Flotsam and Jetsam 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.

Flotsam and Jetsam are a Thrash band, later they went in a more progressive metal direction but have since come back to a more Thrash base. Singer Eric "A.K." Knutson is the only member to appear on every album. The first core line up also included guitarists Edward Carlson and Michael Gilbert with drummer Kelly David-Smith. Jason Newsted of Metallica fame was the bassist for the first album. He was a main writer for it as well as wrote a lot of the second album although he did not perform on it. Troy Gregory would take his place for two albums. Jason Ward would then play bass on every album through 2013. Mark Simpson would replace Gilbert on guitar for four albums before his return 2010. Steve Conley replaced Edward on guitar in 2013. Michael Spencer who was with the band a short time in the 80s rejoined in 2013, replacing Ward on bass. Drummer Craig Nielsen would replace Kelly on four albums in the 2000’s. Kelly returned for an album. Jason Bittner of Shadows Fall played on one album and Ken Mary has been on drums since 2017.

The Beatles are one of the most important rock bands. Troy named them as an influence.

Deep Purple are a hugely influential hard rock and early heavy metal band. Craig named Ian Paice as a big influence.

Jeff Beck is one of the most influential guitarist out of the 60’s. Steve is a fan.

Yes were an influential progressive rock band. Troy named Chris Squire as one of his favorite bassists. In an interview with Newsted in 89 he is quoted as naming “Chris Flawyer”. I would postulate that the interview miss heard Chris Squire.

Genesis are a progressive rock band and later went into a more pop direction. Troy named them as an influence.

Black Sabbath are the fathers of metal. Newsted named them as an influence and named Geezer as his favorite bassist. Troy said they were one of his biggest influences. Eric named Dio as an influence.

UFO are an influential hard rock band. Newsted named them as an influence.

April Wine are a Canadian hard rock band. Kelly said they was a band he played along to as a kid.

Montrose were a hard rock probably best known as Sammy Hagar’s first band. Newsted named bassist Bill Church as a favorite.

Judas Priest had a huge and in shaping metal as a genre. Newsted named them as an influence. Erick named Halford as a big influence. Kelly said they were a band he would play along to as a kid.

Kiss are one of the biggest American hard rock bands. Newsted said they were an influence when he first started to play and named Gene as an influence. Eric said Destroyers was the first album to have a big impact on him. Edward said Kiss Alive was the album that really got him into music. Kelly said they were a band he would play along to as a kid.

Rainbow consisted of two of the most legendary people with Ronnie James Dio and Ritchie Blackmore. Troy named them as an influence. Eric also named Dio as an influence.

Ted Nugent is an influential hard rock / heavy metal guitarist. Newsted named his bassist Rob Grange as one of his favorites.

AC/DC are the quintessential hard rock band. Michael Gilbert said hearing “The Jack” is the reason he wanted to play guitar.

Journey are a huge arena rock band. Craig named Steve Smith as a big influence and also named later drummer Deen Castronovo

Motorhead are hard rock / heavy metal legends. Newsted named them as an influence and named Lemmy as one of his favorite bassists, second only to Geezer. Troy also named Motorhead as an influence.

Rush were a hugely influential progressive hard rock band. Newsted and Troy named Geddy as one of their favorite bassists. Jason Ward said Geddy is the reason he has a career playing bass. Kelly said Neil Peart is his main influence Craig also named Neil as an influence.

Van Halen were revolutionary in rock music. Steve is a fan.

Yngwie Malmsteen was huge for the neo-classical playing style. Steve named him as a favorite.

Iron Maiden are one of the most influential metal bands. Newsted named them as an influence. They were a big influence on Eric and he said after hearing Bruce it was goal to be able to sing like that. Troy is a big fan of Steve Harris. Steve is also a fan.

Accept are German metal legends. Newsted named Peter Baltes as an influence.

Wild Dogs were a traditional / speed metal band. Craig named Deen Castronovo as an influence.

David Weckl

David Weckl is a jazz-fusion drummer. Craid named him as the greatest all time drummer.

Metallica are the fathers of thrash. Newsted named them as an influence. Eric said that Master of Puppets changed very metal song every written after. Michael Gilbert said hearing “Hit The Lights” changed everything for him.

Exodus are an important early thrash band. Newsted named them as an influence.

Slayer was the most aggressive of the early thrash bands and hugely influential. Newsted named them as an influence.

After a his time in the legendary bands Rainbow and Black Sabbath, Dio created his own legendary band. Eric named Dio as a big influence. Steve is also a fan.

Vinnie Moore

Vinnie Moore is an influential shredder. Steve named him as a favorite.

Newsted said he was maybe influenced by a bit of punk but didn’t name any particular bands. He said he was influenced by a lot of funk and soul which is the stuff he grew up on as a kid and probably the reason he played bass. He also said his older brothers were listening to stuff like Jimmy Hendrix, Blue Cheer, MC5, Ted Nugent, Nazareth, and Kiss and that had an impact on him but Black Sabbath really got him into music.

Eric said he likes Frank Sinatra, Nickelback, and some Slipknot. Michael Gilbert has also said he likes Slipknot.

Eric said he has been singing his whole life and as a kid was in theater and choruses at school. He said he wasn’t into metal before meeting the guys in Flotsam when they asked him to learn stuff from Number of the Beast and Unleashed in the East.

Edward Carlson was in the band the longest amount of time besides Eric. Other than AC/DC noted above, I haven’t found any of his influences.

Michael Gilbert said that John Mayer and Dave Matthews are two of his favorite song writers. In metal he names Corey Taylor.

Troy was on two albums and collaborated on When The Strom Comes Down. He was previously in a band that played cover from bands including Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, Black Sabbath, The Who, Ten Years After, Talking Heads, and Devo. He also mentions being a fan of old Genesis. He auditioned for Metallica a year before joining Flotsam. He said some of his favorite metal bands were Metallica, Celtic Frost, Voivod, and Mercyful Fate. He was also a fan of man bands they played shows with such as Megadeth, Testament, Sanctuary, Forbidden, Vio-lence, and the band Meanstreak. He says he doesn’t see genre and is a fan of all types of music. Before he got into metal he was more into progressive rock and new wave.

Jason Ward was bassists from 1991-2013. Other than Geddy Lee I haven’t seen him name any influences. On a personal note, I met him when he was playing in a Black Sabbath Tribute band, so Geezer is likely an influence.

Craig Nielsen was the drummer from 1997-2011. He said as a kid he really liked Jethro Toll. He says he is a fan of Thomas Haake of Meshuggah.

Mark Simpson was on four albums from 1997-2010. I’m unsure of his influences.

Jason Bittner of Shadows Fall was the drummer for one album. His influences will on the Shadows Fall family tree eventually.

Bassist Michael Spencer was in the band a short time in the late 80’s. He returned to the band more recently and did two albums with them. I’m unsure of his influences.

Ken Mary has been on drum since 2017 has been on one album and will be on the next one. Drummerworld lists his influences as Buddy Rich, Louie Bellson, Neil Peart, John Bonham, Steve Gadd, and Tommy Aldridge. I have not verified these.

Sources:

https://guitar.com/features/metallica-jason-newsted-interview/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6bCDXTbFUM
https://userpages.umbc.edu/~thuff1/metallica.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20140222001214/http://wikimetal.uol.com.br/site/interview-with-jason-newsted/
https://loudwire.com/jason-newsted-bass-player-live-concert/
https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2019/01/17/five-heavy-albums-that-changed-my-life-with-eric-a-k-of-flotsam-and-jetsam/
http://www.flotsam-and-jetsam.com/interview1.html
https://myglobalmind.com/2013/04/23/exclusive-interview-with-eric-knutsonvocals-flotsam-and-jetsam/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIaVn2AGIVg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2Zv0e2Wpl8
https://www.powerofmetal.dk/interviews13/flotsamandjetsam_interview.html
https://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/michael-gilbert-of-flotsam-and-jetsam
https://www.noecho.net/interviews/troy-gregory-flotsam-and-jetsam-prong-wasted-youth-the-witches
https://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Ken_Mary.html
http://metalsludge.tv/classic/?p=28283
http://www.friday13thmetal.co.uk/Page%203%20-%20Interviews/Flotsam_And_Jetsam_11/new_page_1.htm
https://allthatshreds.com/interview-guitarist-steve-conley-flotsam-jetsam/

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

Heathen Family Tree

Metal 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.

Heathen are a relatively underground thrash band. Guitarist Lee Altus (who has also been in Exodus since 2005) has been the heart of the Heathen since the beginning with long time vocalist David White joining soon after the beginning. Doug Piercy was on second guitar on the first two albums which is a role now filled by Kragen Lum since 2007. There have been several bass players, none being with the band for a long period. Drummers have change several times as well.

The Beatles are one of the most notable bands in history for being the band that kicked off a new generation of rock music. David and Doug named them as an influence.

The Rolling Stones were one of the most important bands out of the 60’s rock bands. Doug named them as an influence and David said they were one of the bands he listened to as a kid.

Th who were one of the harder bands to come out of the 60’s. Doug named them as an influence.

Jimi Hendrix was a revolutionary guitar player. Doug named him as an influence.

Deep Purple’s classic line up in the 70’s has been hugely influential to so many bands. Lee named them as an influence and said Burn is one of his favorite albums. David and Doug also named Deep Purple as an influence.

Humble Pie were a hard blues rock band. Doug named them as an influence.

Led Zeppelin are one of the most important and influential bands in history. Doug named them as an influence

The fathers of Heavy Metal, Black Sabbath. Lee and Doug named them as an influence.

ABBA were a hugely popular pop band. Lee says he loves ABBA.

Thin Lizzy were a rock / hard rock band known for their guitar harmonies. Lee named them as an influence on the whole Bay Area scene. He named Thunder and Lightning and Black Rose as favorite albums. Doug also named Thin Lizzy as an influence.

UFO were a very influential band when Michael Schenker was on guitar. David named them as an influence.

Sweet were a hard rock / glam band. Lee named them as an influence.

Scorpions have balanced heavy metal and hard rock over the years putting out plenty of both. Lee named them as one of the bands he grew up listening. He says he really loves the first four albums and would maybe pick Taken By Force as his favorite.

Queen was a big influence on many bands, with Freddy Mercury considered one of the greatest vocalists. David named them as an influence.

Aerosmith were one of the most important American hard rock bands. Doug named them as an influence.

With Ritchie Blackmore and Dio, Rainbow was a legendary band. Lee named them as an influence and he named Rainbow Rising as one of his favorite albums.

The metal gods, Judas Priest are perhaps the most quintessential heavy metal band. Lee and David named them as an influence.

Gary Moore was a influential blues player. Doug named him as an influence.

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

Al Di Meola

Al Di Meola is an influential jazz guitarist. Doug named him as an influence.

The Pat Travers Bands was a hard blues rock band. Doug named Pat as an influence.

Van Halen were a one of those bands who impacted the entire musical world when they came out. Doug named them as an influence.

Iron Maiden are one of the most influential metal bands and came out of the NWOBHM movement. Lee said they were a band he grew up listening to and named Killers as one of his favorite albums.

Tygers of Pan Tang were another NWOBHM band. Lee named them as an influence.

Ozzy has been blessed to have some amazing guitar players in his band. Kragen named old Ozzy stuff as an influence with Randy Rhoads.

The Exploited were a hardcore punk / crossover band. Lee named them as one of the punk bands that he listened to.

CBH or Charged GBH were a hardcore punk band. Lee named them as a punk band he listened to.

The earliest of the Bay area bands, Exodus did a lot for what wold be come thrash metal. Lee said he use to play along to early Exodus demo. He named Bonded by Blood as a favorite thrash album.. Kragen was also influenced by Exodus. (Both Lee and Kragen have played in Exodus in recent years.)

The fathers of thrash, Metallica really cemented what thrash was. Lee used to play a long to early Metallica demos and named Kill ‘em All as a favorite thrash album. Kragen also names Metallica as an influence. They both name James as the guy all the thrash players look to for rhythm.

Ratt were a heavy / glam metal band. Kragen named Warren DeMartini as an influence.

In Flames are one of the pioneers of melodic death metal. Lee is a big fan.

Lee said his goal with Heathen was to combing the riffing of Exodus and Metallica with the vocals of Iron Maiden, and harmonies of Thin LIzzy and Iron Maiden.

Lee didn’t directly name the following as influences, but named Slayer’s Reign in Blood, Venom’s Black Metal and Destruction’s Infernal Overkill as some of the best thrash albums (along with already mentioned Metallica and Exodus). In a different interview instead of Black Metal he names Death Angle’s Ultra-Violence.

Lee said he likes some punk for it’s speed. He also says he likes industrial metal. He said he really liked In Flames and they was the first band he heard since the early days of thrash that he thought was doing something really new. He also mentions liking Children of Bodom. He talks about early death metal bands like Obituary being good, but said a lot of the bands after were just copies.

David says he was influenced by NWOBHM but doesn’t name any bands. He also says he listened to The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Monkees as a kid. He said he always wanted to be a drummer and never really considered being a singer till asked to join Blind Illusion.

Kragen talks about still practicing and working on his skills by trying to get better and a more classical style as well as working on Jeff Loomis stuff.

Jim Sanguinetti, guitarist in the early days, did not play on any albums but has at least one co-writing credit on the second album.

Bassist Mike Jazstremski and drummer Carl Sacco played on the first album, but I’m uncertain if they contributed to writing. I’m uncertain of writing credits for this album.

Darren Minter was the drummer for the second album, but no writing is credited to him.

Jon Torres was bassist on The Evolution of Chaos and wrote the music for “Bloodkult", but this is his only credit writing contribution.

Sources:

https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/21558-a-lesson-in-violence-exodus-gary-holt-lee-altus?page=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCLKrv472-k
https://www.metal-rules.com/2013/07/02/lee-altus-exodus-and-heathen/
https://www.metal-rules.com/2020/03/13/heathen-david-white/
https://www.therockpit.net/2020/interview-david-white-heathen/
http://www.old.mirgilus.com/interviews/heathen.html
http://users.telenet.be/denofiniquitybe/intanvilchorus'.htm
https://www.wattpad.com/865252260-interviews-kragen-lum-live-guitarist-of-exodus