Im an old fart. I knew of Metallica in 1982. I was in the Marine Corps and Stationed in San Diego from 1983-1985 and saw them a couple times in San Fran and Anahiem. For their first 10 years they did infact kick Mucho ass. Sadly after And Justice For All they changed and I didnt. But those first few with Cliff and then the early Jason releases were full of Fire.
Kirk gets a bad rap on his playing these days but in the 80's he was one of the Hottest Metal lead players.
The Four Horsemen and Trapped Under Ice just Kick all kinda Ass.
Ah the Thrash was great in the 80's: DRI,Overkill,Exodus,Anthrax,Death Angel,Slayer,Megadeth,Kreator,etc....