Veteran music writer Daniel Bukszpan has a new book on the way: Heavy Metal's Big Four: How Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, And Megadeth Reshaped Metal arrives on November 10 and is available for pre-order now.
The book is built as a year-by-year chronicle of the four bands that turned thrash from an underground oddity into one of metal's dominant forces. Bukszpan starts in 1981, when all four were getting off the ground, and follows them through the lineup upheavals, the landmark records, the tours and the rivalries and alliances that pushed each band in its own direction.
Four bands, four paths
Each band gets its own thread. METALLICA's climb from Kill 'Em All to stadiums is set against Dave Mustaine's drive for precision and constant reinvention in MEGADETH. ANTHRAX are credited with bringing humor, New York attitude and even hip-hop into thrash, while SLAYER stand for the speed and darkness that shaped generations of extreme musicians.
Beyond the bands themselves, Bukszpan looks at the forces around them: tape trading and the underground zine network, MTV exposure, the major-label breakthroughs, and metal's comeback in the 2000s. The book also maps how closely the four influenced one another, and it comes with plenty of photography.
In his introduction, the author argues that these bands "put the thrash metal genre into motion in 1981," and that records like Among The Living, Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?, Master Of Puppets and Reign In Blood "still sound like nothing else."
About the author
Brooklyn-based Bukszpan has been a freelance writer for more than 30 years, with bylines in Fortune, CNBC and Condé Nast Traveler. His previous books include Iron Maiden At 50, Ozzy At 75, Rush At 50 and, earlier this year, Rush And 2112: 50 Years.
The Big Four debate hasn't gone quiet in 2026 either. Earlier this month Dave Mustaine named his own "new" Big Four on his 65th birthday.