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/

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/

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