Legends of thrash metal, from Metallica to Slayer, reflect on their earliest music influences in a released outtake from the upcoming documentary Murder in the Front Row.
The three-minute clip explains a variety of inspirations behind the classic thrash sound we recognise today. Metallica’s James Hetfield and Robert Trujillo name Jeff Beck and Stevie Wonder as their influences, while Anthrax’s Charlie Benante quotes his childhood love of opera as his main influence.
An outtake from the upcoming Murder in the Front Row documentary reveals the inspirations behind some of the biggest voices in thrash metal, including Metallica.
The outtake includes interviews with members of Exodus, Testament and many other bands, all reflecting on the artists who have shaped their music. The full documentary, directed by Adam Dubin, will be available on streaming services and DVD from April 24th, and is available for preorder now.
Inspired by photographers Brian Lew and Harald Oimoen, the documentary traces the beginnings of thrash metal and how it found home in the San Francisco Bay Area.
“The Bay Area in Murder in the Front Row gave focus to the rise of thrash metal because the young people there had a unique front-row seat to the development of the musical style,” Dubin said about the project.
“I had witnessed the growth of the hip-hop scene in New York City at the same time as thrash metal, so I understood the power of a scene and that’s something that I wanted to explore.”
Dubin is renowned for documentaries like A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica and the Beastie Boys’ Fight for Your Right to Party clip.
