FIVE 80's METAL BANDS THAT ARE 10x BETTER THAN METALLICA - Posted by Van der Sweet

In a time of excessive pop and glam rock, 80's Metal stood out like a sore thumb and eventually became one of the raddest styles of music to ever grace our pumping stereos. When people think of 80's metal, surely they think 'Metallica.' Their commercial success has given them that recognition. However, there were certain other metal bands that came out in the 80's that rocked harder, faster, and better than Metallica. I believe they deserve the same kind of recognition, and much, much more. Leaving aside the wonderful things Metallica has given us, such as the suing of Napster, DVD's about their feelings, and St. Anger, here are FIVE bands and all the right reasons they're far superior to Metallica.


1. MEGADETH:
I thought I'd start with Megadeth because there seems to be some controversy between them and Metallica. The diehard Metallica fan maintains that Dave Mustaine (Megadeth lead singer and founder) was kicked out of Metallica because he drank too much and wasn't good enough. WRONG. Clearly what happened is this: James Hetfield had starting writing the album 'Load' back in the early 80's. Mustaine thought it was such crap, he picked up and left to start a real band and to drink as much as he wanted without having to hear Lars ulRICH whine about it. Mustaine's new band was so damn good that Hetfield and Metallica scrapped 'Load' and attempted to play real music like Mustaine was doing over at Megadeth (See Megadeth's "Mechanix" and Metallica's "Four Horseman"). A decade later, after Metallica ran out of ideas and needed more money they resorted back to 'Load'. Now that the story is straight, here's some Megadeth:




2. SLAYER:
Now this one's easy. Slayer is harder, faster and just plain better than Metallica in all aspects. No one in Metallica could last a second playing in Slayer or living their lifestyles. Another good thing about Slayer is the fact that they have NEVER made, let alone released, a shitty album, and metal bands tend to come out with a few in their careers (Load, Reload, St. Anger, etc.). That's 14 Albums and still going strong. Trust me, there's nothing quite like waking up first thing in the morning to the tune of 'War Ensemble'. Yeah I'd like to see the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra keep up with THIS:




3. IRON MAIDEN:
They may not be part of the "Big Four" thrash-metal bands of the 80's, but Iron Maiden still has to be mentioned as being far superior to Metallica. Maiden mixes metal with emotion in fantastic style, from their trade-off guitar solos, to Bruce Dickenson's screaming vocals, to Steve Harris' bass riffs rolling faster than a steam-train at full speed. It's widely believed that Bruce Dickenson has the most identifiable voice in metal. Put his voice against James Hetfield's cockrock-like voice and we have no contest. Or as James Hetfield would put it, "NO CONTESTAAAAAH"




4. TESTMAMENT:
Ahhh, Testament. What a fantastic band. They may not be the fastest, but they're definitely the hardest band in this article. Go ahead, put on the album "Low" by Testament and then put on ANY Metallica album after. You'll feel as if you're listening to Justin Bieber. When you're through laughing, line up Testament's James Murphy and Metallica's Kirk Hammet for a speed-metal lead-solo contest (man that sounds awesome). Once again Testament is far superior. And yes, I'm aware that Testament started kicking major ass in the 90's but they started off in the 80's. So there. Oh and also, Testament can play live - which I certainly can't say about Metallica.




5. PANTERA:
So far I've mentioned vocals, guitar playing ability, speed and hardness, but when I think about Pantera all I can think is AARRRGHHHHHH!! Talk about a raw sound that just burns the soul. Pantera also has 10x more energy, and even though it goes without saying, has 10x more PASSION as well. Pantera is yet another band that absolutely makes Metallica look like dainty tinkerbells floating "off to never never land". Also Phil Anselmo is one of the hardest and scariest looking dudes out there, so I fear if I don't put Pantera on this list I'll be killed by his stare.