Soundgarden was always one of the heavier grunge bands of the 90s scene. It turns out there’s a very good reason for that. The band’s guitarist, Kim Thayil, has revealed that his early musical influences were some of the heaviest metal bands of the 80s. Like Metallica and Exodus.
During a guest appearance on the Turned Out A Punk podcast, Thayil was asked about Soundgarden’s signing to A&M. This was their first major label signing in the late 80s. The musician was questioned whether the band was ever bothered by being “marketed into the metal world.”
“Well, we liked Metallica, but that was different,” Thayil replied. “The thrash scene kind of had — they crossed over with the punk scene very, very much so, and it was independent, and it wasn’t as radio-friendly or MTV-oriented or pop-oriented. We were already into Metal Church, and I was acquainted with Trouble and Exodus, so we had those records.”
Thayil noted that another grunge legend had introduced him to heavier music when they were younger
“As a matter of fact, it was Mark Arm, Mark from Mudhoney — back then it was pre-Green River, or around the time Green River and Soundgarden started — it was Mark who turned me on to,” Thayil continued, then redirected his thought. “He brought [Metallica’s debut album] Kill ‘Em All and [Exodus’s debut album] Bonded by Blood over, and he’s turning me on to this.”
Thayil added, “I remember him saying, ‘Listen, how fast that is. That guitarist, he’s only, like, 17.’ [Speaking about] Kirk Hammett. And I remember it was Mark who — I don’t know how his collection got so big, ‘cause he wasn’t DJing, but he turned me on to the Trouble albums and everything.”
I think it’s very clear when you listen to Soundgarden, especially their earlier albums, that Thayil and the rest of the band had a very significant metal influence. Clearly, he knows his stuff, so it stands to reason that metal would creep into his playing.
“So that aspect of metal was perfectly fine,” Thayil said. “On one hand, you got this band that’s definitely on the metal scene, like Trouble; then you got this band coming out of the punk rock indie scene, like Saint Vitus. And they’re both kind of doom-oriented. And there’s that element in what we’re doing. There’s definitely some stoner rock doom stuff that we impacted with that scene. We did a lot of different kinds of stuff.”
Thayil is currently promoting his upcoming memoir, A Screaming Life: Into The Superunknown With Soundgarden And Beyond. The book will be published on June 9, 2026.
The post Legendary Grunge Guitarist Name Drops Some of the Heaviest Metal Bands Who Inspired Him, and You Can Definitely Hear It in His Songs appeared first on VICE.
