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Sacramento’s heavy metal heyday returns next week with ‘Bay Strikes Back’ tour

Starting in the mid-1980s, about 90 miles west of Sacramento, a new sound erupted. It was hell bent on taking heavy metal to more aggressive levels.

Guitars riffed like machine gun fire and rhythms raced like they were trying to set land-speed records. The days of simply pumping your fist and headbanging in place had transformed into jumping in “the pit” and slam-dancing the night away.

The San Francisco Bay Area emerged as an epicenter of thrash-metal, with Metallica as its superstar breakout band. Thrash-metal has endured over the decades and remains one of Northern California’s signature sounds, a regional contribution to heavy metal that continues to inspire bands and draw packed shows.

On Wednesday, three titans of the Bay’s thrash-metal scene – Exodus, Testament and Death Angel – will join forces at Ace of Spades for a sold-out concert. It’s fitting that this final show on the “Bay Strikes Back” tour happens in Sacramento, a city that’s long-supported the Bay’s thrash scene and pulled inspiration from it since the 1980s.

From local clubs such as the Oasis Ballroom, El Dorado Saloon, Club Can’t Tell on K Street and Club Me – which later became the legendary Cattle Club – Sacramento’s traditionally had thrash metal’s sweaty back.

“Sacramento’s always been a great crowd for us and a supportive city,” said Testament singer Chuck Billy, in a recent phone call. “All three bands have toured with each other every now and then, but never all together. Miraculously, the stars aligned and we made it happen. It’s the thrash tour package of a lifetime.”

The speedy sound still resonates for thrash fans. Tina Mattis, of Davis, has been a familiar face at local gigs since the 1980s and promotes thrash and hard rock concerts under the name “TMI Collaborations.”

Death Angel, a thrash metal band, has a Sacramento fan base.
Death Angel, a thrash metal band, has a Sacramento fan base.

“It’s kind of a therapy,” said Mattis. “The lights go down, the bass is thumping, the band’s about to enter the stage and those first beats are pretty exciting. I always love seeing thrash shows and those people moshing around. For young people that don’t feel like they fit in anywhere, there’s a huge camaraderie. I don’t think it’s going away anytime soon.”

Ground zero for thrash

Whether it’s Philly soul, Miami bass in hip-hop or Seattle’s grunge rock, regions around the country are known for their unique spins on popular music. The San Francisco Bay Area was a hub of the 1960s’ psychedelic rock scene and, in more recent times, the “hyphy” hip-hop movement popularized by E-40 and the late Mac Dre.

Thrash’s roots and influences can be found in the hallmarks of classic heavy metal, such as the guitar wizardry and epic arrangements from, say, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. The thrash scene also took its cues from punk rock, both in terms of its added aggression and raw look.

Mostly gone were the spandex pants and make-up that were common on the commercial hard rock scene. In its place was a more down-to-earth fit with high-top skateboard sneakers, ripped jeans, a denim vest with patches, and perhaps a baseball cap with the bill flipped up.

“We all discovered British hardcore punk, that was the big common denominator,” said Gary Holt, the Exodus guitarist and band co-founder, in a call from a tour stop in Long Island. “All of the early defining thrash bands had their love of the punk, but they all had different punk bands they loved. For Exodus, it was all about (the English band) Discharge.”

“We went to punk shows all the time, we played with punk bands,” Holt added. “This was when a lot of early thrash scenes in the other places were still wearing chainmail and playing zebra-striped guitars.”

In these pre-internet days, making a scene known around the world took a lot of hands-on efforts. Word of mouth was spread through homespun ‘zines, cassette tape trading networks and college radio stations like KUSF in San Francisco. Clubs like Ruthie’s Inn and Berkeley, Oakland’s The Omni and The Stone in San Francisco further incubated the burgeoning scene.

The breakout success of Metallica, which formed in Los Angeles but relocated to the Bay Area in 1983, sent the whole scene into hyperdrive. Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett was a co-founder of Exodus and Bay Area thrash bands were soon getting courted by major record labels. Testament signed with Atlantic Records and Exodus landed on Capitol Records. Death Angel ultimately got picked up by Geffen Records. Bands such as Forbidden, Vio-Lence and Possessed kept the scene thriving as well.

“We’d all seen how fast the rise of Metallica was, but the scene was just going fast,” said Billy. “Next thing you know, the major labels are signing metal bands and it was like, wow, OK, we’re getting recognition.”

Ripping it up in the River City

Sacramento had perfect proximity for exposure to thrash. Within about 90 minutes, about the time to listen to Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” album twice through, local fans could be in the Bay Area to see Exodus in its stomping grounds. In turn, Sacramento was an easy stop for Bay Area bands looking for gigs that didn’t require an overnighter.

Thrash metal band Exodus has performed in Sacramento.
Thrash metal band Exodus has performed in Sacramento.

“We did a lot of one-off shows in Sacramento since it was a short drive,” said Holt. “The El Dorado Saloon, we played there a lot of times. We played at Club Can’t Tell. We had a lot of great shows (in the Sacramento area) in the 1980s.”

One early Exodus show found the band booked at Roseville’s Placer County Fairgrounds as an opener for Anthrax, the New York thrash band noted for coining the term “moshing.” The year was 1986, and it’s a gig that Holt has never forgotten.

“I remember that show in particular because Anthrax didn’t end up playing,” said Holt. “We did the show, it was on my birthday, and we got in a car crash on the way home. No one got really hurt. That was a special birthday.”

Sacramento was soon home to its own thrash scene. Bands Sentinel Beast, Habeas Corpus and Dissident Aggressor took many of their cues from the Bay’s bands and kept the pits swirling at Sacramento clubs.

“There was a thrash scene that was alive and well,” said Mattis. “When I started doing shows, I really liked that scene so I tried to incorporate those Bay Area thrash bands in my shows.”

Sacramento has other connections to classic Bay Area thrash. Stephen Carpenter, the guitarist of Sacramento’s Deftones, is first-cousins with Chuck Billy. Exodus bassist Jack Gibson grew up in Greenhaven and graduated from John F. Kennedy High School. Holt lived nearby in Antelope for many years. He’s since moved to the Sierra Foothills and is a regular at Ace of Spades.

“I think the Sacramento club scene is better than the San Francisco one now,” said Holt. “I’m at Ace of Spades far more than at the Regency Ballroom (in San Francisco). You have the new Goldfield’s in Roseville. That’s just right down the hill from me. I’m a Sacramento boy now.”

Band connections

One band that especially captivated Sacramento was Death Angel from Daly City, the south San Francisco city known for its large population of Filipino residents. That included the members of Death Angel, who scored a breakout album in 1987 with “The Ultra-Violence.”

For local musician Sonny Mayugba, their raw power and musicality quickly made Death Angel one of his favorite bands. Mayugba’s rock band, Phallucy, ended up befriending Death Angel and playing about a half-dozen shows with them.

“They had everything I loved in music,” said Mayugba. “They were aggressive and fast, but still very melodic with good songs and super technical musicianship. I heard Death Angel was coming to town around 1988 and I begged the promoter of Club Me every day to let us play that show.”

Something else clicked with Mayugba in his fandom. Mayugba is part Filipino and seeing a band with similar heritage made him feel a deeper connection, especially in a scene that wasn’t always so diverse. A friendship developed to the point that members of Death Angel hung out at Mayugba’s house, where his mom cooked Filipino food for everyone.

“I looked like them, with the long black hair and dark skin,” said Mayugba. “We had a similar background and we bonded on that. You look at early metal and it’s more, like, Nordic which is fine. Then you started to see these Pinoys coming out of the Bay Area playing thrash. It was very unique and rare. They were my idols.”

That ethnic look was also a big influence on Deftones, the Grammy-winning band that was born in south Sacramento. Deftones weren’t so much a thrash band, but looking like a member of Death Angel was a requirement for joining an early version of the band.

In 2004, as Deftones celebrated the release of their self-titled album at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, Death Angel was picked to open the show to honor their influence. Chi Cheng, the late-Deftones bassist, told The Bee at the time that his flowing dark hair and raw stage presence sealed the deal in him joining Deftones.

“That was the only reason I got in the band,” Cheng said. “I looked like a member of Death Angel. That was a really big deal to (guitarist Stephen Carpenter), and I wasn’t complaining. I was like, ‘This is a good band, so it’s cool.’”

Full speed ahead

No other Bay Area thrash band reached mega-stardom like Metallica. And with more then 100 million albums sold worldwide, few bands of any genre will ever reach that level. But bands like Exodus, Testament and Death Angel keep cranking away and playing to their loyal fan bases. Newer generations are coming to shows and starting their own bands.

“There’s an entire new generation of bands that’s putting their own stamp on thrash,” said Holt. “That’s what it needs to stay alive. It needs new blood. And there’s tons of kids at the shows and they’re taking it over the top with the pit action. It’s fuel for us. You see what’s going on down there and it gives you a massive adrenaline boost.”

Poke around those clubs and DIY concert venues around Northern California and you’ll see still thrash bands getting the pit swirling. From local spots like Café Colonial to the Phoenix Theatre in Petaluma, bands including Solanum Thrash of Sacramento and Phantom Witch of Salinas are keeping the flame of Bay Area style thrash lit. Phantom Witch’s website declares: “We came here in a time machine from 1986 to thrash the future.”

“There’s something to the music and attitude that people gravitate toward,” said Billy. “You’ll fit in with the people who didn’t fit in. There’s always a new sound but a lot of the (thrash) bands have endured because we never abandoned ship.”

“Bay Strikes Back Tour with Testament, Exodus, and Death Angel” begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 25, at Ace of Spades, 1417 R St.