walking upstream…
Megadeth
Megadeth formed in Los Angeles in 1983 when guitarist Dave Mustaine, dismissed from Metallica days before they recorded their debut, channeled the anger into a band built to be faster, more technical, and heavier than the one that cut him loose. With bassist David Ellefson beside him through a long, rotating cast of collaborators, Mustaine turned thrash metal into a vehicle for paranoid, politically charged lyrics and knotty, virtuosic riffing, reaching a creative peak on 1990's 'Rust in Peace' and 1992's 'Countdown to Extinction.' Alongside Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax, Megadeth became one of the genre-defining 'Big Four' of American thrash metal, prizing precision, speed, and unease over pure brutality.
the sound in question
1992
Symphony of DestructionMegadeth
walk the tributaries ↓
Metallica1980s–90s · Thrash metal / Heavy metal
Mustaine co-wrote much of Metallica's early material before his 1983 dismissal, and the split left a permanent, documented paper trail between the two catalogues: several riffs he'd written for Metallica were reworked into his new band's earliest songs, and Mustaine has said he deliberately pushed to make Megadeth faster and heavier than the band that had just fired him. The rivalry itself became a creative engine, sharpening Megadeth's identity as thrash's more technical, more embittered counter-voice to Metallica.
listen: upstream & heresource: Loudwire ↗
1983
The Four HorsemenMetallica
1985
MechanixMegadeth
listen forPlay Metallica's 'The Four Horsemen' next to Megadeth's 'Mechanix' — the same Mustaine-penned riff and structure underpin both, but where Metallica's version (finished after his departure, with new lyrics from James Hetfield) is deliberate and mid-paced, Megadeth's original take is faster, rawer, and more frantic, the sound of Mustaine racing to outpace his old band.
Diamond Head1980s · Heavy metal / New wave of British heavy metal
Mustaine has repeatedly called Diamond Head a massive influence, saying that hearing Brian Tatler's riffs and Sean Harris's voice for the first time made him want to 'chuck everything and start over.' The debt is explicit rather than inferred: for Megadeth's 'When,' Mustaine phoned Tatler directly to ask permission before writing a song built around a slow-building, ominous riff deliberately modeled on Diamond Head's signature track, 'Am I Evil?' — a tribute he's described as a close friend paying respect to another.
listen: upstream & heresource: Blabbermouth ↗
1980
Am I Evil?Diamond Head
2001
WhenMegadeth
listen forCompare 'Am I Evil?' with 'When' — both open on a patient, brooding central riff full of dread before erupting into speed, pairing that occult unease with an unhurried sense of buildup rather than launching straight into full velocity.
Judas Priest1980s · Heavy metal
Mustaine has called Judas Priest's 'Victim of Changes' the heaviest thing he'd heard up to that point in his life, and singled out K. K. Downing's half of Priest's twin-guitar attack as a model for how two lead guitars should interlock. Decades later, after Megadeth covered Priest's 'Delivering the Goods,' Mustaine said re-learning those riffs revealed to him just how deeply Glenn Tipton's playing had shaped his own — an influence that surfaces in Megadeth's own harmonized, dueling-guitar solo sections.
listen: upstream & heresource: Blabbermouth ↗
1976
Victim of ChangesJudas Priest
1990
Tornado of SoulsMegadeth
listen forSet 'Victim of Changes' beside 'Tornado of Souls' — both hinge on a soaring, technically demanding lead break where two guitar voices trade and interlace rather than one simply soloing over a static backing, turning the solo section into its own dramatic set piece.