OVERKILL - Under the Influence 12" Vinyl LP Album

- Megaforce Records

Jon Zazula, in my head, is proof that heavy metal didn’t just “happen” in the ’80s—it got built by obsessive weirdos with good ears and zero chill. He ran the Rock ’n’ Roll Heaven record store in East Brunswick, New Jersey, and used that shop as a kind of underground command center, blasting demos through the tape-trading network until the right bands found the right people. The pivotal moment (and yeah, it’s basically metal folklore at this point) lands in the winter of 1982, when he heard Metallica’s “No Life ’Til Leather” demo, pulled them to New York, and helped push them onto their first real East Coast stages—then Megaforce Records followed, and “Kill ’Em All” hit in 1983 like a crowbar to the radio. After that, his “periods” with bands were less about being onstage and more about being the guy who opened doors: the Megaforce run expanded from Metallica and Manowar in the early ’80s to a wider roster that included Anthrax (a key 1985–1991 stretch), plus acts like Overkill and Testament—basically a roll call of bands that helped define what American metal would sound like when it stopped asking permission.

Marsha Zazula, I file her under “people who changed metal without ever needing a guitar solo.” Together with Jonny Z, she co-founded Megaforce Records in 1982, and that one move basically helped flip American metal from tape-trader rumor into a real-world industry machine. Her “periods” with bands weren’t on stage, but they were all over the credits: the early Megaforce launch with Metallica when the label put out “Kill ’Em All” (1983), a producer/executive presence around Raven on “Stay Hard” (1985), and then the heavy thrash stretch where Jon and Marsha show up as executive producers/management for Anthrax (notably “State of Euphoria” in 1988 and “Persistence of Time” in 1990). She’s also credited in that same behind-the-scenes power lane with Overkill (executive production on “Under the Influence” in 1988 and “The Years of Decay” in 1989) and Testament’s debut “The Legacy” (1987). The thing I respect most is how unglamorous the work actually is—phones, logistics, money stress, belief—and she still helped build a runway for bands that would go on to define entire subgenres.

George Marino is one of those behind-the-glass legends who made heavy music feel larger than the room it was playing in. Before the mastering console became his throne, he was a Bronx guitarist doing the NYC band grind in the 1960s with groups like The Chancellors and The New Sounds Ltd. Then he went pro for real: starting at Capitol Studios in New York (1967), and eventually becoming a long-running force at Sterling Sound (from 1973 onward). For a collector like me—living in that sweet spot where 1980s heavy metal, hard rock, and a dash of prog-minded ambition collide—Marino’s credits read like a stack of essential sleeves: Holy Diver (Dio), Tooth and Nail (Dokken), Stay Hard (Raven), Master of Puppets (Metallica), Somewhere in Time (Iron Maiden), Among the Living (Anthrax), Appetite for Destruction (Guns N’ Roses), Slippery When Wet (Bon Jovi), and Blow Up Your Video (AC/DC). That’s the kind of resume that doesn’t just “master” records—it weaponizes them, but with taste. George Marino Wiki