These are the thrash bands David Ellefson thinks would make a 'Big Six'

Everyone knows about thrash metal’s legendary ‘Big Four’, but which bands would be added to make it a ‘Big Six’? David Ellefson has some thoughts.

Famously comprising Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, and Megadeth, the latter’s former bassist discussed who could join those four in a hypothetical fifth spot in a recent interview with Yes! You CAN Play Guitar!.

“Well, I think if you opened that gate at all, it’d have to be ‘Big 6’, because you’d let in Exodus and then you’d probably let in Overkill” he said, as transcribed by Blabbermouth. “‘Cause you’d have to get a West Coast (band) and an East Coast (act), ’cause I think it starts to go like that.”

Returning the original question, he added, “If there was a ‘Big 5’, it would be Exodus, for sure, because, look, from them came (Metallica guitarist) Kirk Hammett. They were staples of the scene up there. I remember (Slayer guitarist) Kerry King telling me, ‘(Exodus drummer) Tom Hunting’s the shit, man. Tom Hunting’s the guy.”

Would Exodus or Overkill make your version of thrash metal’s ‘Big Six’? In other David Ellefson news, the bassist recently unveiled his new band, Dieth, which also features Guilherme Miranda of Entombed A.D. fame on guitar and vocals, as well as Michał Łysejko, formerly of Decapitated, on drums.

“The three of us have all been recognized in our respective bands and careers but at some point, we had to close the door on those exploits to let something new begin and now we have found it in Dieth,” he said about the project. “In fact, the name itself is about dying to one’s past so that something new can spring forth to create the next chapter of life. And that is a connection the three of us hold in common.”

For more on this topic, follow the Metal Observer.