Big Day Out
The Big Day Out was an annual music festival, held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Gold Coast and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer in January of each year but was sometimes held as late as early February in some cities including Perth; the event was conceptualised. Promoters Ken West and Vivian Lees sought another act as middle-level support for the band's tour, they succeeded in securing Nirvana to play the Sydney leg at Horden Pavilion. The Big Day Out debuted on the 1992 Australia Day public holiday in Sydney and expanded to Melbourne and Perth the following year; the Gold Coast and Auckland were added to the schedule in 1994. As of 2003, it featured seven or eight stages, accommodating popular contemporary rock music, electronic music, mainstream international acts and local acts. Auckland was taken out of the tour schedule in 2013, but the festival returned to the city for its last run in 2014. After the partnership between Ken West and Vivian Lees was dissolved in 2011, Lees sold his stake in the event to Australian DJ and music promoter AJ Maddah, the co-promoter with American festival promoter C3 Presents from 2013 to 2014.
In early June 2014, C3 attained full ownership of the Big Day Out festival and announced the cancellation of the 2015 event on 26 June 2014 with the option for the festival to return in the future left open. Despite this, the event has yet to return in subsequent years and as of 2018 there are no plans for any event to be held in future. Annual music festivals had been gaining momentum for some time, the United States had launched Lollapalooza in Chicago, Illinois in 1991. Australia had seen various music festivals but nothing annual. Big Day Out was founded by Ken West and Vivian Lees–the festival began in 1992 as a Sydney-only show, with the headline act, Violent Femmes, playing alongside Nirvana, a range of other foreign and local alternative music acts, at the Hordern Pavilion. In 1993 the scope of the festival was extended to include Melbourne and Adelaide. West revealed in an interview that he was looking to create "urban mayhem" and "controlled chaos". In 1994 the Big Day Out was extended further to include Auckland, New Zealand and the Gold Coast, was held over a three-week period.
The geographical locations of the 1994 festival occurred on an annual basis until 1997, when organisers West and Lees announced a year-long hiatus, causing concern that the festival was nearing the end of its existence. Following the start of the 21st century, the festival was involved in two major controversies. Firstly, 16-year-old Jessica Michalik was killed after she was crushed at a 2001 Sydney show during a performance by the band Limp Bizkit. Michalik's death temporarily placed the future of the BDO festival in jeopardy, but the event continued after the Sydney Coroner's Court criticised the crowd control measures at the site and inflammatory comments made by Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst after the crush occurred; the festival celebrated its 100th performance in 2010. In the period leading up to the 100-show milestone, which occurred at the second of two Sydney dates in 2010, Lees claimed in an Australian article that the BDO's ability to build relationships with acts during their careers had become an important part of the BDO culture.
In the same Australian article, journalist Iain Shedden described the BDO as one of the "most successful and long-running rock festivals in the world", aligning the festival with the established Australian horse-racing event, the Melbourne Cup. Lees explained the growth and increased complexity of the festival in the 2010 Australian article, stating that, while a crew of 70 people crossed Australia in 1993 for the inaugural event, the 2010 festival consisted of 700 people. Lees highlighted the increased needs of Australian bands in his explanation: It does get easier but it's getting bigger and that makes it more complicated... You're more confident about what you're doing and having some gravitas, but at the same time, because we're having more and more expectations put on us by everyone, the complexities are increasing. Aussie bands that used to take five or six people on the road are now taking 11; that seems to be the magic number for a new starting-off band. What they are doing is working to put on the best show they can.
Through that the festival needs more riders, more hotel rooms, more everything. Due to the increasing popularity of the event, a second Sydney show was held; the extreme popularity of Metallica in 2004 led to this addition, followed by another second-show addition in Sydney for the 2010 event, when Muse was the headline act. A second Sydney date returned in 2011, in response to the co-headline acts and Rammstein. In November 2011, the business partnership between Lees and West was dissolved, the latter next partnered with Austin, United States -based company C3 Presents, which runs the Lollapalooza festival in the US. C3 purchased a 51 per cent stake in the company following a split, caused by "internal and external" pressures, whereby Lees severed all connections with the business. Prior to November 2011, Creative Festival Entertainment was the production company of the BDO festival. On 17 January 2012, West announced that the Auckland BDO event, held on 20 January 2012, would be the last Big Day Out in New Zealand, explaining that the festival would only be held in Australia in 2013.
However, in April 2013, the promoters said that they were seeking to reschedule an Auckland event in 2014. The 2012 festival was beset by difficulties and was d
Gisborne, New Zealand
Gisborne is a city in northeastern New Zealand and the largest settlement in the Gisborne District. It has a population of 37,200; the district council has its headquarters in the central city. The settlement was known as Turanga and renamed Gisborne in 1870 in honour of New Zealand Colonial Secretary William Gisborne; the Gisborne region has been settled for over 700 years. For centuries the region has been inhabited by the tribes of Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Rongowhakaata, Ngāi Tāmanuhiri and Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, their people descend from the voyagers of the Te Horouta and Tākitimu waka. East Coast oral traditions offer differing versions of Gisborne's establishment by Māori. One legend recounts that in the 1300s, the great navigator Kiwa landed at the Turanganui River first on the waka Tākitimu after voyaging to the region from Hawaiki and that Pāoa, Captain of the waka Horouta, followed later. An alternative legend recounts that Kiwa waited so long for the Horouta canoe to arrive that he called its final landing place Tūranganui-a-Kiwa.
However, a more popular version of events is that Horouta preceded Takitimu. In 1931, Sir Āpirana Ngata stated that Horouta was the main canoe that brought the people to the East Coast and that Ngāti Porou always regarded Takitimu as "an unimportant canoe". Māori historian Rongowhakaata Halbert affirmed this account, stating that Paoa's crew on the Horouta were the first inhabitants of the East Coast after migrating from Ahuahu or Great Mercury Island. Paoa gave his name to various places across the region, most notably the Waipāoa River. During the 14th century, Māori tribes built fishing villages close to the sea and built pā on nearby hilltops. Gisborne's Kaiti Beach is the place where British navigator Captain James Cook made his first landing in New Zealand upon the Endeavour. Cook had earlier set off from England in August 1768 on a mission bound for Tahiti. Once he had concluded his duties in Tahiti, Cook continued south to look for a large landmass or continent. Young Nick's Head was thought to be the first piece of New Zealand land sighted by Cook's party, so named because it was first observed by cabin boy Nicholas Young on 6 October 1769.
On 9 October, Cook came ashore on the eastern bank of the Turanganui River, accompanied by a party of men. Their arrival was marred by misunderstanding and resulted in the death and wounding of nine Māori over four days, it was on the banks of the Turanganui River that first the township of Turanga the city of Gisborne, grew as European traders and whalers began to settle in the river and port area. The landing site was commemorated on the 137th anniversary of Cook's arrival. In 1964 the Gisborne committee of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust registered the land around the monument as a historic reserve, in 1990 it was designated a National Historic Reserve and put under the care of the Department of Conservation. Starting in the early 1830s, traders such as Captain John Harris and Captain George E. Read set up the first trading stations along the Turanganui river and are attributed to the founding of the town. Over the next 30 years, many more European traders and missionaries migrated to the region.
In 1868 the government bought 300 hectares of land for a town site. The town was laid out in 1870 and the name changed from Turanga to Gisborne, after the colonial secretary, to avoid confusion with Tauranga. In 1872, Gisborne's first public school was opened and its first newspaper, the Poverty Bay Standard was established. A town council was formed in 1877. Gisborne is a coastal city located on the east cape of New Zealand's North Island, it sits at the south end of the Gisborne District and within Poverty Bay. The Poverty Bay Flats encompass Gisborne city as well as surrounding areas Mākaraka and Ormond where vineyards and farms are prominent. Gisborne is forested and hilly inland. Gisborne boasts a large stretch of coastline encompassing the Waikanae and Midway, Sponge Bay and Makorori white sand beaches, which are popular for swimming and surfing. Sometimes referred to as the'City of Rivers', Gisborne sits at the convergence of the Waimata and Turanganui rivers. At only 1200 meters long, Turanganui is the shortest river in New Zealand.
Kaiti Hill, which sits directly above Cook's landing site, provides expansive views over the city and wider Poverty Bay. Many archaeological sites have been identified on Titirangi, including burial grounds and middens. Titirangi Pā sits near the summit. In the wider area surrounding Gisborne are two arboreta, the National Arboretum of New Zealand at Ngatapa which spans over 130 hectares, the smaller 50 hectare Hackfalls Arboretum at Tiniroto. Up until Samoa and Tokelau's dateline shift in December 2011, Gisborne claimed to be the first city on Earth to see the sun rise each day. However, this is now only accurate in New Zealand's summer months; the region is sheltered by high country to the west. Gisborne enjoys a Temperate oceanic climate with warm summers and cool winters, temperatures drop below 0°C and rise above 30°C with a yearly average of 2,200 sunshine hours; the annual rainfall varies from about 1000 mm near the coast to over 2500 mm in higher inland country. According to the NIWA dataset for 1981–2010 normals, Gisborne narrowly edged several other cities to have the warmest summer maxima of official stations.
Winters are cooler than more northerly areas, rendering that over the course of the calendar year, Gisborne is not the warmest station
FVEY (album)
FVEY is the ninth studio album by New Zealand alternative rock band Shihad, released on 8 August 2014. The album debuted at number one on the New Zealand albums chart, making it Shihad's fifth New Zealand number one album; the chart position makes Shihad the only New Zealand band to have five number one albums, tying them with solo artist Hayley Westenra who has five number one albums. The album name is a reference to "Five Eyes" abbreviated as FVEY, an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. For the production of their ninth studio album, Shihad worked with Jaz Coleman, of English post-punk band Killing Joke. Coleman produced Shihad's debut album, but a disagreement with the band occurred after the release of the album. Following a 15-year period in which Coleman and Shihad did not communicate, Coleman made amends with the band members at a London, UK awards ceremony. Toogood explained in June 2014: Three years ago we were at the Metal Hammer awards.
I hadn't talked to Jaz for ages. We'd had a falling out, I just didn't have time for him. Tom went and chatted to him and was like, "come over and talk to him". I was like, "Fuck that guy", but he was softer—he doesn't drink alcohol anymore. He's still gnarly and idealistic and brutal but minus the alcohol that makes him this focused machine, it was just the perfect meeting of what we wanted having the right guy to do it with. Toogood explained that the entirety of the ninth album was recorded live, while Coleman conducted, the band members were forced to focus on each song as they were recorded, without outside distractions, such as mobile phones. FVEY was released on 8 August 2014 on the Warner Music New Zealand label; the first single, "Think You're So Free", was described by Australia's Double J radio station as sounding "more furious now than they have" and the music video for the song was published on YouTube on 5 July 2014. Prior to the release of the album, Toogood explained that anger towards social injustice was a primary motivation during the songwriting process, stating: "I don't have any answers but just as a concerned citizen, I'm going,'This is bullshit'.
The music's. It's fucking frustrating." Musically, the band chose a heavier sound, signifying a return to the first album, which the band found most enjoyable to play during their greatest hits tour. FVEY received positive reviews. Chris Schulz of The New Zealand Herald praised the intensity of the album, stating "They've just made the angriest album of their career - and it's a work of beauty." All tracks written by Shihad. FVEY personnel according to CD liner notes
Rock music
Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as "rock and roll" in the United States in the early 1950s, developed into a range of different styles in the 1960s and particularly in the United Kingdom and in the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, a style which drew on the genres of blues and blues, from country music. Rock music drew on a number of other genres such as electric blues and folk, incorporated influences from jazz and other musical styles. Musically, rock has centered on the electric guitar as part of a rock group with electric bass and one or more singers. Rock is song-based music with a 4/4 time signature using a verse–chorus form, but the genre has become diverse. Like pop music, lyrics stress romantic love but address a wide variety of other themes that are social or political. By the late 1960s "classic rock" period, a number of distinct rock music subgenres had emerged, including hybrids like blues rock, folk rock, country rock, southern rock, raga rock, jazz-rock, many of which contributed to the development of psychedelic rock, influenced by the countercultural psychedelic and hippie scene.
New genres that emerged included progressive rock. In the second half of the 1970s, punk rock reacted by producing stripped-down, energetic social and political critiques. Punk was an influence in the 1980s on new wave, post-punk and alternative rock. From the 1990s alternative rock began to dominate rock music and break into the mainstream in the form of grunge and indie rock. Further fusion subgenres have since emerged, including pop punk, electronic rock, rap rock, rap metal, as well as conscious attempts to revisit rock's history, including the garage rock/post-punk and techno-pop revivals at the beginning of the 2000s. Rock music has embodied and served as the vehicle for cultural and social movements, leading to major subcultures including mods and rockers in the UK and the hippie counterculture that spread out from San Francisco in the US in the 1960s. 1970s punk culture spawned the goth and emo subcultures. Inheriting the folk tradition of the protest song, rock music has been associated with political activism as well as changes in social attitudes to race and drug use, is seen as an expression of youth revolt against adult consumerism and conformity.
The sound of rock is traditionally centered on the amplified electric guitar, which emerged in its modern form in the 1950s with the popularity of rock and roll. It was influenced by the sounds of electric blues guitarists; the sound of an electric guitar in rock music is supported by an electric bass guitar, which pioneered in jazz music in the same era, percussion produced from a drum kit that combines drums and cymbals. This trio of instruments has been complemented by the inclusion of other instruments keyboards such as the piano, the Hammond organ, the synthesizer; the basic rock instrumentation was derived from the basic blues band instrumentation. A group of musicians performing rock music is termed as a rock group. Furthermore, it consists of between three and five members. Classically, a rock band takes the form of a quartet whose members cover one or more roles, including vocalist, lead guitarist, rhythm guitarist, bass guitarist and keyboard player or other instrumentalist. Rock music is traditionally built on a foundation of simple unsyncopated rhythms in a 4/4 meter, with a repetitive snare drum back beat on beats two and four.
Melodies originate from older musical modes such as the Dorian and Mixolydian, as well as major and minor modes. Harmonies range from the common triad to parallel perfect fourths and fifths and dissonant harmonic progressions. Since the late 1950s and from the mid 1960s onwards, rock music used the verse-chorus structure derived from blues and folk music, but there has been considerable variation from this model. Critics have stressed the eclecticism and stylistic diversity of rock; because of its complex history and its tendency to borrow from other musical and cultural forms, it has been argued that "it is impossible to bind rock music to a rigidly delineated musical definition." Unlike many earlier styles of popular music, rock lyrics have dealt with a wide range of themes, including romantic love, rebellion against "The Establishment", social concerns, life styles. These themes were inherited from a variety of sources such as the Tin Pan Alley pop tradition, folk music, rhythm and blues.
Music journalist Robert Christgau characterizes rock lyrics as a "cool medium" with simple diction and repeated refrains, asserts that rock's primary "function" "pertains to music, or, more noise." The predominance of white and middle class musicians in rock music has been noted, rock has been seen as an appropriation of black musical forms for a young and male audience. As a result, it has been seen to articulate the concerns of this group in both style and lyrics. Christgau, writing in 1972, said in spite of some exceptions, "rock and roll implies an identification of male sexuality and aggression". Since the term "rock" started being used in preference to "rock and roll" from the late-1960s, it has been contrasted with pop music, with which it has shared many characteristics, but from wh
Hayley Westenra
Hayley Dee Westenra is a New Zealand singer, classical crossover artist, UNICEF Ambassador. Her first internationally released album, reached No. 1 on the UK classical charts in 2003 and has sold more than two million copies worldwide. Pure is the fastest-selling international début classical album to date, having made Westenra an international star at age 16. In August 2006, she joined the Irish group Celtic Woman, was featured on their Celtic Woman: A New Journey CD and DVD, toured with them on their 2007 Spring Tour, was featured on their DVD, The Greatest Journey: Essential Collection, released in 2008. Westenra has produced five New Zealand number one studio albums, holding the title for the most number one records for any New Zealand act, a record shared with alternative rock band Shihad since the release of their 2014 album, FVEY. Across classical music to easy listening and pop style songs, Westenra has performed songs in English, Māori, Welsh, Italian, French, Latin, Standard Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese Hokkien.
Westenra has performed for dignitaries all over the world. She is the second youngest UNICEF Ambassador to date and has contributed to charities around the globe. Hayley was born in New Zealand, her parents and Jill Westenra, have two other children and Isaac. Hayley's grandmother Shirley Ireland was a singer, her grandfather was a pianist who played the piano accordion, she has Irish and English heritage. She began performing at age six when she was cast in the lead singing role of "Little Star" in the Christmas play at her school, Fendalton Open Air School. After the show, a teacher who had watched the performance approached her parents to tell them that their daughter was "pitch perfect"; the teacher encouraged Hayley to learn. She began voice lessons and discovered a passion for musical theatre. By age 11, she had performed more than 40 times on stage, but was given male parts: "I got boy parts quite often. In ballet, there were not enough boys. So they ended up choosing half. I got chosen to wear the grey suit and the wig, not the pretty dresses.
In A Christmas Carol, I was Tiny Tim. There was a severe lack of singing boys and, at the time, it was quite disappointing." Westenra attended Cobham Intermediate School in 1998 and 1999, where a performing arts building was named in her honour. She won a talent quest in her first year at Burnside High School, which she attended from 2000 to 2003. At 12, Westenra entered a professional recording studio to record Walking in the Air, a demo album created for friends and family. At first, there were 70 copies made, all paid. Soon after, 1,000 more were cut for sale, hand-out, publicity. After finishing her album and her sister Sophie busked in Christchurch, giving away a few of the original 70 albums and selling some of the latter 1000; the pair drew large crowds, one woman asked the girls if they had recorded anything. The woman, a journalist with Canterbury Television, asked Westenra to appear on air. Gray Bartlett, the director of a concert promotion company, saw the show and became interested in working with Westenra.
Shortly after, she was offered a recording deal with Universal Records New Zealand. On that label, who in the meantime was attending Burnside High School, released a self-titled album of show tunes and light classical songs, as well as My Gift to You, a CD of Christmas music. Following the success of her albums, she was offered and received lessons from Dame Malvina Major. Westenra's albums were successful in New Zealand, but she was not well known worldwide until she signed a contract with Decca Records and recorded Pure, a CD of classical, light pop, traditional Māori songs. Decca's British president was impressed with her voice when they signed her to the label, saying that she was "captivated by the beauty and expressiveness of her voice." Pure enjoyed record success: it became the fastest-selling international debut album in the history of the UK classical chart, with 19,068 copies purchased in its first week alone reached No. 1 on the British charts, entered the UK Pop Chart at #8. Over two million copies of Pure have been sold to date.
In New Zealand, Pure has been certified 12 times platinum, making her the best-selling artist, regardless of genre, in the country's history. Pure's success ensured; some of her fame today can be directly attributed to the way. Although the traditional audience of classical crossover music is adult women, they promoted her music to children and teenagers. In 2004 Westenra recorded the end-title song for Disney's movie Mulan II, they featured her in the national Radio Disney music education tour for middle-school students. That year, she was featured in the song "Bridal Ballad" recorded for the movie The Merchant of Venice. Westenra was the 2004 Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards winner of "Highest Selling New Zealand Album" and "International Achievement Award". On 20 February 2004, Prime Minister Helen Clark awarded her for being the first New Zealand artist to receive the tenfold platinum status in the New Zealand market, where she held the number one artist position for 18 weeks, she has won two Japanese Grammies for her work.
Her version of Amazing Grace was used as the theme song for the popular Japanese drama, Shiroi Kyoto (The White T
Black Ice World Tour
Black Ice World Tour was a 2008–2010 concert tour by Australian rock band AC/DC, in support of their fifteenth studio album Black Ice. The tour was the band's first since the Stiff Upper Lip World Tour in 2000 and 2001, it was the last tour with founding member and rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young, who left the band in September 2014 due to ill health and it was the last tour with longtime drummer Phil Rudd, charged in November 2014 for hiring a hitman to murder someone and possession of drugs. They were replaced by Chris Slade respectively; this was the last full tour to feature longtime lead vocalist Brian Johnson as he left the band halfway during the Rock or Bust World Tour due to hearing problems and was replaced by Axl Rose. The tour began in Wilkes-Barre, United States in late October 2008. By spring 2010, the tour had reached North America, South America and Asia; the three concerts at River Plate were filmed and recorded, were released on DVD and Blu-ray Disk. The outdoor concerts outside of United States had the red Angus Young Devil hats on the stage set.
The tour ended up being the most successful by AC/DC, grossing $441.1 million, making it the fourth highest-grossing concert tour of all-time. The tour began with a North American leg, kicking off in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in late October and continuing until late December; the initial leg was met with 18 record sell-outs across the continent. A second North American leg commenced in January 2009 culminating in the month in Nashville, Tennessee. In February 2009, the group began their first round of European shows, beginning in Oslo and wrapping up in Birmingham, U. K. in April. One of two dates scheduled in Antwerp, Belgium was cancelled after lead singer Brian Johnson fell ill. On 29 March, the concert in Zürich, Switzerland was postponed due to undisclosed "technical difficulties" and was rescheduled for 6 April. In May 2009, the band commenced a second European leg – all in outdoor stadiums and venues – beginning in Leipzig and ended the following month in Glasgow, Scotland. In July 2009, the band started a third leg of North America, playing a mix of outdoor and indoor venues.
The tour reached many Canadian markets, missed on the previous two legs. A fourth leg, which included dates in Mexico and Puerto Rico, followed in November; the initial six dates on the leg were postponed after Johnson underwent a medical procedure which subsequently required rest. Five of these shows were rescheduled for spring 2010. In November and December 2009, the band headed to South America, playing shows in Brazil and Argentina; the concerts in Buenos Aires were filmed for the DVD Live at River Plate, to be released on 10 May 2011. Footage was used in the video for "Shoot to Thrill", on the Iron Man 2 soundtrack, along with another video with footage and audio from the Buenos Aires shows of "Highway to Hell", featured in the Iron Man 2 soundtrack. Earlier in November, it was falsely reported that a group of fans had issued a complaint to the band, criticising the setlist. In January 2010, the group began a round of dates in New Zealand, subsequently reaching their native Australia in February.
The Australian shows were the fastest selling concerts in the history of the country, with extra dates added in most markets due to demand. In early February, Johnson responded to the internet fans who had asked for a setlist change, saying "Fuck them", that the stage show was too complicated for them to change songs easily. Following the Australian tour, which ended in Perth, Western Australia, the group played three shows in Japan. On the Oceania tour leg from 28 January 2010 – 8 March 2010, "High Voltage" was played in tribute to Bon Scott around the 30th anniversary of his death. Scott appeared on the screen during the chorus. In April 2010, the band returned to the United States to play the five shows rescheduled from October 2009; that month, Iron Man 2 — soundtrack to the film of the same name — was released. It comprised a host of the group's hits and lesser-known songs from early to recent years, debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 album chart. In May 2010, the band commenced a third leg of Europe, which included an appearance at the Download Festival in the U.
K. "The reports that AC/DC believe their record-breaking fourth appearance at the Donington site to be their own gig, rather than part of the festival, is compounded by the fact that they've brought their own stage," remarked Classic Rock. "In Brian Johnson's grunted banter between songs there's no reference to this being anything other than another AC/DC gig, but another AC/DC gig these days is better than anything else you're gonna see."In Oslo in late May, the group were forced to cut their set short due to the local curfew, after an aircraft malfunction caused a delay to the band's arrival. "For Those About to Rock" was omitted from the setlist for the first time since 30 July 2003. The tour wrapped up in Spain at Estadio San Mamés in late June; the tour won the "Major Tour of the Year" award at the 2009 Pollstar Concert Industry Awards. The tour was nominated in the "Top Tour" and "Top Draw" categories at the 2009 Billboard Touring Awards. According to Billboard, the tour "has tapped into a demand for AC/DC, resulting from the band's eight-year absence from touring, takes its place as one of the band's most successful tours."By the tour's culmination, the group had played over 160 shows to 4.9 million people.
It was one of history's highest grossing concer
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo. The songs use fast percussive beats and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work; the lyrics deal with social issues and criticism of The Establishment, using direct and denunciatory language, an approach borrowed from hardcore punk. The genre evolved in the early 1980s from combining the fast drum beats and attitude of hardcore with the double bass drumming and heavy, complex guitar style of the new wave of British heavy metal, it emerged as a reaction to the more conventional and acceptable glam metal, a less aggressive, pop music–infused heavy metal subgenre which appeared simultaneously. Thrash metal was an inspiration for subsequent extreme genres such as black metal. Thrash metal features fast tempos, low-register, complex guitar riffs, high-register guitar solos and double bass drumming; the genre evolved in the early 1980s from combining the drum beats of hardcore punk with the guitar style of the new wave of British heavy metal.
It emerged as a reaction to the more conventional and acceptable glam metal, a less aggressive, pop-infused heavy metal subgenre which appeared simultaneously. The rhythm guitar parts are played with heavy distortion and palm muted to create a tighter and more precise sound. Vocally, thrash metal can employ anything from melodic singing to shouted vocals. Most guitar solos are played at high speed and technically demanding, as they are characterized by shredding, use advanced techniques such as sweep picking, legato phrasing, alternate picking, tremolo picking, string skipping, two-hand tapping; the guitar riffs use chromatic scales and emphasize the tritone and diminished intervals, instead of using conventional single scale based riffing. For example, the intro riff of Metallica's "Master of Puppets" is a chromatic descent, followed by a chromatic ascent based on the tritone. Speed and time-changes define thrash metal. Thrash tends to have an accelerating feel which may be due in large part to its aggressive drumming style.
For example, drummers use two bass drums, or a double-bass pedal, in order to create a relentless, driving beat. Cymbal stops/chokes are used to transition from one riff to another or to precede an acceleration in tempo; some common characteristics of the genre are fast guitar riffs with aggressive picking styles and fast guitar solos, extensive use of two bass drums as opposed to the conventional use of only one, typical of most rock music. To keep up with the other instruments, many bassists use a plectrum. However, some prominent thrash metal bassists have used their fingers, such as Frank Bello, Greg Christian, Steve DiGiorgio, Robert Trujillo and Cliff Burton. Several bassists use a distorted bass tone, an approach popularized by Motörhead's Lemmy. Lyrical themes in thrash metal include warfare, injustice, suicide, alienation and other maladies that afflict the individual and society. In addition, politics pessimism and dissatisfaction towards politics, are common themes among thrash metal bands.
Humor and irony can be found, but they are limited, are exception rather than a rule. Among the earliest songs to be labeled thrash metal was Queen's "Stone Cold Crazy", recorded and released in 1974; the song was described as being thrash metal "before the term had been invented". Black Sabbath's "Symptom of the Universe", released in 1975, was the inspiration for Diamond Head's "Am I Evil?". Since NWOBHM bands directly influenced the development of early thrash; the early work of artists such as Diamond Head, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Motörhead, Tygers of Pan Tang and Angel Witch, among others, introduced the fast-paced instrumentation that became an essential aspect of thrash. Void is hailed as one of the earliest examples of hardcore/heavy metal crossover, whose chaotic musical approach is cited as influential, their 1982 split LP with fellow Washington band The Faith showed both bands exhibiting quick, high-speed punk rock. It has been argued that those recordings laid the foundation for early thrash metal, at least in terms of selected tempos.
In Europe, the earliest band of the emerging thrash movement was Venom from Newcastle upon Tyne, formed in 1979. Their 1982 album Black Metal has been cited as a major influence on many subsequent genres and bands in the extreme metal world, such as Bathory, Hellhammer and Mayhem; the European scene was exclusively influenced by the most aggressive music Germany and England were producing at the time. British bands such as Tank and Raven, along with German band Accept, motivated musicians from central Europe to start bands of their own producing groups such as Sodom and Destruction from Germany, as well as Switzerland's Coroner; the Swedish punk band Warheads have been described as a proto-thrash band. In 1981, a Southern California band Leather Charm wrote a song entitled "Hit the Lights". Leather Charm soon disbanded and the band's primary songwriter, vocalist/rhythm guitarist James Hetfield met drummer Lars Ulrich through a classified advertisement. Together and Ulrich formed Metallica, the first of the "Big Four" thrash bands, with lead guitarist Dave Mustaine, who would form Megadeth, another of the "Big Four" originators of thrash, bassist Ron McGovney.
Metallica relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area. McGovney was replaced with Cliff Burton, Mustaine was replaced with Kirk Hammett. "Hit the Lights" was featured on th
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