Here's documentary director Rick Ernst with the second of four preview clips from his metal movie "Get Thrashed," which comes out on DVD on September 16. In this snippet, members of the '80s metal community discuss the bitter, violent rivalry that existed between fans of hardcore and metal.
The Cro-Mags opened for Megadeth. DRI opened for Kreator. Biohazard opened for Slayer.
Cool shows, right? Wish you could have been there, yes?
Looking back, I can honestly say these shows were not fun. They were not enjoyable for me and it had nothing to do with the bands sounding bad or putting on crappy shows. It has everything to due with the fights between fans at these so-called "crossover" shows.
Young fans might find it hard to imagine, but back in thrash metal's heyday, the length of your hair and the name of the the band on your t-shirt could mean the difference between gliding through the night and getting your ass kicked. For fans who lived through the era, gigs that featured hardcore and metal bands could be especially violent as skinheads and metal fans battled for "territory." These fights were mostly born out of a desire for fans of each genre to keep their music "pure" and out of a genuine feeling that "their music" was better, their bands were better. But the battle proved futile as both genres "crossed over" and elements of each style infiltrated the other. I think that history proves that this infusion of new ideas into each genre really helped give new life to both metal and hardcore and, 20 years later, the effects can truly be seen in bands like Hatebreed, Killswitch Engage, Throwdown and countless other bands but as you'll see from this clip from Get Thrashed: The Story of Thrash Metal, back in the late 80's - early 90's, crossover shows were more about surviving rather than enjoying a show.
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