DEATH ANGEL guitarist Ted Aguilar is featured in a new interview with ESP Guitars. An excerpt is available below.

Q: Relevant to forming as a guitarist, who are your influences?

Aguilar: "METALLICA for sure. I think Metallica is a great influence on everyone. I would like to think every metal band on this earth is influenced by Metallica in one way, shape, or form. I mean the first three albums are very influential and legendary, y'know what I mean? Especially the albums with Cliff (Burton). I think Justice and the Black album are very influential, maybe not as deep as the first three, but Metallica strikes something there with a lot of fans. They were the first to come out strong with Kill 'Em All, and they were one first to take a chance with 'Fade To Black' at the time. By the time Ride the Lightning came out, you had EXODUS' Bonded By Blood was coming out and all these bands were in your face and it was great. All these bands were thrash at its best, and I think Metallica went way beyond when they tried to do 'Fade To Black'. At the end of the day, it turned out to be a great song.

The first time I got to see Metallica on the Master Of Puppets tour opening for Ozzy. I got to see them at San Francisco at the Cow Palace. Oh man, it was cool. To see Cliff…Metallica and Ozzy…it was insane. I got to witness it! The rest of Death Angel got to see Metallica so many times and have told me so many stories.

What was cool about a lot of the (old) Bay Area scene which is pretty known, there was all these bands: Death Angel, FORBIDDEN, Exodus, VIO-LENCE, TESTAMENT, and others like HEATHEN, LAAZ ROCKIT and all that. You go to all the shows—before all they were even signed—and the place would be packed. I mean, the scene was really healthy. Everyone would come out and check each other, support each other. It was great.

Another thing about the Bay Area bands, too, is like, they were pretty known for their crunch tone. That was pretty awesome. Also each band sounded different, they were fresh, and sounded different. You could tell who was who. It's hard nowadays, especially in metal music, to decipher who is who. But back then you could put on a Vio-lence record and know it's Vio-lence and out on a Forbidden record and know it's Forbidden."

Go to this location for the complete interview.