Bill Metoyer

The real pivot came with 1987's Earache debut, Scum.

That album was recorded in just two weeks on a borrowed eight-track recorder at Slaughterhouse Studio with engineer Andy Vella and producer Bill Metoyer, both of whom later became staples for other extreme acts.

What makes Scum so pivotal is its use of the blast beat as an absolute musical device, not just a gimmick.

It forced every track into a relentless treadmill where there was barely space for solos or breakdowns beyond a single minute and change of tempo.

Oh, yeah.

Uh, to the last one, Bill Metoyer, who's a f- also a California guy who did Trouble, but also, like, Cirith Ungol, uh, Sacred Reich, Warlord, like all these power metal bands that I've listened-

And this is, like, Trouble is, like, what...

We're talking about Nightfall being perfect.

... being really that good.

Inspired everything that inspired everything.

Exactly, so, and Bill Metoyer was the head of...

He also did, like, I think he did Hell Awaits, too, and, like, a bunch of early Slayer, sh- and, like, all kinds of other shit, but Bill Metoyer is still around-