Thrash Metal

One of the most notorious of the metal styles, thrash metal remains an influential and timeless sound over thirty years after its inception. The sheer speed, ferocity, and aggression with which the key bands in the style play creates an outlet for the everyday struggles of the listener. The themes (ranging from the sociopolitical to the supernatural to prideful metal-meta) have taken their root and spread influence to nearly every subsequent subgenre. Thrash metal, characterized by pure speed and anger, created the perfect blueprint not just for the metal of the future, but for all forms of extreme metal thenceforth.

As the 1980s opened its doors, metal was riding a high. While the biggest heavy metal bands from the 1970s like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden were taking the world by storm, a new wave of music had solidified its hold on the underground. Subsequent speed metal releases would soon develop into a much darker, more sinister style of music with the addition of "proto-"harsh vocals like yelling and even fry growling in some cases. Songs were longer, faster, more intricate... and thrash metal took its first steps.

Thrash metal first reared its head in the Los Angeles area of California as a direct response to the wave of glam metal showing popularity in mainstream rock and metal circles. To some, the pop-infused melodies and flair for flamboyant theatrics were the antithesis of the original metal spirit; the slow, plodding evil of Black Sabbath or the grandiose epics of Iron Maiden were being besmirched by permed hair and neon spandex pants. As a result, bands like Exodus, Metallica, and Slayer were formed, hearkening back to metal's roots, but with a new raging fire in its spirit. From this, the Big 4 was formed. The Big 4 of thrash metal represent the genre's biggest and most influential artists: Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax. Other bands with the same musical ideas popped up all over the United States, such as Death Angel, Testament, Overkill, and Vio-Lence. Germany had a thriving thrash scene as well, with the Teutonic 4 being formed as well: Sodom, Destruction, Kreator, and Tankard. Voivod emerged from Canada, Celtic Frost from Switzerland, Sepultura from Brazil... soon, thrash metal had taken over the world.

Recommended Big 4 listening:
1. Metallica - Master of Puppets (1986)
2. Slayer - Reign in Blood (1986)
3. Anthrax - Among the Living (1987)
4. Megadeth - Rust in Peace (1990)

Recommended non-Big 4 '80s thrash metal listening:
1. Exodus - Bonded by Blood (1985)
2. Kreator - Pleasure to Kill (1986)
3. Testament- The Legacy (1987)
4. Sepultura - Beneath the Remains (1989)
5. Overkill - The Years of Decay (1989)

One band from the Big 4, Anthrax, was the oddball of the bunch. Being the only band formed in New York rather than California, Anthrax had developed a significantly different style of thrash than its contemporaries. Utilizing much more tongue-in-cheek humor, pop culture references, and shorter songs, Anthrax took noticeable influence from hardcore punk. Eventually, this would lead to an entire spinoff genre, aptly named crossover thrash. This hybrid genre of thrash and hardcore can be differentiated from similar styles like thrashcore by its leanings towards metal over punk. Bands like Stormtroopers of Death (S.O.D. for short), Suicidal Tendencies, Carnivore, D.R.I. (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles), and Nuclear Assault would follow in Anthrax's footsteps and combine the two styles.

Recommended crossover thrash listening:
1. D.R.I. - Dealing With It! (1985)
2. S.O.D. - Speak English or Die (1985)
3. Nuclear Assault - Game Over (1986)
4. Carnivore - Retaliation (1987)
5. Suicidal Tendencies - How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today (1988)

Many established thrash metal bands released phenomenal albums in the early 1990s, but the style wouldn't find itself as popular as the decade continued. When Metallica released their self-titled album, known colloquially as "the Black Album," in 1991, the shape of metal was changed forever. Metallica had stepped away from the intricacy and speed of their first four albums in favor of a more polished production style and more mid-tempo riffs. As a result, this revitalized form of classic heavy metal exploded in popularity. Metallica became one of the biggest bands in the world, and most other thrash bands made significant changes to their sound as a result. Classic-sounding thrash metal took the backseat in the 1990s, resulting in the development of groove metal (which will be discussed in a future entry) and technical thrash metal. Metallica would become more of an experimental hard rock band, Slayer would experiment with groove metal, Megadeth went straightforward heavy metal, and Anthrax (with the arrival of vocalist John Bush) would become more of an alternative metal band.

Recommended '90s thrash metal listening:
1. Morbid Saint - Spectrum of Death (1990)
2. Kreator - Coma of Souls (1990)
3. Sepultura - Arise (1991)
4. Demolition Hammer - Epidemic of Violence (1992)
5. Testament - The Gathering (1999)

Technical thrash metal is a subgenre of thrash that places extra emphasis on complex songwriting and demanding instrumentals such as that of Annihilator, Coroner, Sadus, and Artillery. Though the style never caught on as much as its parent genre in terms of popularity, its reach of influence is undeniable, as this style of metal would lead to the development of the first progressive metal bands, such as Watchtower, Voivod, and Mekong Delta. It was also an obvious precursor of technical death metal.

Recommended technical thrash metal listening:
1. Sadus - Illusions (1988)
2. Voivod - Dimension Hatröss (1989)
3. Annihilator - Alice in Hell (1989)
4. Coroner - No More Color (1989)
5. Mekong Delta - Dances of Death (And Other Walking Shadows) (1990)

The 2000s saw a bit of a renaissance in terms of the classic thrash sound. Though much of the charm of the Big 4 had dissolved in the 1990s, the underdogs continued going strong, with bands such as Exodus, Testament, and Kreator releasing fantastic comeback albums as the decade progressed. Machine Head combined the genre beautifully with groove metal, as Nevermore did with progressive metal. Crossover thrash also saw a resurgence, with the most significant band being Municipal Waste. Classic thrash had some revivalists such as Evile and Violator.

Recommended '00s thrash metal listening:
1. Kreator - Violent Revolution (2001)
2. Exodus - Tempo of the Damned (2004)
3. Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor (2005)
4. Machine Head - The Blackening (2007)
5. Testament - The Formation of Damnation (2008)

In the 2010s, thrash metal continued to be led by the underdogs of the '80s scene, continuing to release consistent releases amongst the new bands that popped up. Artists like Power Trip, Skeletonwitch, Heathen, Suicidal Angels, and Deceased... held the torch in the classic style. However, technical thrash's resurgence is the most significant in terms of the genre in the new decade: bands such as Havok, Revocation, and the mighty Vektor have released some of the 2010s' best metal records.

Recommended '10s thrash metal listening:
1. Overkill - Ironbound (2010)
2. Havok - Time is Up (2011)
3. Revocation - Chaos of Forms (2011)
4. Power Trip - Nightmare Logic (2017)
5. Vektor - Terminal Redux (2018)

Normally, I close these entries with some spiel about how the genre, despite its waning relevancy in the grand scheme of metal, is ultimately still important and influential today. With thrash metal, though, this doesn't need to be said. Thrash has continued to be a vibrant, creative, driving force of metal music since its inception, and will likely continue to be simply due to its stretch of influence and the value of its inspiration. Most everyone's first metal band is Metallica, and there's nothing quite as special as hearing Master of Puppets for the first time. Thrash is responsible for decades' worth of newcomers to the metal community, and arguably for that purpose alone, it will always be one of the most relevant and most essential aspects of the metal family tree.