It was an experience I'll never forget." Dunn acknowledged the success of the tour and recalled how the bands interacted: "Lars was always the spokesperson and always had the most to say. There were bands out there like Venom and Accept that played fast, but Metallica took this style to a level of perfection." When discussing that day in Holland, Petrozza was equally reverential: "We were excited when we heard that they would open for Venom and everyone went there to see Metallica. Petrozza remembered being inspired by Hetfield and Metallica even before that Aardschock appearance: "When Kill 'Em All came out, it was like some kind of sonic revolution. They would become one of Europe's premier thrash flag-bearers during the 1980s and refused to change their style in the lean days of the 1990s, when thrash was driven largely underground. In the festival crowd that day was German metal fan Mille Petrozza, who went on to form an uncompromising thrash band called Kreator. The two bands had serious chemistry, and that led to debauched drinking and chaos that continued until the tour finale at the Aardschock Festival in Holland on February 12. Just as they had on the US tour with Venom the previous year, Metallica went "fuckin' nuts on the first night," as Venom guitarist Jeff Dunn bluntly described it. Marrs, like Tanner and McGovney, was a key link back to the early days in Downey and his departure left Hetfield on his own with the band. As with Hugh Tanner before him, life in a metal band wasn't the right career path.
When you go out on the road you find out real quick whether it's meant for you or not, and it just wasn't meant for me."Īnother of the important figures in Hetfield's early life left the story. I don't really feel any regrets, though, as I didn't really know what the hell I was doing up there. At that point they didn't have enough money to keep me in Europe so I had to come home. Dave Marrs, whose involvement with Hetfield dated back to their school days in Downey, was still working for the band as Lars's drum roadie and remembered this Venom tour as a turning point: "We listened to Mercyful Fate pretty much 24/7 on that tour on the bus as I recall, and then when we were in Denmark and we went to Sweet Silence Studios, the band were actually there. The Zazulas mined their new relationship with Venom further by booking Metallica to tour Europe with Venom on the Seven Dates of Hell tour.
There was no letup despite losing equipment. Borrowed equipment from fellow Zazula-managed act Anthrax was a suitable replacement and allowed Metallica to finish the tour.
Hetfield felt the loss of equipment more than most apparently, as he'd become reliant on a particular Marshall amplifier to create the guitar sound he wanted. After a gig at the Channel Club in Boston on January 14, Metallica's gear was stolen from a van outside the venue. The year did not begin exactly as planned. With a growing number of likeminded followers in Europe, if ever there was an opportunity for Metallica to establish themselves at the forefront of a transient metal scene, 1984 was it. The Swiss band Celtic Frost-who influenced a slew of black metal and death metal bands with their off-kilter and avant-garde debut, Morbid Tales-were another young act trying to break into the market with a much darker and extreme sound. Their vast stage sets and ambitious visual production set the standard for any rock band to follow. Both bands continued to tour and release quality material for another twenty-five–plus years, but this was one of several peaks for both bands, particularly Iron Maiden. Iron Maiden, the most successful act to hail from the NWOBHM that Lars loved so much, released their mighty Egyptian-themed Powerslave that year, while Judas Priest-that other force of British metal-were flying high with Defenders of the Faith. Some of the more established bands enjoyed career-high success, while new acts-including Metallica-were trying to crash the party. In many ways, 1984 was a pivotal year in the genre. Far from being a time of media censorship and cultural repression, there was an outburst of aural productivity, and it was an exciting time to be a metal-head. When 1984 rolled around, it was less Orwellian than some had predicted.
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