One of four headbangers co-written by original guitarist Dave Mustaine on their debut album (“Mechanix” from Megadeth’s 1985 debut is the original version, albeit sped up now), “The Four Horsemen” is one of the many early Metallica tunes to feature apocalyptic and Biblical imagery. At a young age, the Los Angeles-based band, who relocated to thrash-friendlier San Francisco within a year, was already starting to hit their stride. The lyrics here are not super deep (“you’ve been dying since the day you were born”), but there’s still a strong visceral impact to this riff-tastic rocker.
