On Wednesday, Sept. 14, four of the most popular and influential heavy metal bands in history, collectively known as the "Big Four" of thrash, will perform for a legion of headbangers at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax all formed in the early 1980s, melding the heaviness of traditional metal bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest with the aggression of punk rock to create thrash, metal??s most enduring genre. Following are excerpts from separate interviews conducted over the past month with David Ellefson, Slayer bassist-vocalist Tom Araya and Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian.
