often. The second album Pleasures of the Flesh is the only album that has shared writing credits between all members. That line up consisted of Gary, Original and long time drummer Tom Hunter, vocalist Steve Zetro Souza, bassist Rob McKillop, and on guitar Rick Hunolt. An interesting note is that Kirk Hammett of obvious Metallica fame was one of the original members and did some of the earliest demos along side Gary. Although Exodus started before Metallica, their earliest demos are not quite thrash. The first one is very reminiscent of the NWOBHM style. Other members of Exodus and their contributions will be noted below.

Roy Buchanan

Roy Buchanan is a lesser known but still influential blues player. Rick named him as an influence.

Glen Campbell

Glen Campbell was popular singer/song writer. Rick named him as an influence.

Ry Cooder

Ry Cooder is mostly known as a blues player. Rick named him as an influence.

Deep Purple are one of the most influential hard rock and early heavy metal bands. Gary named them as an influence and named Ritchie Blackmore as his favorite guitarist. Rick also named Ritchie as an influence.

Led Zeppelin are one of the most influential hard rock bands every. Zetro and Dukes named them as a band they grew up on.

Black Sabbath are the fathers of metal. Gary named them as an influence and said Tony as written more great riffs than anyone. Rick also named Tony as an influence. Zetro named them as a band he grew up on. Dukes is also a fan.

Nazareth were a big hard rock band and even had some occasional metal tracks. Gary named them as an early influence.

UFO were a hugely inflectional hard rock band. Gary named them and Michael Schenker as an influence. Rick also named Schenker.

Thin Lizzy are a hugely influential rock / hard rock band. Gary named them as an influence, and named guitarists Gary Moore and John Sykes. He named “Emerald” as his favorite song.

Neal Schon

Neal Schon has played with a lot of bands but most notably was long time guitarist of Journey. Gary named him as an influence.

Scorpions were the first of German metal and influenced many. Gary named both Uli and Mattias as influences as well as Michael Schenker who was with them for a few albums. Rick named Shenker and Uli.

Rainbow was an incredible combination with Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio. Gary named them as an influence. Rick also named Ritiche.

Judas Priest were super important with refining heavy metal as a genre. Gary named them as an influence and said they are probably the best two guitar band. Rick also named K.K. and Glenn as influences.

Gary Moore has done many solo albums on top of some influential Thin Lizzy albums. Rick and Gary both named him as an influence.

AC/DC are the quintessential hard rock band. Gary named them and Angus as an influence. Rick also named Angus. Zetro said Bon Scott is his biggest influence and modeled his voice after him.

Before anyone cared about his politics, Ted Nugent was an influential hard rocker. Gary named him one of his guitar heroes.

Stevie Ray Vaughan is an influential blues player. Rick named him as an influence.

Motorhead are hard rock / heavy metal legends. Gary named them as an influence.

Diamond Head were one of the earliest of the NWOBHM. Gary named them as an influence.

Dokken were an important glam metal band. Rick named George Lynch as an influence.

Van Halen were revolutionary in the music scene when they blew up. Gary named them as an early influence. Rick named Eddie as a main influence and the reason he started playing guitar.

Angel Witch are an important NWOBHM band. Gary and Tom named them as an influence.

Tygers of Pan Tang were a NWOBHM band. Gary named them as an influence.

Iron Maiden are one of the most influential bands. Gary named early Iron Maiden as an influence.

Discharge were a super important early hardcore punk band. Tom named them as an influence and said he takes a lot of his drum beats from them.

Venom are one of the most important bands when it comes to pushing metal in an extreme direction. Gary and Tom both named them as an influence.

Steve Vai is considered one of the best guitarist ever. Rick named him as an influence.

Sweet Savage were the original band of Dio and Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbel. They put out relatively few recordings until reformed with a couple original members years later. Gary named them as an influence.

Mercyful Fate were technical with tons of riffs and changes in their songs. Tom said they were a main influence on the band.

GBH were an influential punk/hardcore band. Tom named them as an influence.

The exploited were a hardcore and corssover band. Tom named them as an influence.

Joe Satriani is an influential mostly instrumental rock guitarist. Rick took lessons from Satriani for about a year when he first picked up guitar.

Gary said he was influenced by early British hardcore but didn’t name any bands. For more modern bands he says he loves Dimmu Borgir, Hypocrisy, The Haunted , Carnal Forge, and Therion.

Rick played piano for four years or so before playing guitar. He has a couple writing co-credits on the first album and co-wrote a lot of Force of Habit. When asked he said Randy Roads was in his top 10. Early on he said Elton John was a big influence; he listened to funk and Rhythm and blues as well. He said even other instruments such as more classical instruments influence his guitar playing.

Paul Baloff was the vocalist for the first album and contributed lyrics. I’m unsure of his influences.

Rob McKillop was the bassist for the first four albums. I’m unsure of his influences.

Mike Butler played on Force of Habit I’m unsure of his influences.

Jack Gibson has been on bass since 1997. He named Geddy Lee and Billy Sheehan as influences.

Tom Hunter was one of the original members. Tom said the earliest version of the band was covering some NWOBHM bands like Iron Maiden and Def Leppard. He said they also were heavily influenced by punk and even listened to some reggae. He said a lot of his drum parts are inspired by Discharge with a bit of Keith Moon.

Lee Altus has been in the band since 2005. He has a few writing credits in recent years. his influences are covered on the Heathen family tree.

Rob Dukes was the vocalist for three albums and co-wrote on a few songs during that time. His early influences come from his parents with stuff like Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd. The first bands he got into were The Clash, Sex Pistols, and early albums from The Police. Other bands he names are Queen, Black Sabbath, and Ozzy. He says he listened to a bit of everything. Dukes also plays guitar and was guitar tech for Exodus before singing in the band.

Drummer John Tempesta played on two albums in the early 90’s. He only has one co-writing credit although he has two more on bonus tracks released on the remaster of Force of Habit. He said the first stuff he tried to play was from Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. He is a huge David Bowie fan. He named Cozy Powell as one of his biggest influences. His influences include: John Bonham, Terry Bozzio, Cozy Powell, Simon Phillips, Steve Smith, Brain Downey, Tommy Aldridge, Steve Gadd, Tony Williams, and Charlie Benante, Alex Vanhalen and Bill Ward. He names Black Sabbath as one of his favorite bands. He was a drum tech for Charlie Benante and leaned a lot about how to play thrash from him.

Drummer Paul Bostaph was on Shovel Headed Kill Machine but has now writing credits. Eventually he will be covered on a Forbidden family tree.

Bands influenced by Exodus!

As this project advances, bands will be added here… there are many!

Danish Thrashers

Thrash legends!

Phoenix Thrashers

Bay Area Thrash

Black Metallers

Pioneers of Sludge

Industrial Groove

Heavy/Power/Speed

Forerunners of New Wave Thrash

One of the biggest of the new wave of thrash

Sources:

http://www.getreadytorock.com/pure_metal/exodus.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20071023222410/http://www.metal-invader.com/interviews/exodus-2005-10-01/interview.php
https://www.musicradar.com/news/slayers-gary-holt-dont-sacrifice-feeling-for-technical-perfection
https://metalheadzone.com/gary-holt-names-the-band-that-gave-strong-influence-to-every-twin-lead-guitar-bands/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3kHe-ffteU
http://www.osiamo.com/Gary-Holt
https://theforgedlegions.music.blog/2020/10/08/marc-c-pietrek-interview-with-rick-hunolt-ex-exodus/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy_hCXMSRQo&t=413s
https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/steve-zetro-souza-bands-don-t-survive-off-record-sales-anymore/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uki9zGFycyM
https://www.westword.com/music/tom-hunting-of-exodus-on-how-building-a-song-is-like-building-the-best-sandwich-possible-5674510
https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/news/141031/
https://glidemagazine.com/117258/john-tempesta-cult-white-zombie/
https://www.hit-channel.com/john-tempesta-the-cult/1363
http://www.johntempesta.com/

Slayer Family Tree

This is a project aimed at making it easy to see who inspired the bands you love or even hate. For this I try not to use any influences that the band don’t claim themselves. There will be a focus on predecessors but successors will be added as they site the band. These trees become more and more interactive as new bands are added, allowing you to click any band that has a tree and jump to it.

We want our lists to be better. If you know something that belongs on this list, let us know. When in doubt we will leave it out, so we need reliable sources.

Slayer are one of the earliest thrash bands and part of the big four. They are known for their more extreme sound compared to others of the time. Their core line up consisted of guitarists Kerry King and the late Jeff Hanneman. Vocal and bass was handled by Tom Araya. Dave Lambardo was on drums for the early and most important albums. Paul Bostaph took his place through much of the 90’s. Dave Returned for two albums and Paul once again returned for their last release which also had Exodus guitarist, Gary Holt in the place of Jeff. All music writing credit is shared between Jeff and Kerry. Tom has occasionally contributed to lyrics.

Deep Purple were a very important and influential hard rock and early metal band. Kerry named them as an influence on him and thrash in general. He named Ritchie as one of his early influences. Dave named Ian Paice as one of his heroes.

Led Zeppelin are fathers of hard rock and one of the biggest most important bands. They were an early influence on Jeff, Tom also named them as an influence. Dave named Bonham as one of his heroes.

Black Sabbath are the fathers of metal. Kerry and Tom named them as an influence. Dave named Bill Ward as one of his heroes.

UFO are an influential hard rock band. Tom said they were an influence on the band. Jeff said Michael Schenker was an influence at one time.

Montrose were a hard rock band now mostly remembered as Sammy Hagar’s first band. Kerry named Ronnie Montrose as an early influence.

Judas Priest are known as the metal gods for good reason, being one of the most influential metal bands and had a large hand in defining metal. Kerry named them as an influence. He said both Glenn and K.K were influence but more so Glenn who he says is one of the most underrated guitarists. When asked about influences, Judas Priest is consistently one of the bands Kerry talks about the most and names them as his favorite band. Priest were one of Jeff’s early influences.

Rainbow combined Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio in and incredible band. Kerry named Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll as a favorite album being both a huge fan of Ritchie and Dio.

AC/DC are the quintessential hard rock band. Kerry is a huge fan.

Ted Nugent was a big hard rock player in the days before people only cared about his politics. Kerry named him as an early influence.

Dead Kennedys were an important punk / hardcore punk band. Jeff named them as an influence.

Van Halen had a huge impact on the music scene when they emerged. Kerry was a huge fan before discovering proper metal with Judas Priest. He said he saw them live around six times when VH were supporting their first three albums.

Yngwie Malmsteen is considered one of the most talented guitarists around and had a huge impact bring a neo-classical style to the forefront. Jeff named him as an influence at one time.

Iron Maiden are one of the most influential metal bands and the biggest of the NWOBHM movement. Kerry named them as an influence, particularly naming Dave and Adrian. Maiden were one of Jeff’s early influences. Tom is also a fan.

Venom are one of the most important bands when it comes to pushing metal into a more extreme direction. Kerry named them as an influence and talks about how their early look was Venom inspired. He said they were “the best shitty band ever”.

Ozzy was blessed with some amazing players when he went solo. Kerry is a huge fan of Randy Rhoads and also thinks Zakk is great. He has said Randy was a huge early influence were as Zakk has become a bigger influence in more recent years.

Black Flag are one of the most important bands for hardcore punk. Jeff named them as an influence.

Mercyful Fate were cramming in tons of riffs and changes in their songs. Kerry said this was something they would also do and were influenced by them.

T.S.O.L. were a hardcore punk band venturing into some gothic. Jeff named them as an influence.

Wasted Youth were a popular LA hardcore punk band. Jeff named them as an influence.

MInor Threat were a hardcore punk band from DC. Jeff named them as an influence.

Metallica are the fathers of thrash. Kerry said himself they deserve the credit for starting it. He remembers him and Jeff seeing them in their early days when Dave Mustaine was still on guitar. In an early unpublished interview from Brian Lew done in 1983 prior to Show No Mercy, Jeff named Metallica as an influence stating that along with Venom and Mercyful Fate they were the only bands they listened to at the time. Dave also said they were inspired by them.

Dimebag Darrel

Dime is considered one of the greatest metal guitarists by many. With Pantera he became the father of groove metal and would go on to do albums with Rebel Meets Rebel and Damage Plan before his untimely death. Kerry named him as one of his modern influences.

Kerry described early Slayer as a cross between Venom, Mercyful Fate, with a bit of Judas Priest and a bit of punk.

Kerry talked about Exodus being like brothers to them, both very similar bands. He names Bonded by Blood as one of his favorite albums. He also gives credit as Metallica being the first thrash band and names Master of Puppets as a favorite album. He remembers him and Jeff seeing them in their early days when Dave Mustaine was still on guitar. Besides his metal influences he also mentions listening to Boston and Elton John.

Kerry named favorite singers as Halford, Dio, and Bruce Dickinson, in that order.

Jeff has earlier influences that are hard rock and heavy metal, his hardcore punk influences started after. He said that is where Slayer’s speed and aggression come from. On the other hand though, Kerry has stated that much of the moody or slow stuff from Slayer is written by Jeff where Kerry tends to write the faster stuff.

Tom was first inspired to play music through what his older brother was listening to and learning to play. This was 60’s rock like The Beatles and Rolling Stones. He say his big influences early on came from the radio in the 60’s stuff from Motown and pop and rock music of the time including: Jefferson Airplane, The Turtles, Steppen Wolf, Janis Joplin. He names The Doors as a big influence. He named Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin as big influences growing up/ Tom says he listens to a large array of music including Chilean folk, old country. He his a big fan of Elvis and Simon and Garfunkle, Iron Maiden, The Police.

Dave named drum heroes as Bill Ward, John Bonham, Ian Paice, Mitch Mitchell, and Ginger Baker. He was first inspired to drum through his brother who was listening to stuff like Cream, Janis Joplin and Led Zeppelin. He said he would play on boxes before having a drum set. He also says as a kid he was into Kiss, Ram Jam, Stevie Wonder, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, and Doobie Brothers. Dave said that in the early days he was into punk which influenced him to play faster.

Because Paul was not part of the original line up or have writing credit with the band I won’t cover his influences here. Eventually Forbidden will probably get a family tree and his influences will be covered there.

Obviously Gary will be covered with Exodus.

Bands influenced by Slayer!

As this project advances, bands will be added here… there are many!

One of the big ones of German Thrash

Danish Thrashers

Considered Fathers of Death Metal by many

Phoenix Thrashers

Classic Death Metal

Death Metal with a touch of jazz

Grindcore and Melodic Death pioneers

Polish Death Masters

Pioneers of Death/Doom and Gothic

Black Metallers

One of Death Metal’s biggest

Pioneers of Symphonic Metal

A Death Metal Classic

Fathers of Groove

Pioneers of Melodic Death

Pioneers of Melodic Death

Taking Black Metal into a progressive direction

Industrial Groove

Power/Heavy/Speed

A new twist on Melodic Death

Prominent Power Metal

Groove Metal Masters

Popular Metal-core

Progressive Groove

Representing Folk Metal

Popular Metal-core

Melodic Death meets Groove

Forerunners of New Wave Thrash

Symphonic

Symphonic and Progressive Power

One of the biggest of New Wave Thrash

One of the biggest of New Wave Thrash

Sources:

https://geocities.restorativland.org/SoHo/Study/9077/slayer.html
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/slayers-kerry-king-my-10-favorite-metal-albums-197333/venom-black-metal-1982-197516/
https://guitar.com/features/kerry-king-interview-good-king/
https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/kerry_king_explains_what_he_did_at_final_slayer_shows_that_some_fans_didnt_notice_comments_on_people_saying_band_was_going_to_fold_after_hannemans_death.html
http://www.knac.com/article.asp?ArticleID=3153
https://www.revolvermag.com/music/raining-blood-jeff-hanneman-origin-legacy-slayers-defining-song
https://www.facebook.com/MITFR/photos/a.247331665301618.63511.194273063940812/376624455705671
https://web.archive.org/web/20081208043348/http://www.midwestmetalmagazine.com/interviewslayer.html
https://bravewords.com/news/slayer-guitarist-jeff-hanneman-im-in-a-weird-mood-right-now-with-music
https://web.archive.org/web/20150417081113/http://knac.com/article.asp?ArticleID=3456
https://www.fuse.tv/videos/2013/12/slayer-music-influences
https://www.wikimetal.com.br/interview-with-tom-araya-slayer/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GNCGLPWxw8
http://myglobalmind.com/2014/03/09/exclusive-interview-thrash-drum-legend-dave-lombardo-former-slayer/
https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/slayer-s-dave-lombardo-talks-about-his-early-musical-influences-with-exploremusic/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Urf29ac9bA
https://metaladdicts.com/dave-lombardo-how-dave-mustaine-behaved-in-metallica/

Artillery Family Tree

This is a project aimed at making it easy to see who inspired the bands you love or even hate. For this I try not to use any influences that the band don’t claim themselves. There will be a focus on predecessors but successors will be added as they site the band. These trees become more and more interactive as new bands are added, allowing you to click any band that has a tree and jump to it.

We want our lists to be better. If you know something that belongs on this list, let us know. When in doubt we will leave it out, so we need reliable sources.

Artilley are Danish thrashers. Guitarist, Michael Stützer is the only remaining original member. His brother Morten Stützer played bass early on and later guitar until the time of his death in 2019. The first two albums are credited as written by the band. After that point music is credited to either Michael and or Morten with vocalists contributing to lyrics.

(influences from vocalist Michael Bastholm Dahl are noted as MBD so not to be confused with Michael Stützer)

Jimi Hendrix was a revolutionary guitarist and one of the most influential players. Michael named him as an influence.

Deep Purple are one of the most influential hard rock and early metal band. Michael said Ritchie Blackmore was a big influence on him early on and In Rock as a favorite album.

Jethro Tull were a progressive rock band known for their vocalists use of the flute. Michael named their use of scales as an influence and Aqualung as a favorite album.

Johnny Winter was an influential blues player. Michael named him as an influence.

Grand Funk Railroad were a early hard rock band. Michael named them as one of their early influences and E Pluribus Funk as a favorite album.

Slade were a popular glam rock band. Michael named them as an early influence.

Black Sabbath are the fathers of metal. Michael named them as one of their early influences and named Tony as one of his baggiest influences. Søren named them and Ozzy as an influence and said hearing Sabbath Bloody Sabbath changed everything for him and is his favorite album.

Uriah Heep are a progressive rock band and dabbled in metal in the early days. Michael named them as one of their early influences.

Judas Priest are known as the metal gods for good reason. Michael named them as an influence. Søren and MBD named Halford as an influence.

Motorhead hare hard rock / heavy metal legends. Søren named them as an influence.

Saxon are one of the earliest of the NWOBHM. Søren named them as an influence.

Accept are influential German metallers. Michael said they were a huge influence on them.

Iron Maiden has been one of the most influential metal bands. Michael named them as an influence. Søren and MBD named Bruce as an influence.

Mercyful Fate, and their technical style of traditional metal had a big impact on thrash and are fellow Danes. Michael said they where a later influence and had an impact on early Artillery.

Charged G.B.H or just GBH were a British punk bad that influenced many metal bands. Michael named them as an influence.

Metallica are the father of thrash. Michael named them as a later influence and Master of Puppets as a favorite album.

Exodus are among the earliest thrash bands. Michael named them as a later influence and Bonded by Blood as a favorite album.

Slayer were the most aggressive of the early thrash bands. Michael named them as an influence and Reign in Blood as a favorite album.

The legendary Ronnie James Dio is one of the most influential metal vocalists. Søren and MBD named him as an influence.

Savatage are one of the biggest of the bands considered part of “US power metal”. Michael named them as a later influence and Sirens as a favorite album.

Michael said in 1989 they spent some time listening to some music from Afghanistan. This is where any of their middle eastern influences come from.

Michael said they had some old school punk influences but only named GBH.

I wasn’t able to find the influences of Morten. Michael said they listened to the same stuff.

Flemming was the original vocalist on the first four albums. I’m unsure of his influences.

Jørgen Sandau was on rhythm guitar for the first two albums. I’m unsure of his influences.

Original drummer Carsten Nielsen was on five albums. I’m unsure of his influences.

Søren was the vocalist for two albums He is given co-writing credit on When Death Comes and for writing lyrics on the following album. He said Kiss was the first band he got into as a kid. Besides his earlier influences he named Russel Allen, Jorn Lande, Phil Anselmo, and Chuck Billy as newer singers he likes.

Current vocalist Michael Bastholm Dahl has been on the past three albums and will be on the 2021 release as well. He is credited for writing lyrics but no music. Some of his influences include: Bruce Dickinson, Rob Halford, and Ronnie James Dio. He also says he really likes Mike Patton.

Bassist Peter Thorslund, and drummers Per Moller Jensen and Josua Madsen are not credited with any writing.

Poltergeist drummer John Mathiassen has some co-writing credits on When Death Comes, although he is not on the album or was ever in Artillery

Bands influenced by Artillery!

As this project advances, bands will be added here…

One of the biggest bands of the new wave thrash.

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMXtO36k4pw
https://planetcaravan.wordpress.com/2016/03/20/artillery-interview-with-michael-stutzer/
https://callesrockcorner.dk/michael-sttzer-fra-artillery
https://www.metalcrypt.com/pages/interviews.php?intid=210
http://www.powerofmetal.dk/interviews14/artillery_interview2.html

Evile Family Tree

This is a project aimed at making it easy to see who inspired the bands you love or even hate. For this I try not to use any influences that the band don’t claim themselves. There will be a focus on predecessors but successors will be added as they site the band. These trees become more and more interactive as new bands are added, allowing you to click any band that has a tree and jump to it.

We want our lists to be better. If you know something that belongs on this list, let us know. When in doubt we will leave it out, so we need reliable sources.

Evile were one of the biggest bands of the new wave of thrash movement began. Although they slowed down with releases while some of their peers keep going, they had big presence early on. Writing credit is not noted on most albums so I will treat all members appearing on albums equally. The core line up for their first for albums being mostly steady. On Guitar/Vocals was Matt Dake, lead guitar, Ol Drake, Drums Ben Carter, and bass for the first two albums Mike Alexander. Mike died on tour for their second album and Joel Graham stepped into his role. Their 2021 release will have Ol on vocals and Adam Smith will be taking over the rhythm role of Matt.

The Beatles were at the fore front of rock music in the 60’s. Matt named Rubber Soul as a favorite album.

Jimi Hendrix was a revolutionary guitarist. Matt and Ol grew up with Hendrix through their dad. Ol said he is a big fan.

Pink Floyd are one of the most iconic progressive rock bands. Matt named Wish You Were Here as a favorite album.

Jeff Beck is considered one of the best guitarist out of the 60’s. After his time with the Yardbirds, he mostly did instrumental rock. Ben named drummer Richard Bailey from the album Blow by Blow album as a big influence.

CCR played what was dubbed roots rock, and had many well known songs. Matt named Green River as a favorite album.

Led Zeppelin are among the first of hard rock and hugely influential. Matt and Ol grew up here Zeppelin through their dad. Ol said he is a big fan.

Wishbone Ash were a progressive rock band known for their guitar harmonies. Matt said they was a band he got into as a kid through his dad and named Argus as a favorite album.

Black Sabbath are the fathers of metal. Ol is fan of Tony.

Queen are a huge band that need no introduction. Joel named them as the band that first got him into music as a kid. Matt said Queen was one of the bands he got into through his dad as a kid and named Brian May as one of his guitar heroes.

Camel were a British progressive rock band. Ol named them and guitarist Andrew Latimer as a favorite.

AC/DC are the quintessential hard rock band. Matt named Highway to Hell as a favorite album and them as a favorite band.

Dokken were a rock/metal/glam band with influential members. Ben is a big fan.

Jeff Wayne

Jeff Wayne was a progressive Rock composer. Ben named his Musical Version of The War of the Worlds as one of his favorite albums.

Iron Maiden are among the most influential metal bands. Joel named them as an influence.

Steve Vai is considered one of the best guitarist by many. Ol said he is an influence but not as much as his thrash influences like Metallica.

Metallica are the fathers of thrash. Matt named Metallica as a big influence and favorite band. Ben names Lars as a favorite and said hearing One was a hug influence on him. Ol named Metallica and Kirk as an influence and particularly Ride the Lightning and named them as a favorite.

Anthrax are one of the big four of thrash. Ben named them as an influence and named them as one of the best live bands. Ben and Joel both named Spreading the Disease as a favorite album. Joel said they are his favorite of the big four.

Sodom were first wave black metal and then one of the big German Thrash bands. Ol found himself asking “What Would Sodom Do” when lookin for slower riffs while writing.

Exodus are among the earliest thrashers. Ol named them as a huge influence on them.

Slayer were among the most aggressive thrash bands early on. Matt named them as an influence. Joel named Reign in Blood as a favorite album.

Overkill are east coast thrash masters. Matt said that they were one of Mike’s top five bands.

R.E.M. are a folky alternative rock band. Matt named Out of Time as a favorite album.

Destruction are one of the big thrash bands of Germany. Ol named them as an influence and praised them being one of the purist thrash bands.

Trouble were an important Doom metal band. Joel named their self titled album as a favorite.

Megadeth are the band of one of the most important thrash players Dave Mustaine. Ol named Marty Friedman as an influence.

Obituary are a death metal classic. Ol named them as an influence and one of his favorite Death Metal bands.

Sepulture the the demo days were pioneering death metal before going to their more well known death/thrash sound. Ol named them a big influence and one of his favorite bands. Matt also named them as an influence.

Faith No More were a pioneering alternative rock band. Joel named The Real Thing as a favorite album.

Testament are thrash legends. Ol named Testament as one of their main influences. Ol and Matt both name Alex as a favorite guitarist.

Annihilator are a Canadian Thrash/Speed Metal classic. Ben named Criteria For a Black Widow and drummer Ray Hartmann as a huge influence on him. Ol named Jeff Waters as a huge influence on him, probably his biggest.

Mr. Bungle are an experimental alt rock/metal/thrash band. Joel is a big fan.

Joe Satriani is know of his instrumental rock and is a virtuoso. Ol named him as an influence but not as much so as his thrash influences like Metallica.

Soundgarden are important grunge pioneers. Matt is a fan and named Superunknown as a favorite album.

Guns n’ Roses were playing hard rock when metal was dominating and compared to any of the glam bands of the time they had a much harder edge. Ol and Matt both named Slash as a favorite guitarist.

Carcass started as grind core and moved in to death and melodic death. Ben named Ken as a big influence and particularly on Heartwork.

King’s X are a progressive metal band. Joel is a big fan.

Paradise Lost are Death/Doom, and Goth Pioneers. Matt is a fan.

Extreme were a funky glam rock/metal band. Joel says he loves them and doesn’t care if you make fun of him.

Cannibal Corpse are one of the most well known death metal bands. Ol named them as a big influence and the reason he plays in E#.

Pantera are the Fathers of thrash. Ben named Vinnie as a big influence and particularly Cowboys From Hell. Matt named Cowboys as a favorite album. Matt said that Rex was one of Mike’s favorite bassists.

Mind Funk are a grunge / alternative/funk metal band. Joel is a big fan.

Machine Head are a groove metal band formed by former thrasher of Vio-lence. Ben named Chris from their first album as a big influence.

Luca Turilli formally of Symphonic Power metallers, Rhapsody (Rhapsody of Fire later) released solo albums while still in Rhapsody. Ben said his King of the Nordic Twilight album was one that he learned double bass playing to.

Dionysus was a Swedish power metal band. They shared a vocalist with Lucca Turilli whom Ben is a huge fan of. This is another band that he learned double bass playing along to.

The Darkness was a band bringing back classic hard rock and making it fresh starting in the 2000’s. Ben named their first album as on of his favorites.

Adam is the newest member of the band Hell Unleashed will be his first album with the band. His influences include Lost Society, Alien Weaponry, Megadeth, Machine Head, Tyler Bryant & the Shake Down, Body Count, Slipknot, Corbot, Havok, and Exodus.

Ol said he listens to Miles Davis when he needs a break from metal. He said he got into some progressive rock like King Chrismon and Yes because of Alex Skolnick. For new stuff Ol said he is a big fan of Sylosis’s Dorment Heart.

Ol was a drummer before playing guitar.

Matt and Ol are brothers and grew up with the same music that their dad (was was also a guitarist) listened to.)

Matt said he got into music through his dad with older bands like Queen, Wishbone Ash, Jimi Hendrix, and Led Zeppelin. He got into metal from Ben having him listen to Master of Puppets. After that he got into Slayer and Sepultura. When he was asked about non thrash music that he likes he named “Creedence Clearwater to Nick Cave, Neil Young, Cypress Hill, Film scores, Genesis, Entombed, Blondie, Soundgarden, Michael Jackson.” He said he doesn’t like any modern bands besides a few like Opeth. He also names James Hetfield, Tom Araya, Warrel Dane, and Freddie Mercury as a favorite vocalists. As favorite guitarists he named James Hetfield, Slash, Brian May, and Alex Skolnick.

Mike Alexander died on tour in 2009. There are few interviews with him. Besides the influences of his mentioned by Matt I’m not sure of his influences. Some sources name some of the same bands other members have named, but I have not verified them. In an interview with Ol, he said that if it wasn’t thrash Mike didn’t like it.

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3E5RQd8n18&t=5s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERW8ka-bakc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JblfH3XcxeQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibYBPF5ydFk
http://www.radiometal.com/article/matt-drake-kill-fuck-marry,1544
http://sailawaytomorrow.blogspot.com/2016/02/interview-matt-drake-from-evile.html
http://www.metal-temple.com/site/catalogues/entry/musicians/matt_drake_evile.htm
https://metalinjection.net/interviews/evile-release-album-earache-records
https://web.archive.org/web/20080306090834/http://www.evile.co.uk/matt.html
https://www.loudersound.com/features/my-essential-playlist-ol-drake
https://archive.blabbermouth.net/news/evile-guitarist-ol-drake-discusses-influences-plays-favorite-solos/
https://loudwire.com/evile-ol-drake-plays-favorite-guitar-riffs/
http://themetalist.net/an-interview-with-ol-drake-ol-drake-ex-evile/
https://www.metal-rules.com/2006/11/24/evile-lead-guitarist-ol-drake/
https://katylovesrock.wordpress.com/interviews/interview-ol-ben-evile-24th-august-2011/

Sodom Family Tree

Metal Family Tree

This is a project aimed at making it easy to see who inspired the bands you love or even hate. For this I try not to use any influences that the band don’t claim themselves. There will be a focus on predecessors but successors will be added as they site the band. These trees become more and more interactive as new bands are added, allowing you to click any band that has a tree and jump to it.

We want our lists to be better. If you know something that belongs on this list, let us know. When in doubt we will leave it out, so we need reliable sources.

Sodom are one of the baggiest and most important of the German thrash scene. Their early stuff is considered an important part of the early rendition of black metal similar to bands like Venom and Hellhammer. The heart of the band has always been bassist/vocalist Tom Angelripper. Other members have been less consistent although many have contributed to writing while in the band. Members that have contributed to writing will be noted down below. Because many members have come and gone, Tom’s influences are the ones that shape the core of the band. There are several Sodom albums written entirely by Tom. Influences of other members would have only shaped a few albums at most.

Jimi Hendrix is easily one of the most influential guitarists of all time. Blackfire named him as one of his role models.

Frank Zappa’s band was a big influence in progressive circles. Blackfire names him as one of his role models and names Sheik Yerbouti as one of his favorite albums.

Pink Floyd are one of the most influential and well known processive rock bands. Blackfire named Wish You Were Here as one of his favorite albums.

Carlos Santana has been a influential guitarist although to a lesser extent in metal. Blackfire names him as one of his roll models and his third album in his favorite’s list.

Jeff Beck was one of the most influential guitarists of the 60’s. Blackfire named Guitar Garage as a favorite album.

Deep Purple are a very influential hard rock / early heavy metal band. Blackfire said Ritchie Blackmore was one of the people who first inspired him to play guitar.

Mahavishnu Orchestra was a jazz fusion / progressive rock band with influential jazz guitarist John McLaughlin. Blackfire named John as one of his role models and Apocalypse as a favorite album.

Scorpions were the premier hard rock / early heavy metal band of Germany. They were an early influence on Blackfire.

Judas Priest are known as the metal gods and are possibly the most quintessential metal band. Blackfire said British Steel was his first metal album and names it as one of his favorites still.

Rainbow was the legendary band putting Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio together. Blackfire named rainbow as an influence.

Motorhead are heavy metal / hard rock legends. Tom named them as an influence and said the first line up was his favorite. Tom said that “Ace of Spades” is his all time favorite song. Blackfire also mentions Motorhead.

AC/DC are the quintessential hard rock band. They were the reason Blackfire first started playing guitar.

Saxon was one of the first of the NWOBHM. Blackfire named them as one of the bands he was into. Before joining Sodom he played in a cover band that played some Saxon.

Iron Maiden are one of the most influential metal bands. Blackfire named them as one of the bands he was into.

Steve Vai is a virtuoso guitarist considered many as one of the best. Blackfire named his Passion and Warfare as one of his favorite albums.

Venom are the fathers of extreme metal and were super important in inspiring the birth of more extreme genres. Tom named them as an influence and said that their first album was the most important album for him.

Tank were a NWOBHM band. Tom said he’s a big fan.

Anvil are a Canadian heavy metal band. Blackfire mentions being a fan.

Mercyful Fate were very technical cramming riff after amazing riff into their songs. Blackfire mentions being into them.

Slayer were one of the most aggressive thrash bands of their time. Tom stated he was a fan and Blackfire named Reign in Blood as one of his favorite albums. Blackfire became a fan of slayer after hearing Hell Awaits and it inspired him to start playing faster riffs. Bernemann said Reign in Blood was an important milestone for him.

Fates Warning are one of the pioneers of progressive metal. Bernemann said the album Parallels is very important to him.

Tom said when he started Sodom the goal was to be heavier than Venom.

Tom said that Uriah Heep were one of his favorite bands when he was a boy.

I am unsure of Witchhunter’s influences. He was the drummer from basically the beginning until 1992 and contributed to writing.

Blackfire was with the band for Pursicution Mania and Agent Orange. He has since returned to the band in 2018. He said with few exceptions when he was in the band he wrote the music and Tom wrote the lyrics. In a 2005 interview he named his role modals as Carlos Santana, Frank Zappa, John Mc Laughlin, and Jimi Hendrix. He says he also plays bass and drums… and digeridoo (lets hope he plays the latter on the new album.) When asked how he got in to metal he said “I started with Rock´n´Roll, then Hard Rock ala AC-DC, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Scorpions, then Judas Priest, Maiden, Anvil to Slayer. The first real Metal album I think was British Steel by Judas, before that AC-DC Highway to Hell”. Some of the early rock ‘n’ roll he listened to included Little Richard and Carl Perkins.

Michael Hoffmann of lesser known German thrash band Assassin played guitar and co-wrote on Better Off Dead. I’m unsure of his influences.

Andy Brings played guitar on Tapping the Vein and Get What You Deserve and wrote a few songs. I’m unsure of his influences.

Dirk Strahlmeier played guitar and co-wrote on Masquerade in Blood. I’m unsure of his influences.

Atomic Steif was the drummer on Get What You Deserve and played and co-wrote on Masquerade in Blood. I’m unsure of his influences.

Bobby Schottkowski was the drummer from 1997-2010 and co-wrote on Sodom and In War and Pieces. I’m unsure of his influences.

Bernd "Bernemann" Kost was guitarist from 1996-2018 and co-wrote on Sodom, In War and Pieces, and Decision Day. He said he grew up with glam rock with bands like Slade as a kid. He said Queen was also very important for him but now only listens to hard rock and metal. (I was only able to find a few influences he mentions by name.)

Markus "Makka" Freiwald played drums from 2010-2018 and co-wrote on Decision Day. I’m unsure of his influences.

Bands influenced by Sodom!

As this project advances, bands will be added here… there are many!

One of Death Metal’s biggest bands

Incantation are a death metal classic.

Melodic Death Pioneers

Black metal taken in a progressive direction

Forerunners of New Wave Thrash

Sources:

https://distortedsoundmag.com/interview-tom-angelripper-sodom/
http://www.radiometal.com/article/tom-angelripper-sodom-soldier-of-the-peace,108563
https://www.metal-rules.com/interviews/sodom.htm
http://www.carnagedeathmetal.de/carnage/interviews/german/frankblackfire_2005.html
https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/former-kreator-sodom-guitarist-frank-blackfire-shredding-the-axe-new-video-posted-online/
https://darknessunseen.wordpress.com/2018/02/01/my-aim-is-to-stay-healthy-and-to-keep-my-whole-environment-positive-bernemann-ex-sodom/

Heathen Family Tree

Metal Family Tree

This is a project aimed at making it easy to see who inspired the bands you love or even hate. For this I try not to use any influences that the band don’t claim themselves. There will be a focus on predecessors but successors will be added as they site the band. These trees become more and more interactive as new bands are added, allowing you to click any band that has a tree and jump to it.

We want our lists to be better. If you know something that belongs on this list, let us know. When in doubt we will leave it out, so we need reliable sources.

Heathen are a relatively underground thrash band. Guitarist Lee Altus (who has also been in Exodus since 2005) has been the heart of the Heathen since the beginning with long time vocalist David White joining soon after the beginning. Doug Piercy was on second guitar on the first two albums which is a role now filled by Kragen Lum since 2007. There have been several bass players, none being with the band for a long period. Drummers have change several times as well.

The Beatles are one of the most notable bands in history for being the band that kicked off a new generation of rock music. David and Doug named them as an influence.

The Rolling Stones were one of the most important bands out of the 60’s rock bands. Doug named them as an influence and David said they were one of the bands he listened to as a kid.

Th who were one of the harder bands to come out of the 60’s. Doug named them as an influence.

Jimi Hendrix was a revolutionary guitar player. Doug named him as an influence.

Deep Purple’s classic line up in the 70’s has been hugely influential to so many bands. Lee named them as an influence and said Burn is one of his favorite albums. David and Doug also named Deep Purple as an influence.

Humble Pie were a hard blues rock band. Doug named them as an influence.

Led Zeppelin are one of the most important and influential bands in history. Doug named them as an influence

The fathers of Heavy Metal, Black Sabbath. Lee and Doug named them as an influence.

ABBA were a hugely popular pop band. Lee says he loves ABBA.

Thin Lizzy were a rock / hard rock band known for their guitar harmonies. Lee named them as an influence on the whole Bay Area scene. He named Thunder and Lightning and Black Rose as favorite albums. Doug also named Thin Lizzy as an influence.

UFO were a very influential band when Michael Schenker was on guitar. David named them as an influence.

Sweet were a hard rock / glam band. Lee named them as an influence.

Scorpions have balanced heavy metal and hard rock over the years putting out plenty of both. Lee named them as one of the bands he grew up listening. He says he really loves the first four albums and would maybe pick Taken By Force as his favorite.

Queen was a big influence on many bands, with Freddy Mercury considered one of the greatest vocalists. David named them as an influence.

Aerosmith were one of the most important American hard rock bands. Doug named them as an influence.

With Ritchie Blackmore and Dio, Rainbow was a legendary band. Lee named them as an influence and he named Rainbow Rising as one of his favorite albums.

The metal gods, Judas Priest are perhaps the most quintessential heavy metal band. Lee and David named them as an influence.

Gary Moore was a influential blues player. Doug named him as an influence.

Motorhead are hard rock / heavy metal legends. Lee named them as an influence.

Al Di Meola

Al Di Meola is an influential jazz guitarist. Doug named him as an influence.

The Pat Travers Bands was a hard blues rock band. Doug named Pat as an influence.

Van Halen were a one of those bands who impacted the entire musical world when they came out. Doug named them as an influence.

Iron Maiden are one of the most influential metal bands and came out of the NWOBHM movement. Lee said they were a band he grew up listening to and named Killers as one of his favorite albums.

Tygers of Pan Tang were another NWOBHM band. Lee named them as an influence.

Ozzy has been blessed to have some amazing guitar players in his band. Kragen named old Ozzy stuff as an influence with Randy Rhoads.

The Exploited were a hardcore punk / crossover band. Lee named them as one of the punk bands that he listened to.

CBH or Charged GBH were a hardcore punk band. Lee named them as a punk band he listened to.

The earliest of the Bay area bands, Exodus did a lot for what wold be come thrash metal. Lee said he use to play along to early Exodus demo. He named Bonded by Blood as a favorite thrash album.. Kragen was also influenced by Exodus. (Both Lee and Kragen have played in Exodus in recent years.)

The fathers of thrash, Metallica really cemented what thrash was. Lee used to play a long to early Metallica demos and named Kill ‘em All as a favorite thrash album. Kragen also names Metallica as an influence. They both name James as the guy all the thrash players look to for rhythm.

Ratt were a heavy / glam metal band. Kragen named Warren DeMartini as an influence.

In Flames are one of the pioneers of melodic death metal. Lee is a big fan.

Lee said his goal with Heathen was to combing the riffing of Exodus and Metallica with the vocals of Iron Maiden, and harmonies of Thin LIzzy and Iron Maiden.

Lee didn’t directly name the following as influences, but named Slayer’s Reign in Blood, Venom’s Black Metal and Destruction’s Infernal Overkill as some of the best thrash albums (along with already mentioned Metallica and Exodus). In a different interview instead of Black Metal he names Death Angle’s Ultra-Violence.

Lee said he likes some punk for it’s speed. He also says he likes industrial metal. He said he really liked In Flames and they was the first band he heard since the early days of thrash that he thought was doing something really new. He also mentions liking Children of Bodom. He talks about early death metal bands like Obituary being good, but said a lot of the bands after were just copies.

David says he was influenced by NWOBHM but doesn’t name any bands. He also says he listened to The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Monkees as a kid. He said he always wanted to be a drummer and never really considered being a singer till asked to join Blind Illusion.

Kragen talks about still practicing and working on his skills by trying to get better and a more classical style as well as working on Jeff Loomis stuff.

Jim Sanguinetti, guitarist in the early days, did not play on any albums but has at least one co-writing credit on the second album.

Bassist Mike Jazstremski and drummer Carl Sacco played on the first album, but I’m uncertain if they contributed to writing. I’m uncertain of writing credits for this album.

Darren Minter was the drummer for the second album, but no writing is credited to him.

Jon Torres was bassist on The Evolution of Chaos and wrote the music for “Bloodkult", but this is his only credit writing contribution.

Sources:

https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/21558-a-lesson-in-violence-exodus-gary-holt-lee-altus?page=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCLKrv472-k
https://www.metal-rules.com/2013/07/02/lee-altus-exodus-and-heathen/
https://www.metal-rules.com/2020/03/13/heathen-david-white/
https://www.therockpit.net/2020/interview-david-white-heathen/
http://www.old.mirgilus.com/interviews/heathen.html
http://users.telenet.be/denofiniquitybe/intanvilchorus'.htm
https://www.wattpad.com/865252260-interviews-kragen-lum-live-guitarist-of-exodus

Onslaught Family Tree

Metal Family Tree

This is a project aimed at making it easy to see who inspired the bands you love or even hate. For this I try not to use any influences that the band don’t claim themselves. There will be a focus on predecessors but successors will be added as they site the band. These trees become more and more interactive as new bands are added, allowing you to click any band that has a tree and jump to it.

We want our lists to be better. If you know something that belongs on this list, let us know. When in doubt we will leave it out, so we need reliable sources.

Onslaught brought forth aggressive thrash from the U.K. Although starting as more of a hardcore punk band they would become one of the most well known British thrash bands. Nige Rockett has been the heart of the band since the beginning being the only consistent member through the years. From what I can tell in the early days Nige wrote songs on his own and then they were refined by the band as a whole.

The fathers of metal, Black Sabbath are one of the metal bands named by Nige as an influence.

Judas Priest are possibly the most quintessential traditional or classic metal band, the metal gods. Nige named them as one of his metal influences.

Motorhead toed the line between heavy metal and hard rock and wasn’t afraid to do it with a punk attitude. Nige named them as one of his metal influences. He said he learned all the songs from the No Sleep 'til Hammersmith album. Grice also named them as an influence.

The leaders of UK punk, The Sex Pistols were a very important band. Nige named them as one of his main influences.

Discharge is a very influential hardcore punk band. Nige and Mahoney named them as a main influence. Grice also named them as an influence.

Charged G.B.H. or just GBH were early British hardcore punk rockers. Nige named them as an influence.

The Exploited were another UK hardcore punk band; they later went to a more crossover sound. Nige said they was a band he loved when he was younger.

Nige said he came from a hardcore punk background but also listened to some metal bands. In one interview he named “Possibility of Lifes Destruction” - Discharge, “Fight fire With Fire” - Metallica, and “I’m Broken” - Pantera as favorite songs.

When asked about guilty pleasures Nige named George Michael, Funkadelic, and Parliament.

Nige said him and original bassist Paul Hill use to follow GBH, The Exploited, and Discharge around on tour. I figured if they were going to follow them around they might as well start a band.

Steve Grice was the drummer from the beginning through 2011. Sy Keeler said that drummer Steve Grice was into Iron Maiden besides the bands he mentioned above.

Sy said he started his musical journey with glam bands like Slade and Sweet before discovering Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. He then got into the Sex Pistols and The Clash and eventually Venom.

Rob Trottman played guitar and wrote on In Search of Sanity but I couldn’t find his influences.

James Hinder played guitar and wrote on In Search of Sanity but I couldn’t find his influences.

Steve Grimmett of Grim Reaper fame sung on In Search of Sanity but did not contribute to writing.

Alan Jordan played guitar on Killing Peace but I am not sure if he contributed to writing?

Jeff Williams had been with the band since the reforming of it. He hasn’t contributed to the writing but apparently loves Kiss.

Andy Rosser-Davies has been played guitar and co-wrote for Sound of Violance, and VI. He named AC/DC and Led Zeppelin in a very un-serious interview before saying “Wait we are a thrash band… So death, destruction”.

Sources:

https://www.metal-rules.com/2013/10/29/onslaught-interview-with-nige-rockett/
https://www.therockpit.net/2020/interview-nige-rockett-onslaught/
https://100percentrock.com/interviews/202006/257896
http://lesliesmetal-page.blogspot.com/2010/09/onslaught-paul-mahoney.html
http://lesliesmetal-page.blogspot.com/2011/06/onslaught-interview-with-nige-rockett.html
https://www.metal-rules.com/2005/10/11/onslaught-steve-grice/
https://www.uberrock.co.uk/interviews/62-november-interviews/9722-sy-keeler-onslaught-uber-rock-interview-exclusive.html
http://www.metalcorefanzine.com/onslaught.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFFoG-AfYiQ
https://www.theindependentvoice.org/2011/11/16/jeff-williams-andy-rosser-davies-of-onslaught-have-a-chat-with-james-meakin/