Alex Skolnick, widely recognized as one of rock’s most versatile guitarists, has spent decades navigating both the intense energy of thrash metal with Testament and the intricate world of jazz fusion with the Alex Skolnick Trio. However, during a recent interview on Defender of the Riff with Daniel Dekay, Skolnick reflected on the transformative early ’80s thrash scene and how it reshaped his musical trajectory.
Skolnick described how different it was to start playing guitar in the early 1980s compared to today’s highly competitive and interconnected landscape. “It wasn’t like today, where you have eight-year-old kids on YouTube playing Steve Vai solos perfectly,” he explained (as transcribed by Ultimate Guitar). “Back then, not many kids were playing guitar. If they were in high school, they were just starting out. I had already been playing since I was 10 and had begun going to local shows.”
Those shows, featuring bands like Exodus, Metallica, and Slayer, made an indelible impact on Skolnick’s approach to guitar. “I saw Exodus, a band already gaining notoriety. Metallica was on their first record and skyrocketing. I even caught one of Metallica’s first shows and Slayer’s debut performance in Berkeley, California,” he recalled.
At the time, like many teenage guitarists, Skolnick was deeply influenced by virtuoso players such as Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads, as well as his guitar instructor, Joe Satriani. But the raw energy of thrash began to shift his focus.
“Getting exposed to all this early thrash music, it felt different from the virtuoso styles I was immersed in,” he said. “I was listening to Satriani—he had one record out, Not of This Earth—as well as Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen. But hearing bands like Slayer and Exodus, something clicked. I realized, ‘This is what’s happening in the San Francisco Bay Area.’ It felt like the perfect place and time for this kind of music.”
This realization came at a pivotal moment, as Testament, then a fledgling thrash band, was in need of a lead guitarist. “Someone recommended me for the role, and here we are, all these years later,” Skolnick said.
Looking back, the explosive early shows of thrash titans like Metallica and Slayer weren’t just performances—they were catalysts that propelled Skolnick into the heart of a genre that was rapidly reshaping the musical landscape.
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