The development of a new culture
(The 80s)
The 80s: The Ruhrpott is the largest metropolitan area in Germany. One city follows the next. Collieries and mining facilities can be found everywhere. In a lot of areas, the air is polluted. Children play with other children in the street corners of old apartment buildings. In the evening, the father returns back home from a long working day. The meal, prepared by the wife, is already placed on the table. After having dinner together, they go to bed. Tomorrow, the school starts early in the morning and the day after Aunt Helga has invited to her birthday party in her allotment garden.
A week later, 4 young people – including Jürgen Reil – made the decision to found the school band Tyrant in Essen. A few kilometers east of it, a certain Tom Angelripper decides to start the band Sodom with two colleagues.
A few hundred kilometers south-east on the Main, a few young people – including Gerre – meet at the same time as the first band rehearsal of the Frankfurt band Vortex in a boiler room below St. Matthew’s Church.
Further up the Rhine to the south, a few young people including Schmier meet under the banner of the band Knight of Demon in Weil am Rhein.
The focus of the four bands is drinking beer and being together – they wanted to escape from everyday life and celebrate and listen to their musical heroes. At that time bands like Venom, Judas Priest and Kiss belonged to them. How exactly make music making by themselves was secondary at beginning. Instruments are bought with the confirmation money and it often takes some time to find a rehearsal room where the neighbors don’t complain every day so that one or the other party can be celebrated.
While cassettes with the current music are being exchanged all over Germany, metal clubs are emerging at the same time to unite the passion of young people. So the first frocks were made and concerts were visited together. Legendary parties such as those in Birkental or on the heath in Oberhausen arose. The scene was alive and they met each other. The music became harder and faster.
In Chapter 1 of Total Thrash we inform about development of Thrash Metal in Germany up to its peak in the late 80s / early 90s.