The Metal Crypt - Feature: The Metal Crypt presents... 1986 Metal Albums

The Metal Crypt presents... 1986 Metal Albums

All interviews conducted by Luxi Lahtinen

Thanks to everyone who participated in this 1986 metal albums feature.

1986 stands as one of the most transformative years in the history of heavy metal, a year when the genre sharpened its teeth, widened its horizons, and carved its identity into stone. To explore 1986 is to explore a moment when creativity, rebellion, and sheer musical fury converged. This article gathers the voices of numerous metal musicians reflecting on the albums that shaped them as artists, listeners, and lifelong disciples of the riff.

It was the year Metallica unleashed Master of Puppets, redefining both technical ambition and emotional weight within thrash. Slayer answered with Reign in Blood, a record so fast, unrelenting, and uncompromising that it permanently raised the bar for extremity. Megadeth's Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? blended political sharpness with blistering musicianship, while Iron Maiden charted new melodic and thematic territory with Somewhere in Time. Across subgenres and scenes, 1986 was a crucible of innovation whose heat is still felt.

In the pages ahead, metal musicians of every stripe share their stories: the records that awakened them, the riffs that scarred them, the production choices they still analyze, and the cultural moments they lived through. Their perspectives remind us why these albums endure, not merely as classics, but as sparks that continue to ignite new generations.

Turn up the volume, settle in, and let their voices guide you back to one of metal's most defining years.

When you first started your band, were there any specific 1986 metal albums that shaped your musical direction or sound? How did those albums influence your creative choices?

Ricard (PROSCRITO): Ave! Skimming through the questions this time, and I'm grateful I don't need to choose among three albums, because both versions of Obsessed by Cruelty would leave not much room for more. Well, if I'm to answer your first question, and keeping in mind Celtic Frost was and still is my/our first and foremost influence, one could say the Medieval s/t 7" EP takes the cake for this one. Semi-jokes aside, and far from being the ultimate Candlemass fan, Epicus Doomicus Metallicus is deeply attached to our way of composing, and one might argue Saint Vitus as well (although by the time we carved our paths, I was more partial to the Reager's era, but the unconscious can be a bitch). On the other hand, even though One Foot... is my favorite Cirith Ungol album and I was really familiar with it back then, it would be a stretch and a lame exercise in revisionism. Also, Motörhead's Orgasmatron stands for sludgy, testicular fury. But, above all, and as a profoundly personal choice, I'd say the Iommi/Hughes alliance, namely Seventh Star, is quite remarkable in EVERYTHING that surrounds me, be it musical or otherwise, and so are Samhain's November-Coming-Fire and Cro-Mags' The Age of Quarrel, some of my favorite albums ever. Needless to say, none of the finesse in Seventh Star can be traced back in our own deviated offspring save for... well, take a look at the El Calvario artwork again. Back to the point, Strappado is still a PIVOTAL TURNING POINT for me and defined quite intensely my way of understanding what I was after, and I'm talking about EXTREME metal this time. And maybe you might find a noticeable nod in our first full-length Llagas y Estigmas. Also, Post Mortem's mammoth "I Want to Die" deserves OBSESSION and WORSHIP by anyone who approaches slow and heavy METAL OF DEATH. It's always a good idea to reach out to the Coroner's Office.

Ignazio Nicastro (XENOS A.D.):: 1986 is considered the golden year of thrash metal, because three quarters of the so-called ""Big Four" released incredible albums and the European thrash scene had grown up brilliantly with Kreator, Destruction, and Sodom. However, we must not forget that classic metal also provided us with priceless gems. Somewhere in Time, Fatal Portrait, Orgasmatron, The Ultimate Sin, Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, The Dark, and Crimson Glory are cornerstones of heavy metal that have influenced practically everyone. Of course, for a thrash metal lover, albums like Reign in Blood, Master of Puppets, or Peace Sells... But Who's Buying probably are more important than the classic metal masterpieces I mentioned. When I founded Xenos A.D., three albums from 1986 had a huge impact on the direction of the band: Reign in Blood, Pleasure to Kill, and Peace Sells... But Who's Buying. Of course, these weren't the only albums that shaped the band's sound and core characteristics, albums like Darkness Descends and Eternal Devastation also played a key role. The opening track of Xenos A.D.'s new album is titled "1986."

Guido Gevels (CYCLONE):: Well, since our first album Brutal Destruction was recorded in September 1985 and came out in February 1986, there was for sure no influence by any 1986 release.

Rui Alexandre (TERROR EMPIRE):: Absolutely. Master of Puppets was pivotal to us in defining our instrumental chops, so it kind of bled into the music. Only later did I find out about Peace Sells... and Reign in Blood. The rest is history.

Titan Fox (HAMMER KING):: 1986 was a great year for metal and music in general! Iron Maiden's Somewhere in Time is their most experimental work, but maybe their finest album all in all. The artwork, the concept, the sound, the atmosphere, it's all exceptional! I can't say who it influenced more, me or our work, but we have at least three members in the band whose favorite Maiden album this is! And probably two who love Master of Puppets and Reign in Blood to death, of which I am none :).

Andrej Čuk (ENSANGUINATE):: "This city is guilty—the crime is life—the sentence is death—Darkness Descends..."

Diva Satanica (BLOODHUNTER):: 1986 was a great year for the metal scene and most of the masterpieces that inspired the bands of our generation came from there. Slayer's Reign in Blood or Megadeth's Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? are two important influences. Slayer left an indelible mark on all the extreme metal bands and helped to connect thrash with death metal sounds, and Megadeth has been always the perfect example between technique and rage, which is a big part of our basic sound.

Erik Verheij (LORD VOLTURE):: In 1986, most of us were still in diapers or not even born yet, so we weren't influenced by those albums when they came out. The first Lord Volture songs were not written until about 20 years later. But Lord Volture is definitely influenced by some albums that were released in 1986.

Lord Volture is rooted in classic heavy metal but also has some thrash influences here and there. I think you can directly credit this to us being inspired by the classic thrash albums that were released in 1986. For me personally, Master of Puppets is one of the best, if not THE best, metal album released... ever! That album is a perfect example of the melting pot of classic heavy metal and thrash.

There are more connections between 1986 and Lord Volture. Rage for Order (Queensrÿche) and even Turbo (Judas Priest) are also big parts of what shaped our sound, especially when it comes to vocals.

And something I think is funny. I was researching what albums came out that year and I saw Doomsday for the Deceiver by Flotsam and Jetsam was on the list. We just did a European tour in support of Flotsam. It's pretty cool that although 1986 is a generation ago, it still influences bands all around the world... crazy!

Fox-Lin Torres (BATTLERAGE):: Well, a lot of great albums came out in '86, but also in '82, '83, '84... I mean, the decade of the '80s was glorious from beginning to end.

And so, for me, '86 is just one more marvelous year where I must say that more than one band may have influenced me, such as King Diamond, Iron Maiden, or bands that perhaps didn't release an album precisely that year, like Running Wild.

Now, if we talk in general terms, both the underground and the consolidated bands were all creating very interesting material because they were still in a process of great creation, of great imagination for a style that was still forging itself. Because we all know what all this turned into: speed, thrash, black, and from there, a ton of styles from the '90s onward converged wonderfully, and other subgenres within metal were created.

But going to the question itself, I think one of the albums that most influenced Battlerage's first efforts, in some tracks (perhaps not the whole album or our first recordings), was The Dark by Metal Church.

And how did it influence us? I think it was in the combination of certain notes. There are quite interesting, diminished notes that blend with speed or blend with other notes, and Metal Church, had a very notorious presence than other bands, and Battlerage particularly loved that.

There's a track on one of our demos called "Black Rider of Destruction" where you can see a slightly more notorious reminiscence of Metal Church's album, The Dark, although we tried to keep them as only influences and not a copy.

Alejandro Oliva (BATTLERAGE):: I agree with Fox that the whole decade of the '80s was the golden era where the foundations of metal were laid, as we knew it in the '90s and 2000s. Specifically from 1986, I could consider the album Russian Roulette by Accept, Turbo by Judas Priest (which, despite being an album more oriented to hard rock... it's Judas Priest), Metalized by Sword (a lost heavy metal gem), and The Curse by Omen (maybe the two last ones were not as mainstream like the others, but within the underground, they are very important to us. In fact, on our second demo, we did a cover of the song "The Axeman" by Omen).

Mainly, I believe the influence these albums delivered, from my perspective, is the contribution to the general guitar sound as a group musicality, both in the use of chords and in the base rhythmic structures for what would later become the style of Battlerage itself.

Matias Bahamondes (OVERTOUN):: Yes, "The Big Four" were game changers. Master of Puppets, Peace Sells..., Reign in Blood and Among the Living, which came close the year after, were all essential records. For me personally, it was mainly about Master of Puppets and Reign in Blood. The other two albums really connected with me later, when I was a bit older.

Agustin Lobo (OVERTOUN):: Definitely! Master of Puppets was extremely important at that time. Matias and I were (and still are) huge Metallica fans, and I'm sure every song on that album helped shape who we are rhythmically, melodically, and in every possible way.

Hzg.B.v.Moser-Wampula (HAGZISSA):: I would like to begin with an overlooked record and one of my personal favourites: In the Darkness by Paul Chain Violet Theatre. A very strange blend of doom metal, weird rock and ambient soundscapes sung in "phonetic language" that sometimes isn't more than possessed gibberish, but this record holds an atmosphere of pitch-black magic and devilry impossible to explain and which to me is unachieved by his other works.

Since the beginning of Hagzissa we have used tones of violet or purple on anything we can to get ourselves into the same twisted mindset.

By the way, fellow countrymen Bulldozer also released The Final Separation that year, not what you would call a straightforward metal record either.

1986 was a pivotal year for metal with iconic albums like Metallica's Master of Puppets, Slayer's Reign in Blood and Dark Angel's Darkness Descends. Which of these albums, or others from that year, had the most profound impact on you as a musician, and in what ways did they inspire your own songwriting or performances?

Ricard (PROSCRITO):: Although I've already stated 1985 is my favorite year, nothing has shaped my own earliest and fondest musical upbringing as Master of Puppets, Reign in Blood and Somewhere in Time, the former, which still remains the most perfect album ever released, in my opinion. Slayer's deserves credit as the most extreme record bar none (maybe Slaughter, Sodom and Voïvod's of the same year would rank too, although in a different way), making all the gas-masked war metal bedroom wimps blush still to this day and Iron Maiden's, well, I could live without a couple of tracks off that one, truth be told, but imagine living a life without "Caught Somewhere in Time," "Sea of Madness," "Déjà vu" or "Alexander the Great," that's not fair. Of course I love Darkness Descends as much as any guy, and although I know most of its lyrics as the Lord's Prayer, it reached my shelves later on. OK, same as with the previous question, I'd say Destruction's Eternal Devastation (a tad more polished and "commercial" than the predecessors but still mandatory) and Sodom's Obsessed by Cruelty, aka the ultimate offering to all things me(n)tal, might not be evident yet are always lurking around the corner when I'm trying to convey what I understand about everything that rocks my boat.

Ignazio Nicastro (XENOS A.D.):: When I started playing, Iron Maiden were my daily bread, also because they were the first metal band I listened to. In the summer of 1993, a friend lent me a cassette: on the A-side was Master of Puppets and on the B-side was Reign in Blood. I was literally blown away by both albums; I fell in love with the majesty of Master of Puppets as well as the brutality of Reign in Blood. Metallica has never been a main influence of mine, for me their pinnacle is Ride the Lightning, but I have to admit that when I heard Master of Puppets, I was truly impressed. With Slayer, it's a different story because they are my absolute favorite band and therefore their influence is evident in my way of composing. In Xenos A.D., my unconditional love for Slayer is very evident.

Guido Gevels (CYCLONE):: All three albums were great and for sure had their influence, not that we tried to copy any of them, but when you listen to other bands or albums, you will for sure pick up some stuff, albeit unconsciously.

Rui Alexandre (TERROR EMPIRE):: I mean, Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer were untouchable... and they still are. All of those were influential in their own way; songcraft, technique and aggression (respectfully).

Titan Fox (HAMMER KING):: Hahaha, I have to be radically honest here: None of them :). I have been raised on traditional heavy metal and melodic metal as well as '80s rock and pop; therefore, my choices are vastly different here: Cirith Ungol's One Foot in Hell, Billy Idol's Whiplash Smile and Genesis' Invisible Touch are my 1986 addictions! Of course, there is a single by Helloween named "Judas."

Andrej Čuk (ENSANGUINATE):: We're all too young to have experienced those albums when they came out. Looking back, though, Darkness Descends is the one that fits the best into what drives us as a band. Not to take away from the other bands you mentioned, of course, it's just that Metallica and Slayer's first two albums probably helped shape Ensanguinate just a bit more than their third offerings.

Diva Satanica (BLOODHUNTER):: Master of Puppets is one of those albums that made history, and I bet no one in the industry could say that they didn't give it a listen, and that's huge. I guess, for us, it's more connected to other classics, like Judas Priest's Turbo or Kreator's Pleasure to Kill because we usually tend to mix a more heavy/classical sound with growls. Basically, if Bloodhunter had a melodic singer, it could be much closer to these bands than to death metal.

Erik Verheij (LORD VOLTURE):: For me personally, it was definitely Metallica's Master of Puppets. I was in awe of that band and Master of Puppets captured everything I like in music. And as a young boy, learning the drums, the songs on that album became a huge influence on me as I was trying to learn to play them just like Lars. And from there on, it snowballed into the heavier stuff with Slayer's Reign in Blood and the more "creative" stuff from Somewhere in Time by Maiden.

I bet the other guys in the band all have their own, but very similar stories with releases such as Peace Sells... but Who's Buying (Megadeth), The Dark (Metal Church), Fifth Angel (Fifth Angel), Graceful Inheritance (Heir Apparent), Mechanical Resonance (Tesla), Crimson Glory (Crimson Glory), The Force (Onslaught), To Hell with the Devil (Stryper), etcetera.

Fox-Lin Torres (BATTLERAGE):: Well, basically what I was saying earlier: the album The Dark by Metal Church. But also, clearly in the question, the albums you name, like Master of Puppets or Reign in Blood, become something very macro, something very massive that you practically can't distance yourself from.

To that, you can also add the wonderful Somewhere in Time by Iron Maiden and a lot of underground bands. So, I think the answer to this is a collection of wonderful ideas that emerged in '86 with those albums. But of course, I can tell you that one matures and begins to believe in evolution when listening to an album as distant as Iron Maiden from the '80s and then such a different album, on a superior scale, like Iron Maiden's Somewhere in Time. So, that makes you believe in the power of musical evolution, in the direction one takes through maturity, life experiences, for your art and your musical creation.

Alejandro Oliva (BATTLERAGE):: Personally, the one that hit me hardest of the named albums was Master of Puppets by Metallica. Since it is literally the album that inspired me to play the guitar, and I think some of that shows in my way of interpreting the instrument. One always has influences, and not just from Metallica. I could also name other albums from the same year, like Among the Living by Anthrax or Pleasure to Kill by Kreator.

Agustin (OVERTOUN):: Personally, Master of Puppets again. I've always been a big fan of Lars Ulrich. I love his playing style, his ability to compose and structure songs. He has undoubtedly been a massive source of inspiration. Dave Lombardo as well, with Reign in Blood, made me want to practice speed a lot, haha...!!

Matias (OVERTOUN):: Master of Puppets and the way it sounded were extremely relevant for me. That influence eventually led us to work with Flemming Rasmussen (producer), who mastered our previous album. We also recently had the chance to meet him and attend his masterclass in Chile, which was an incredible experience. For me, it has always been about how records sounded back then. We try to honor that approach, the organic way albums were made, without the overuse of technology that has become so common in modern metal.

Hzg.B.v.Moser-Wampula (HAGZISSA):: Besides the very own raw energy of Obsessed by Cruelty by Sodom, or the even more primordial Morbid Visions by Sepultura, there probably is no darker thrashing metal record than Darkness Descends. However, these debut records by Sodom and Sepultura held a demoniac feeling I was actively looking for and trying to reproduce with my own tools. But you simply cannot copy that. Obsessed... is a prime example of how "happy little accidents" can shape and twist the whole face of a genre. Forget the remasters!

How did the evolution of metal in 1986, especially the rise of thrash and speed metal, affect your approach to both playing and composing music when you were starting out?

Ricard (PROSCRITO):: Hard to say, for most of our most noticeable influences released their foundational demos and full-lengths a couple of years in. That doesn't mean I'm not much more enamored of the old spirit, the forebears, and I rather look up to the iconic pictures of early Slayer and Possessed instead of what was to come. Anyone into extreme metal knows the drill with Pleasure to Kill so it just feels trivial to ramble on about how I worship those rototoms and the stench of carrion in the battlefields. Ah, I don't know, man, kids these days might turn up the reverb knobs to eleven, but I come from a time when riffs mattered. Give me At War's Ordered to Kill and Death Row's Satan's Gift or stone me to death.

Ignazio Nicastro (XENOS A.D.):: I immediately loved thrash metal. I consider it the most perfect form of musical expression. Violence, technique, power, melody, speed, and heaviness blend perfectly and make thrash metal something practically perfect. When I started composing music, my goal was to be fast, technical, and heavy at the same time, so thrash metal met my needs perfectly. Before slipping into thrash, I was constantly listening to Iron Maiden's "Be Quick or Be Dead," so discovering bands like Slayer, Kreator, Testament, and Exodus were the highlights for me.

Guido Gevels (CYCLONE):: With albums like Master of Puppets thrash became more technical and productions got bigger with massive sounds.

Rui Alexandre (TERROR EMPIRE):: Those '86 records were blueprints in terms of how metal was supposed to be written, played and delivered. We just followed the guide!

Titan Fox (HAMMER KING):: Quite a bit! Thrash metal has had a valuable influence on me and more so on Hammer King's rhythm section. I am more of an Anthrax, Kreator, Testament and Exodus fan, though. Brutally, only Exodus released an album in 1986-87 but it will be a major year for my thrash metal book! I believe that the pureness, the energy and the spirit is the highest in thrash metal; it has preserved the original metal spirit best of all subgenres, in my opinion!

Andrej Čuk (ENSANGUINATE):: Thrash, speed and heavy metal are all essential to what we do. I think this should absolutely be the case for any black or death metal band, as they're essentially the motor that powers this kind of music. You can immediately tell when a metal band doesn't have a foundation in those genres, it sounds completely inert to me. That isn't to say black and death metal should stay put creatively, not at all, but these roots are essential and contain the lifeblood of our music, so cutting them is tantamount to shooting yourself in the foot.

Diva Satanica (BLOODHUNTER):: We are all very different in terms of musical approaches, but we all converge in our passion for shredding and speedy drums so let's say we have a bit of all of that in our songwriting. We don't think about "this should sound like this or that", it just came naturally because it was what we were listening to in the beginning.

Erik Verheij (LORD VOLTURE):: I think that, especially in our debut album Beast of Thunder, you can really hear the thrash influences. There's fast-paced intricate riffing all over the place, which is typical for the Bay Area sound that blew up in '86. This never went away... these thrash adventures keep popping up here and there on the other Lord Volture albums as well in the form of Korgon's Descent and Omertà, for instance. We grew up with "The Big Four" and other thrash and speed metal acts of the era and that resonates into our music.

Fox-Lin Torres (BATTLERAGE):: Clearly, when speed and thrash metal appeared, no one could step aside; that is, we were immersed in a world of metal that was evolving from heavy metal to speed and thrash. And that continued, as I say, with the other styles like black metal, hardcore, you know, death metal; it had a very strong impact.

What I can say regarding Battlerage is that we clearly have influences from traditional heavy metal, even from '70s rock. But it's undeniable that the brutality of the guitars, the power of the double bass drum, and the rapid energy of certain songs is a mix of everything that happened in the '80s. Battlerage has always been a heavy metal band, with influences from hard rock and clearly also from speed and thrash, without being a thrash band. We are not a thrash band, but we can have a great weight, a great variety of metal music that can even evoke other genres like doom metal. We simply make metal in a direction that may remind you more of heavy metal, but we develop with all the nuances of metal that we need to create as artists.

Agustin (OVERTOUN):: It was perfect, because we had all that teenage energy and the urge to play fast and aggressive music. Discovering that we could play songs by Metallica, Slayer, and Megadeth, and draw inspiration from them to create our own music, was incredible.

Hzg.B.v.Moser-Wampula (HAGZISSA):: Shortly after the aforementioned albums, I came across the well-praised underground gem 666 by Polish Kat, formerly more of a heavy metal band transforming into speed and thrash metal. There's the typical recording magic of that time, which many bands coming from different countries from behind the Iron Curtain share, in my opinion. Or these Slavic lyrics sung and screamed with absolute infernal frenzy and passion! Combined with great riffs and songwriting, that yeaned a hellish piece of music, which opened further gates to loads of inspiration for me.

They recorded the album with English lyrics, too, same year, same record, but that could not improve what originally was meant to be.

That is why we played a cover of the title track "Metal i Piekło" sung in Polish at almost all of our gigs this year.

Looking back at 1986, what do you think it was about that year's albums that made them so influential for new bands like yours? Were there any moments or specific songs from 1986 albums that you remember being a game-changer for you or your bandmates?

Ricard (PROSCRITO):: Well, most of you might not believe me, but Mortal Sin's Mayhemic Destruction was the first vinyl I ever purchased, and the printed fanzine I ran as a teenager was named Morbid Visions after the best Sepultura album, so not bad for starters. I don't want to go the obvious route, so I'll say that Mercyful Fate-ish riff in Possessed's "Phantasm" is what popped up immediately when you asked about specific songs. The bridge between "Altar of Sacrifice" and "Jesus Saves" is still way more evocative than any feedback loop in slow, heavy Doom Metal, and the same goes for Metallica's "The Thing That Should Not Be" as a document of unsurpassable eerie gloom. On a personal level, Sacrifice's "Turn in your Grave," Voïvod's "To the Death!" or "Slaughter in a Grave," Dark Angel's "Perish in Flames," Cro-Mags' "Sign of the Times" or "By Myself" (entire album, actually), Slaughter's "The Curse" (!!!), Sodom's "Proselytism Real," "Nuctemeron" (or ANYTHING off there), Whiplash's anything, Samhain's "Human Pony Girl," Sabbath's "In Memory," Kat's "Diabelski dom cz. 1," Fifth Angel's "In the Fallout," Dr. Mastermind, Turbo, Exorcist, Razor, W.A.S.P., Cerebus... all that shit has made me a happier man and worse citizen.

Thanks for the invitation, now somebody can get me a decent copy of the Powerlord LP!

Ignazio Nicastro (XENOS A.D.):: The songwriting inspiration that characterizes the 1986 albums is unique and a constant source of inspiration for countless bands. Back in the day, bands competed with each other, a healthy competition that led them to release music of the highest quality, a quality that knew no decline. There are three songs from 1986 that probably shaped my growth and musical development: "Angel of Death," "Master of Puppets," and "Pleasure to Kill." The first marked a shift in my understanding of violence in music, as it is practically the most devastating song ever conceived; the second showed me what it means to combine songwriting skill with technique and melody; the third definitively directed me toward the most extreme and raw fringes of thrash metal.

Guido Gevels (CYCLONE):: We started in the end of 1980, so we weren't a new band by the time some now-classic metal albums were released in 1986. In 1983, we already had songs like "In the Grip of Evil" that ended upon our first album, titled Brutal Destruction. But, for sure, Master of Puppets and Reign in Blood were game changers. They took thrash metal a step further.

Rui Alexandre (TERROR EMPIRE):: "Damage Inc.," "Good Mourning... Black Friday" and "Raining Blood" were all game changers!

Titan Fox (HAMMER KING):: I believe it was a very varied year. In 1986, most heavy metal bands had been around for a while already, so they experimented quite a bit. Maiden had the guitar synths, Priest did Turbo, which was a bit of a shock back in the day but is a secret weapon to many fans today. I believe metal got broadened in 1986. Thrash metal got big, other bands got commercial and I see it as a gain for metal in total.

Andrej Čuk (ENSANGUINATE):: Countless albums, be it Pleasure to Kill, Fatal Portrait, Inside the Electric Circus or whatever, there's a world of variety in there, which is why I'm hesitant to think of 1986 as this one big unifying factor in music. Tons of important releases came before and after, so there's no mystical property to the number '86 except maybe the fact that a lot of classic bands were really gaining traction at that point, meaning those were the songs and albums you mostly end up hearing first. Master of Puppets was probably the first time I heard harmonized guitars, so that was a big moment. I didn't know how they made that sound and it felt like magic coming out of the speakers. I've since found out, still feels the same, though.

Diva Satanica (BLOODHUNTER):: I bet that for our guitar player and founder member, Dani Arcos, Yngwie Malmsteen's Trilogy has been a very important album, as Yngwie has shaped most guitar players' skills around the world and also one of the first guitar players that he discovered in his childhood and that fueled his passion for metal and for pushing his boundaries to learn new guitar techniques.

Erik Verheij (LORD VOLTURE):: I think that year was special because that's when thrash was really maturing. The first wave was already behind us and bands got more creative by expanding the genre or perfecting it. For example, Peace Sells... is so much more than just thrash, so Megadeth was branching out. And in the meantime, Slayer was coming out with the thrash bible, Reign in Blood. I think that is still THE ultimate thrash album. But Slayer branched out later too. They evolved and got just a bit slower, I guess. But the point is that all the really classic albums from that year brought something new to the table. Maiden started using synths on Somewhere in Time. How's that for pushing the limits of what was then defined as heavy metal. And of course, the whole German thrash metal scene started exploding. A very inspiring year it was, with lots of new things happening! Today, we still reap the benefit of that special year in metal history!

Fox-Lin Torres (BATTLERAGE):: Simply put, '86 and the years surrounding it had a pure magic. But that has to do with the style still being created, so there wasn't much distraction yet, although there are always people who go further, like Bathory, for example, or Celtic Frost.

In the '70s, it was still hard rock, but from the '80 onwards, the metal style was defined. Now, I believe that, for my band Battlerage, if there is one album we generally love and which influenced me more than musically in my way of living and seeing life, it is the album Russian Roulette by Accept. With such a huge sound that evolved from their first albums, this one has a much more technological sound but one that remains pleasant for the heavy metal style. Long live '86 and Accept's Russian Roulette!!

From Europe to the glam bands that were around at the time, they released very excellent albums.

I hope the answer was understood and that everything goes well so we can participate in this compilation.

Alejandro Oliva (BATTLERAGE):: I think it was the perfect fertile ground, the style was just appearing, there was the hunger to conquer the world, and the desire to go out and kick some skulls on the part of the musicians, which was the perfect recipe for this avalanche of creativity. And that opened the door to styles as different as heavy metal, thrash, death, black, doom, and I'm underselling it naming only those variants if we consider all the styles that exist today. I agree with Fox that the album that marks us most as a band is Accept's Russian Roulette.

Matias (OVERTOUN):: I believe they were influential because it represented a new sound and a very natural stage in the evolution of metal. Those bands were discovering something completely new at the time. As for true game-changers, "Angel of Death" and "Postmortem" by Slayer were huge for me. The speed of those tremolo-picked riffs pushed me to learn every part. Hearing that for the first time was insane. I even remember thinking it was almost way too heavy at first, haha!!

Agustin (OVERTOUN):: I think, once again, that thrash aggression and adrenaline at our age kept us feeling very alive. At the same time, there were so many nuances. Master of Puppets is a great example of that. It proved that not all metal had to be fast and intense. Many of our calmer and more melodic sections came from songs like that. In the end, it was an influence in every sense.

Hzg.B.v.Moser-Wampula (HAGZISSA):: Based on my own heavy metal archeology, it makes sense to me that, by the mid-80s, taking all musical inspiration and environments at hand, we have reached a first kind of summit of what the genre could actually deliver. All that while still being able to and wanting (!) to reach a broader audience - as opposed to other mountain tops like death or especially black metal to follow.

See, to me personally, it's Show No Mercy or, on some days, Hell Awaits, when talking about Slayer, but there's a reason why people still praise Reign in Blood as the pinnacle of thrash metal in eternity (no matter the promotional influence of the music industry).