Articles Top Ten Lists 

Ten Thrash Ballads

Thrash metal is extremely technical music. Its practitioners are accomplished musicians who have spent years mastering their instruments. They shine in the context of fast, aggressive music, but sometimes speed obscures the nuances of their craft. It’s little wonder that ballads soon crept into the repertoire of thrash bands. These slower songs provided a sense of dynamics that allowed musicians to shine without the hindrance of extreme distortion. Naturally most of these “ballads” became full-on thrashers before the song was over. What follows are ten examples of the heaviest bands…

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Articles Observations and Musings 

To Live Is To Die: A Tribute To Cliff Burton

Cliff Burton was already a legend when I discovered Metallica. Not that I knew who he was at the time. And Justice For All was a brand new album and I was taking it all in through the ears and eyes of a 6th grade boy. Vague, half-remembered memories remain of watching the “world premier” of the “One” video just days after first hearing Justice. There was a feeling that I was witnessing a historic moment. Turns out, I was. Metallica had just released their first record without Cliff Burton.…

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