Anybody here ever notices this cycle?

Forging the way for extreme metal =/= making good music.

Besides, I'd say Priest and Motorhead also had pretty big roles in getting us toward extreme metal.
 
Maiden, Priest and Venom are all predictable, simplistic shit with no replay value.

There I said it.

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Maiden, Priest and Venom are all predictable, simplistic shit with no replay value.

There I said it.

Had they come out today, yes. But back then they weren't really predictable, simplistic shit with no replay value. They were a big deal back then, and why? They were revolutionary in the movement of metal (Maiden and Priest more so). You have to look at them from a retro perspective.