Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine recently shared his thoughts on a possible new “Big Four” of thrash metal in a recent interview with Óčko.
The discussion centered on which bands Mustaine believes could represent a new generation of thrash’s elite, should such a lineup ever be assembled.
“Well, it wouldn’t be a young generation, but I do believe that there are ways to do a new ‘Big Four’,” Mustaine said. “I think that Testament, I think Overkill, I think Exodus, and maybe Trivium; I don’t know. Trivium’s not really a thrash metal band, so I’d have to think about that. But I think those other three guys would be really great.”
Mustaine went on to explain his connections to each of the bands he named.
“Overkill is really important on the East Coast metal scene,” he continued. “Exodus, of course, I love Exodus. And I’ve been friends with Gary [Holt, Exodus guitarist] longest of all people that I’ve been friends with in the music industry.”
“And Testament,” he added. “Eric [Peterson, Testament guitarist], Alex [Skolnick, Testament guitarist], those guys are really great guitar players. And I love when we get a chance to play with the band.”
Mustaine’s comments highlight the enduring influence of Overkill, Exodus and Testament within the thrash metal community.
The idea of a new “Big Four” naturally invites comparison to the original lineup that gave the term its meaning in the first place.
The “Big Four” tag has belonged to Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax since the 1980s, when the four bands emerged as the genre’s biggest commercial and cultural forces. That legacy remains firmly intact decades later. It still shapes how fans and musicians alike measure any new contender for thrash supremacy.
The weight of that history was on full display in 2010, when the original Big Four shared a stage together in Sofia, Bulgaria. The June 22 concert was broadcast live via satellite in high definition to more than 550 theaters around the world. The event turned a single show into a global cinematic moment and cemented the term “Big Four” in the wider public consciousness far beyond dedicated metal circles.
The original quartet’s story is also getting a fresh retelling in print. A new book titled “Heavy Metal’s Big Four: How Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, and Megadeth Transformed Metal” is set for release on November 10 through Motorbooks, an imprint of The Quarto Group. The book offers a year-by-year chronicle of how the four bands rose to define and eventually dominate thrash metal. It traces the story back to the formation of Metallica, Anthrax and Slayer in 1981.
Against that backdrop, Mustaine’s willingness to entertain a modern successor to the Big Four underscores just how much weight the original title still carries. Whether or not Testament, Overkill and Exodus ever formally inherit that mantle, his comments reflect the respect these bands have earned within thrash metal’s inner circle over decades of shared history on the road and in the studio.
