“If I’m a little late to first period in the morning because I had to do an interview, my teachers are pretty lenient with me”: Ethan Kahn on Chained Saint’s face-ripping debut and how the new school of thrash metal is rewriting the rulebook

Ethan Kahn of up-and-coming thrash outfit Chained Saint.

In the band practice room at his parents’ house in Parkland, Florida, Chained Saint guitarist Ethan Kahn sits in front of a wall of rock posters. There’s an image of Megadeth and covers of Black Sabbath’s Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Metallica’s Ride the Lightning. The latter has special significance for Kahn. Among other things, it’s the record that first turned him on to thrash metal.

Right after he heard it, Kahn did a deep dive into the band’s catalog, as well as the music of the other Big Four bands Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax, as well as Testament and Exodus. The effect was profound. Kahn stopped playing open chord classic rock and turned his attention toward speedy, muted power chord riffs, unconventional rhythms and rapid-fire legato solos.