The early thrash metal bands combined the heavy sounds and live-show energy of punk and NWOBHM and incorporated the do it yourself attitude of those movements into a sound that the masses wanted to hear. A combination of timing, marketing and grass-roots appeal led to the explosion that was the Heavy Metal glory days. They forever changed the music scene by proving that there definately was mass appeal for heavy music, paved the way and set the standards for many of the "heavy" bands that came after and perhaps most importantly, proved that radio could be a promotional tool for heavy music .

While the new stuff is extemely good and I enjoy it immensly, the new round of material and live shows will never will never live up to the "glory days" of the '80's for thrash metal. The players got older, overcame addictions, matured and changed. The fans also grew older and moved on. The music industry, forever in search of that "next big thing," swung the trend elsewhere. Fortunately, though, particuarly these four bands have proven that there's still value there and continue to soldier on, greatly to our benefit. The music and the atmosphere isn't the same, but it still has value.