Dave Mustaine Explains How He Influenced Every ‘Big 4’ Thrash Band

Dave Mustaine's imprint can be found all over thrash metal history and during a recent chat with Sao Paulo, Brazil's 89FM A Rock Radio, the Megadeth frontman and guitarist shared one way in which he feels he has influenced all four of thrash's "Big 4" bands.

How Did Dave Mustaine Influence Every 'Big 4' Thrash Band?

There will always be two of the "Big 4" that have a tie to Mustaine, as he started his career with Metallica before being dismissed and going on to find fame with Megadeth. But according to Mustaine, his influence can also be seen in Slayer and Anthrax as well.

"Well, I've been very invested in the metal community. Kerry [King] and I played together and I showed him how to play Megadeth songs, which was before [Slayer] started having all their pivotal records," says Mustaine. "Kerry and I had a really great time together. And I wrote music in Metallica and I wrote music in Megadeth. So, I've been very influential with the guitar with these three bands."

As for Anthrax, he added, "When I met Scott [Ian] and the guys in Anthrax out in New York, same thing happened. Their first record was very different from the record they made after they met me and the guys in Metallica. So I think that's great. I love all those bands."

What Kerry King and Scott Ian Have Said About Dave Mustaine

In a 2021 interview with Metal Hammer, Slayer's Kerry King recalled seeing Mustaine with Metallica in their early days. “I liked it. I like speed metal or thrash metal – which hadn’t been named yet – which is what they were to me. "I liked what they were doing with it and I was already into Venom. I’ve always been a big Venom fan, and I think that a cross between Venom, Judas Priest and Metallica kind of made Slayer what Slayer is.”

"I looked up to Mustaine ever since he was in Metallica," continued King. "I was in the crowd with Jeff [Hanneman] actually, saying, ‘Look at that dude! He’s just ripping up there!’ He’s got a great style and in the beginning, it helped Metallica become what Metallica is. And let me tell you something – to this day, he’s a great guitar player,"

At one point, Mustaine even invited King to play in Megadeth, but the Slayer guitarist recalled, "I didn’t have any reason to stay around because I had Slayer. I remember having a conversation with him and saying like, ‘Yeah, but we have all this dark stuff,’ and Mustaine saying something like, ‘Well, we’ve got this song, it’s pretty Satanic,’ and I was like, ‘At the end of the day, dude, it ain’t about that. I came to play with you. I think it went spectacularly well but it’s time for me to get back to my band.’”

Likewise, Anthrax's Scott Ian has given Dave Mustaine his due. In Ian's autobiography, "'I'm the Man: The Story of That Guy From Anthrax," he wrote, while reflecting on Mustaine's firing from Metallica, "The guy is arguably the godfather of thrash metal. He wrote a lot of the riffs on Kill ’Em All and even some of Ride the Lightning. Without Dave Mustaine, maybe thrash metal never would have happened. At least in the beginning, he was the driving force, artistically."

About "The Big 4"

With Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth all kicking off their careers in grand fashion just a short amount of time from each other and watching thrash metal boom as a result, the four acts were often lumped together as "The Big 4."

There had been various iterations of the groups touring together at different times over their careers, but in 2010 all four acts united on the idea to tour together as a thrash celebration using the "Big 4" moniker to help push the narrative.

A June 16, 2010 appearance at the Sonisphere Festival in Warsaw, Poland was the first pairing of the thrash titans. Additional dates would take place in Europe that year before the bands took their "Big 4" shows to the U.S. with dates in California and at Yankee Stadium in New York. While there has been the occasional discussions about reviving the four-band "Big 4" branding for more shows, nothing has happened on that front in the years since.

Slayer's retirement and Megadeth's current farewell tour have also made the possibility of more "Big 4" shows seem like less of a possibility moving forward, though Slayer have since "unretired" for a handful of dates in recent years.