Exodus Family Tree

This is a project aimed at making it easy to see who inspired the bands you love or even hate. For this I try not to use any influences that the band don’t claim themselves. There will be a focus on predecessors but successors will be added as they site the band. These trees become more and more interactive as new bands are added, allowing you to click any band that has a tree and jump to it.

We want our lists to be better. If you know something that belongs on this list, let us know. When in doubt we will leave it out, so we need reliable sources.

Exodus are among the earliest of the thrash bands. With few exceptions, guitarist Gary Holt has written nearly all of their music with lyric writing being shared more often. The second album Pleasures of the Flesh is the only album that has shared writing credits between all members. That line up consisted of Gary, Original and long time drummer Tom Hunter, vocalist Steve Zetro Souza, bassist Rob McKillop, and on guitar Rick Hunolt. An interesting note is that Kirk Hammett of obvious Metallica fame was one of the original members and did some of the earliest demos along side Gary. Although Exodus started before Metallica, their earliest demos are not quite thrash. The first one is very reminiscent of the NWOBHM style. Other members of Exodus and their contributions will be noted below.

Roy Buchanan

Roy Buchanan is a lesser known but still influential blues player. Rick named him as an influence.

Glen Campbell

Glen Campbell was popular singer/song writer. Rick named him as an influence.

Ry Cooder

Ry Cooder is mostly known as a blues player. Rick named him as an influence.

Deep Purple are one of the most influential hard rock and early heavy metal bands. Gary named them as an influence and named Ritchie Blackmore as his favorite guitarist. Rick also named Ritchie as an influence.

Led Zeppelin are one of the most influential hard rock bands every. Zetro and Dukes named them as a band they grew up on.

Black Sabbath are the fathers of metal. Gary named them as an influence and said Tony as written more great riffs than anyone. Rick also named Tony as an influence. Zetro named them as a band he grew up on. Dukes is also a fan.

Nazareth were a big hard rock band and even had some occasional metal tracks. Gary named them as an early influence.

UFO were a hugely inflectional hard rock band. Gary named them and Michael Schenker as an influence. Rick also named Schenker.

Thin Lizzy are a hugely influential rock / hard rock band. Gary named them as an influence, and named guitarists Gary Moore and John Sykes. He named “Emerald” as his favorite song.

Neal Schon

Neal Schon has played with a lot of bands but most notably was long time guitarist of Journey. Gary named him as an influence.

Scorpions were the first of German metal and influenced many. Gary named both Uli and Mattias as influences as well as Michael Schenker who was with them for a few albums. Rick named Shenker and Uli.

Rainbow was an incredible combination with Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio. Gary named them as an influence. Rick also named Ritiche.

Judas Priest were super important with refining heavy metal as a genre. Gary named them as an influence and said they are probably the best two guitar band. Rick also named K.K. and Glenn as influences.

Gary Moore has done many solo albums on top of some influential Thin Lizzy albums. Rick and Gary both named him as an influence.

AC/DC are the quintessential hard rock band. Gary named them and Angus as an influence. Rick also named Angus. Zetro said Bon Scott is his biggest influence and modeled his voice after him.

Before anyone cared about his politics, Ted Nugent was an influential hard rocker. Gary named him one of his guitar heroes.

Stevie Ray Vaughan is an influential blues player. Rick named him as an influence.

Motorhead are hard rock / heavy metal legends. Gary named them as an influence.

Diamond Head were one of the earliest of the NWOBHM. Gary named them as an influence.

Dokken were an important glam metal band. Rick named George Lynch as an influence.

Van Halen were revolutionary in the music scene when they blew up. Gary named them as an early influence. Rick named Eddie as a main influence and the reason he started playing guitar.

Angel Witch are an important NWOBHM band. Gary and Tom named them as an influence.

Tygers of Pan Tang were a NWOBHM band. Gary named them as an influence.

Iron Maiden are one of the most influential bands. Gary named early Iron Maiden as an influence.

Discharge were a super important early hardcore punk band. Tom named them as an influence and said he takes a lot of his drum beats from them.

Venom are one of the most important bands when it comes to pushing metal in an extreme direction. Gary and Tom both named them as an influence.

Steve Vai is considered one of the best guitarist ever. Rick named him as an influence.

Sweet Savage were the original band of Dio and Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbel. They put out relatively few recordings until reformed with a couple original members years later. Gary named them as an influence.

Mercyful Fate were technical with tons of riffs and changes in their songs. Tom said they were a main influence on the band.

GBH were an influential punk/hardcore band. Tom named them as an influence.

The exploited were a hardcore and corssover band. Tom named them as an influence.

Joe Satriani is an influential mostly instrumental rock guitarist. Rick took lessons from Satriani for about a year when he first picked up guitar.

Gary said he was influenced by early British hardcore but didn’t name any bands. For more modern bands he says he loves Dimmu Borgir, Hypocrisy, The Haunted , Carnal Forge, and Therion.

Rick played piano for four years or so before playing guitar. He has a couple writing co-credits on the first album and co-wrote a lot of Force of Habit. When asked he said Randy Roads was in his top 10. Early on he said Elton John was a big influence; he listened to funk and Rhythm and blues as well. He said even other instruments such as more classical instruments influence his guitar playing.

Paul Baloff was the vocalist for the first album and contributed lyrics. I’m unsure of his influences.

Rob McKillop was the bassist for the first four albums. I’m unsure of his influences.

Mike Butler played on Force of Habit I’m unsure of his influences.

Jack Gibson has been on bass since 1997. He named Geddy Lee and Billy Sheehan as influences.

Tom Hunter was one of the original members. Tom said the earliest version of the band was covering some NWOBHM bands like Iron Maiden and Def Leppard. He said they also were heavily influenced by punk and even listened to some reggae. He said a lot of his drum parts are inspired by Discharge with a bit of Keith Moon.

Lee Altus has been in the band since 2005. He has a few writing credits in recent years. his influences are covered on the Heathen family tree.

Rob Dukes was the vocalist for three albums and co-wrote on a few songs during that time. His early influences come from his parents with stuff like Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd. The first bands he got into were The Clash, Sex Pistols, and early albums from The Police. Other bands he names are Queen, Black Sabbath, and Ozzy. He says he listened to a bit of everything. Dukes also plays guitar and was guitar tech for Exodus before singing in the band.

Drummer John Tempesta played on two albums in the early 90’s. He only has one co-writing credit although he has two more on bonus tracks released on the remaster of Force of Habit. He said the first stuff he tried to play was from Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. He is a huge David Bowie fan. He named Cozy Powell as one of his biggest influences. His influences include: John Bonham, Terry Bozzio, Cozy Powell, Simon Phillips, Steve Smith, Brain Downey, Tommy Aldridge, Steve Gadd, Tony Williams, and Charlie Benante, Alex Vanhalen and Bill Ward. He names Black Sabbath as one of his favorite bands. He was a drum tech for Charlie Benante and leaned a lot about how to play thrash from him.

Drummer Paul Bostaph was on Shovel Headed Kill Machine but has now writing credits. Eventually he will be covered on a Forbidden family tree.

Bands influenced by Exodus!

As this project advances, bands will be added here… there are many!

Danish Thrashers

Thrash legends!

Phoenix Thrashers

Bay Area Thrash

Black Metallers

Pioneers of Sludge

Industrial Groove

Heavy/Power/Speed

Forerunners of New Wave Thrash

One of the biggest of the new wave of thrash

Sources:

http://www.getreadytorock.com/pure_metal/exodus.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20071023222410/http://www.metal-invader.com/interviews/exodus-2005-10-01/interview.php
https://www.musicradar.com/news/slayers-gary-holt-dont-sacrifice-feeling-for-technical-perfection
https://metalheadzone.com/gary-holt-names-the-band-that-gave-strong-influence-to-every-twin-lead-guitar-bands/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3kHe-ffteU
http://www.osiamo.com/Gary-Holt
https://theforgedlegions.music.blog/2020/10/08/marc-c-pietrek-interview-with-rick-hunolt-ex-exodus/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy_hCXMSRQo&t=413s
https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/steve-zetro-souza-bands-don-t-survive-off-record-sales-anymore/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uki9zGFycyM
https://www.westword.com/music/tom-hunting-of-exodus-on-how-building-a-song-is-like-building-the-best-sandwich-possible-5674510
https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/news/141031/
https://glidemagazine.com/117258/john-tempesta-cult-white-zombie/
https://www.hit-channel.com/john-tempesta-the-cult/1363
http://www.johntempesta.com/

Artillery Family Tree

This is a project aimed at making it easy to see who inspired the bands you love or even hate. For this I try not to use any influences that the band don’t claim themselves. There will be a focus on predecessors but successors will be added as they site the band. These trees become more and more interactive as new bands are added, allowing you to click any band that has a tree and jump to it.

We want our lists to be better. If you know something that belongs on this list, let us know. When in doubt we will leave it out, so we need reliable sources.

Artilley are Danish thrashers. Guitarist, Michael Stützer is the only remaining original member. His brother Morten Stützer played bass early on and later guitar until the time of his death in 2019. The first two albums are credited as written by the band. After that point music is credited to either Michael and or Morten with vocalists contributing to lyrics.

(influences from vocalist Michael Bastholm Dahl are noted as MBD so not to be confused with Michael Stützer)

Jimi Hendrix was a revolutionary guitarist and one of the most influential players. Michael named him as an influence.

Deep Purple are one of the most influential hard rock and early metal band. Michael said Ritchie Blackmore was a big influence on him early on and In Rock as a favorite album.

Jethro Tull were a progressive rock band known for their vocalists use of the flute. Michael named their use of scales as an influence and Aqualung as a favorite album.

Johnny Winter was an influential blues player. Michael named him as an influence.

Grand Funk Railroad were a early hard rock band. Michael named them as one of their early influences and E Pluribus Funk as a favorite album.

Slade were a popular glam rock band. Michael named them as an early influence.

Black Sabbath are the fathers of metal. Michael named them as one of their early influences and named Tony as one of his baggiest influences. Søren named them and Ozzy as an influence and said hearing Sabbath Bloody Sabbath changed everything for him and is his favorite album.

Uriah Heep are a progressive rock band and dabbled in metal in the early days. Michael named them as one of their early influences.

Judas Priest are known as the metal gods for good reason. Michael named them as an influence. Søren and MBD named Halford as an influence.

Motorhead hare hard rock / heavy metal legends. Søren named them as an influence.

Saxon are one of the earliest of the NWOBHM. Søren named them as an influence.

Accept are influential German metallers. Michael said they were a huge influence on them.

Iron Maiden has been one of the most influential metal bands. Michael named them as an influence. Søren and MBD named Bruce as an influence.

Mercyful Fate, and their technical style of traditional metal had a big impact on thrash and are fellow Danes. Michael said they where a later influence and had an impact on early Artillery.

Charged G.B.H or just GBH were a British punk bad that influenced many metal bands. Michael named them as an influence.

Metallica are the father of thrash. Michael named them as a later influence and Master of Puppets as a favorite album.

Exodus are among the earliest thrash bands. Michael named them as a later influence and Bonded by Blood as a favorite album.

Slayer were the most aggressive of the early thrash bands. Michael named them as an influence and Reign in Blood as a favorite album.

The legendary Ronnie James Dio is one of the most influential metal vocalists. Søren and MBD named him as an influence.

Savatage are one of the biggest of the bands considered part of “US power metal”. Michael named them as a later influence and Sirens as a favorite album.

Michael said in 1989 they spent some time listening to some music from Afghanistan. This is where any of their middle eastern influences come from.

Michael said they had some old school punk influences but only named GBH.

I wasn’t able to find the influences of Morten. Michael said they listened to the same stuff.

Flemming was the original vocalist on the first four albums. I’m unsure of his influences.

Jørgen Sandau was on rhythm guitar for the first two albums. I’m unsure of his influences.

Original drummer Carsten Nielsen was on five albums. I’m unsure of his influences.

Søren was the vocalist for two albums He is given co-writing credit on When Death Comes and for writing lyrics on the following album. He said Kiss was the first band he got into as a kid. Besides his earlier influences he named Russel Allen, Jorn Lande, Phil Anselmo, and Chuck Billy as newer singers he likes.

Current vocalist Michael Bastholm Dahl has been on the past three albums and will be on the 2021 release as well. He is credited for writing lyrics but no music. Some of his influences include: Bruce Dickinson, Rob Halford, and Ronnie James Dio. He also says he really likes Mike Patton.

Bassist Peter Thorslund, and drummers Per Moller Jensen and Josua Madsen are not credited with any writing.

Poltergeist drummer John Mathiassen has some co-writing credits on When Death Comes, although he is not on the album or was ever in Artillery

Bands influenced by Artillery!

As this project advances, bands will be added here…

One of the biggest bands of the new wave thrash.

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMXtO36k4pw
https://planetcaravan.wordpress.com/2016/03/20/artillery-interview-with-michael-stutzer/
https://callesrockcorner.dk/michael-sttzer-fra-artillery
https://www.metalcrypt.com/pages/interviews.php?intid=210
http://www.powerofmetal.dk/interviews14/artillery_interview2.html

Evile Family Tree

This is a project aimed at making it easy to see who inspired the bands you love or even hate. For this I try not to use any influences that the band don’t claim themselves. There will be a focus on predecessors but successors will be added as they site the band. These trees become more and more interactive as new bands are added, allowing you to click any band that has a tree and jump to it.

We want our lists to be better. If you know something that belongs on this list, let us know. When in doubt we will leave it out, so we need reliable sources.

Evile were one of the biggest bands of the new wave of thrash movement began. Although they slowed down with releases while some of their peers keep going, they had big presence early on. Writing credit is not noted on most albums so I will treat all members appearing on albums equally. The core line up for their first for albums being mostly steady. On Guitar/Vocals was Matt Dake, lead guitar, Ol Drake, Drums Ben Carter, and bass for the first two albums Mike Alexander. Mike died on tour for their second album and Joel Graham stepped into his role. Their 2021 release will have Ol on vocals and Adam Smith will be taking over the rhythm role of Matt.

The Beatles were at the fore front of rock music in the 60’s. Matt named Rubber Soul as a favorite album.

Jimi Hendrix was a revolutionary guitarist. Matt and Ol grew up with Hendrix through their dad. Ol said he is a big fan.

Pink Floyd are one of the most iconic progressive rock bands. Matt named Wish You Were Here as a favorite album.

Jeff Beck is considered one of the best guitarist out of the 60’s. After his time with the Yardbirds, he mostly did instrumental rock. Ben named drummer Richard Bailey from the album Blow by Blow album as a big influence.

CCR played what was dubbed roots rock, and had many well known songs. Matt named Green River as a favorite album.

Led Zeppelin are among the first of hard rock and hugely influential. Matt and Ol grew up here Zeppelin through their dad. Ol said he is a big fan.

Wishbone Ash were a progressive rock band known for their guitar harmonies. Matt said they was a band he got into as a kid through his dad and named Argus as a favorite album.

Black Sabbath are the fathers of metal. Ol is fan of Tony.

Queen are a huge band that need no introduction. Joel named them as the band that first got him into music as a kid. Matt said Queen was one of the bands he got into through his dad as a kid and named Brian May as one of his guitar heroes.

Camel were a British progressive rock band. Ol named them and guitarist Andrew Latimer as a favorite.

AC/DC are the quintessential hard rock band. Matt named Highway to Hell as a favorite album and them as a favorite band.

Dokken were a rock/metal/glam band with influential members. Ben is a big fan.

Jeff Wayne

Jeff Wayne was a progressive Rock composer. Ben named his Musical Version of The War of the Worlds as one of his favorite albums.

Iron Maiden are among the most influential metal bands. Joel named them as an influence.

Steve Vai is considered one of the best guitarist by many. Ol said he is an influence but not as much as his thrash influences like Metallica.

Metallica are the fathers of thrash. Matt named Metallica as a big influence and favorite band. Ben names Lars as a favorite and said hearing One was a hug influence on him. Ol named Metallica and Kirk as an influence and particularly Ride the Lightning and named them as a favorite.

Anthrax are one of the big four of thrash. Ben named them as an influence and named them as one of the best live bands. Ben and Joel both named Spreading the Disease as a favorite album. Joel said they are his favorite of the big four.

Sodom were first wave black metal and then one of the big German Thrash bands. Ol found himself asking “What Would Sodom Do” when lookin for slower riffs while writing.

Exodus are among the earliest thrashers. Ol named them as a huge influence on them.

Slayer were among the most aggressive thrash bands early on. Matt named them as an influence. Joel named Reign in Blood as a favorite album.

Overkill are east coast thrash masters. Matt said that they were one of Mike’s top five bands.

R.E.M. are a folky alternative rock band. Matt named Out of Time as a favorite album.

Destruction are one of the big thrash bands of Germany. Ol named them as an influence and praised them being one of the purist thrash bands.

Trouble were an important Doom metal band. Joel named their self titled album as a favorite.

Megadeth are the band of one of the most important thrash players Dave Mustaine. Ol named Marty Friedman as an influence.

Obituary are a death metal classic. Ol named them as an influence and one of his favorite Death Metal bands.

Sepulture the the demo days were pioneering death metal before going to their more well known death/thrash sound. Ol named them a big influence and one of his favorite bands. Matt also named them as an influence.

Faith No More were a pioneering alternative rock band. Joel named The Real Thing as a favorite album.

Testament are thrash legends. Ol named Testament as one of their main influences. Ol and Matt both name Alex as a favorite guitarist.

Annihilator are a Canadian Thrash/Speed Metal classic. Ben named Criteria For a Black Widow and drummer Ray Hartmann as a huge influence on him. Ol named Jeff Waters as a huge influence on him, probably his biggest.

Mr. Bungle are an experimental alt rock/metal/thrash band. Joel is a big fan.

Joe Satriani is know of his instrumental rock and is a virtuoso. Ol named him as an influence but not as much so as his thrash influences like Metallica.

Soundgarden are important grunge pioneers. Matt is a fan and named Superunknown as a favorite album.

Guns n’ Roses were playing hard rock when metal was dominating and compared to any of the glam bands of the time they had a much harder edge. Ol and Matt both named Slash as a favorite guitarist.

Carcass started as grind core and moved in to death and melodic death. Ben named Ken as a big influence and particularly on Heartwork.

King’s X are a progressive metal band. Joel is a big fan.

Paradise Lost are Death/Doom, and Goth Pioneers. Matt is a fan.

Extreme were a funky glam rock/metal band. Joel says he loves them and doesn’t care if you make fun of him.

Cannibal Corpse are one of the most well known death metal bands. Ol named them as a big influence and the reason he plays in E#.

Pantera are the Fathers of thrash. Ben named Vinnie as a big influence and particularly Cowboys From Hell. Matt named Cowboys as a favorite album. Matt said that Rex was one of Mike’s favorite bassists.

Mind Funk are a grunge / alternative/funk metal band. Joel is a big fan.

Machine Head are a groove metal band formed by former thrasher of Vio-lence. Ben named Chris from their first album as a big influence.

Luca Turilli formally of Symphonic Power metallers, Rhapsody (Rhapsody of Fire later) released solo albums while still in Rhapsody. Ben said his King of the Nordic Twilight album was one that he learned double bass playing to.

Dionysus was a Swedish power metal band. They shared a vocalist with Lucca Turilli whom Ben is a huge fan of. This is another band that he learned double bass playing along to.

The Darkness was a band bringing back classic hard rock and making it fresh starting in the 2000’s. Ben named their first album as on of his favorites.

Adam is the newest member of the band Hell Unleashed will be his first album with the band. His influences include Lost Society, Alien Weaponry, Megadeth, Machine Head, Tyler Bryant & the Shake Down, Body Count, Slipknot, Corbot, Havok, and Exodus.

Ol said he listens to Miles Davis when he needs a break from metal. He said he got into some progressive rock like King Chrismon and Yes because of Alex Skolnick. For new stuff Ol said he is a big fan of Sylosis’s Dorment Heart.

Ol was a drummer before playing guitar.

Matt and Ol are brothers and grew up with the same music that their dad (was was also a guitarist) listened to.)

Matt said he got into music through his dad with older bands like Queen, Wishbone Ash, Jimi Hendrix, and Led Zeppelin. He got into metal from Ben having him listen to Master of Puppets. After that he got into Slayer and Sepultura. When he was asked about non thrash music that he likes he named “Creedence Clearwater to Nick Cave, Neil Young, Cypress Hill, Film scores, Genesis, Entombed, Blondie, Soundgarden, Michael Jackson.” He said he doesn’t like any modern bands besides a few like Opeth. He also names James Hetfield, Tom Araya, Warrel Dane, and Freddie Mercury as a favorite vocalists. As favorite guitarists he named James Hetfield, Slash, Brian May, and Alex Skolnick.

Mike Alexander died on tour in 2009. There are few interviews with him. Besides the influences of his mentioned by Matt I’m not sure of his influences. Some sources name some of the same bands other members have named, but I have not verified them. In an interview with Ol, he said that if it wasn’t thrash Mike didn’t like it.

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3E5RQd8n18&t=5s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERW8ka-bakc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JblfH3XcxeQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibYBPF5ydFk
http://www.radiometal.com/article/matt-drake-kill-fuck-marry,1544
http://sailawaytomorrow.blogspot.com/2016/02/interview-matt-drake-from-evile.html
http://www.metal-temple.com/site/catalogues/entry/musicians/matt_drake_evile.htm
https://metalinjection.net/interviews/evile-release-album-earache-records
https://web.archive.org/web/20080306090834/http://www.evile.co.uk/matt.html
https://www.loudersound.com/features/my-essential-playlist-ol-drake
https://archive.blabbermouth.net/news/evile-guitarist-ol-drake-discusses-influences-plays-favorite-solos/
https://loudwire.com/evile-ol-drake-plays-favorite-guitar-riffs/
http://themetalist.net/an-interview-with-ol-drake-ol-drake-ex-evile/
https://www.metal-rules.com/2006/11/24/evile-lead-guitarist-ol-drake/
https://katylovesrock.wordpress.com/interviews/interview-ol-ben-evile-24th-august-2011/