With all of the forgettable yet highly praised albums that have flooded the lives of young, angst-ridden boys and girls as of late, the time was drawing perilously close to the official roots of metal being forgotten and deemed outdated by legions of bands emphasizing either incomprehensible song structures, nauseatingly talent-less singing and screaming, or a concoction that incorporates elements of the two. That time will have to be put on hold until a later date. The year of 2004 is the year that American thrash metal will make its first decisive impact in more than a decade on the worldwide metal scene that disowned it for years as rock, pop, industrial, and hardcore influences twisted its face and compromised the sales and reputations of many essential thrash records that were released throughout the nineties. Just released albums like Death Angel’s The Art of Dying, Anthrax’s Music Of Mass Destruction, Machine Head’s Through The Ashes Of Empires, flanked by eagerly awaited returns of Testament, DRI, Slayer, Nuclear Assault, and Megadeth will solidify this year as yet another long overdue chapter in the chronicles of American thrash metal.