Should Metallica be in the forum?

Metallica were at the forefront, and "Master Of Puppets" was the very first of its kind - there was nothing like it before, or even at the time. Anyone that knows their metal history, as Cert does, would definitely agree with this point.  AJFA was easily more progressive than what most of the metal scene, let alone thrash metal, were doing at the time.

Exodus: Concentrated on riffs As did Megadeth really and not a prog trait obviously

Slayer: Absolutely revolutionary, but confined to the narrow area they chose to explore - and it's a good job they did, because they were/are fantastic at what they do. "Reign in Blood" is still a benchmark that has never been surpassed - but it ain't prog! Exactly

Anthrax - you're making me laugh! Indeed Cert.

Kreator - don't confuse technical with progressive. Kreator were never progressive. Fabulous technical thrash though.   Although yes, technical riffs, most the of soloing was very unimpressive, based around many tremolo picked lines for some of the albums, to hide the lack of alternate picking ability. Arguably, the peak of technical thrash around that period, was Megadeth's Rust In Peace, which featured many tempo changes, a few songs with odd time signatures, and of course Marty Friedman's lead guitar style which contained virtuosity perhaps only matched by fellow Bay Area Thrashers. Testament (Alex Skolnick, guitarist in question, with superb technical ability). Sorry Kirk, but your playing is not quite up to that level

Sodom - Sod 'em! Haven't really heard them enough, but my understanding is that they were one of the more simple of the thrash bands

And of coures, that also helps serve to make a point that the other thrash bands are not justified for inclusion.

I think it serves to make a point, if you want to understand why Metallica is just progressive as many 'prog' artists, you have to listen to it in the correct context, and you absolutely must, know heavy metal history. We keep forgetting Voivod, one the other pioneers of combining thrash with prog to make progressive metal. Listen to them as well, and that will help to make people see how Metallica were truly progressive.

Hell, I wont die if Metallica aren't up for inclusion, because we still have Voivod, Queensryche and Fates Warning in here, but obviously I maintain my position as Metallica being one of the first prog metal bands.