I always liked “lighter” metal, but then one day in high school a friend of mine played a cassette tape for me that introduced me to the world of “true” metal.

Anthrax.

Of course, the song wasn’t much of a metal song, it was “I’m The Man” (sorry, YouTube won’t let me embed it). But it was funny enough that I kept listening to it. Even tho the EP was mostly mixes and edits of that one song, it also contained a cover of Black Sabbath’s “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”, which was well done. Enough that it made me seek out other Anthrax albums like “Among the Living”.

Anthrax was a different sort of thrash band. They weren’t all spikes and leather, well they used to be but later saw them wearing t-shirts and Jams. Lyrical content came from other places, like Stephen King and Judge Dredd comics. And of course, they were one of the first to blend rap and metal:

Anthrax has had their lineup changes, their career ups and downs, but they always made their unique brand of metal.