Malcolm Dome, veteran music journalist who coined the term ‘thrash metal’ has died

Veteran music journalist Malcolm Dome, who coined the term “thrash metal”, has died at the age of 66. 

Metallica‘s Lars Ulrich, Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, Motörhead’s Phil Campbell and Iron Maiden are among the heavy metal musicians to have paid tribute to the British journalist, whose cause of death has not yet been announced.

Dome, who had written about heavy metal and rock music since 1979, published books on bands like Metallica, Led Zeppelin and AC/DC. On top of that, he wrote for a number of well-respected music publications including Kerrang!, Classic Rock, Record Mirror and Metal Hammer.

Eventually, he went on to become Editor of Metal Forces magazine and a regular commentator on Total Rock Radio.

He is credited with popularising the term “thrash metal”, which he coined while writing about the 1984 Anthrax track ‘Metal Thrashing Mad’.

Dome co-wrote the book Encyclopedia Metallica in 1980, which some believe served as the inspiration for Metallica’s band name.

For more on this topic, check out the Metal Observer.

Check out some of the tributes to Malcolm Dome:

Extremely sad to hear of Malcolm Dome’s passing. Not only was he an incredible talent who helped guide my relationship with heavy music, but he was also a great person. Today, I’m thinking of the fun, memorable times we spent together back in the day. https://t.co/9chlIVjSMm

— Lars Ulrich (@larsulrich) November 1, 2021

Malcolm was a lovely guy, he interviewed me many times and was always positive about the music. He was one of the first journalists to totally get metal. We even worked together last year when he helped me sort out my Wikipedia entry. Sadly missed. – Tonyhttps://t.co/Te8hippkxB

— Tony Iommi (@tonyiommi) November 1, 2021

Totally gutted to hear of Malcolm Dome’s passing, far too early. He was a supporter of Million Dead from the get-go, always a friendly, charming and kind face, incredibly knowledgeable and a legendary journalist. A sad day for music.https://t.co/TugyUrnaDU

— Frank Turner (@frankturner) November 1, 2021

We are all very much saddened and shocked to hear about the passing of our friend Malcolm Dome. He was fearless, intrepid, passionate and forthright as a journalist and latterly a broadcaster and we respected him immensely. pic.twitter.com/NMRWqGT1zV

— Iron Maiden (@IronMaiden) November 1, 2021

Saddened to hear of the passing of Malcolm Dome. I’ve done countless interviews with him throughout the 30+ years we’ve known each other and always enjoyed our discussions. RIP Malcolm 🙏 pic.twitter.com/uwJddSPv1E

— Mike Portnoy 🤘 (@MikePortnoy) November 1, 2021

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