Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge, pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . The songs usually use fast percussive beats and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead guitar work.
The genesis of the genre dates back to the 1970s when early heavy metal, hard rock and punk rock bands released songs that featured traits of what would eventually become thrash metal, speed metal, or both. The thrash metal genre was established from the early-to-mid-1980s, during which musicians began to fuse the double bass drumming and complex guitar stylings of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) with the speed and aggression of skate punk, hardcore punk, and speed metal, and the technicality of progressive rock. Philosophically, thrash metal developed as a backlash against both the conservatism of the Reagan era and the much more moderate, pop-influenced, and widely accessible heavy metal subgenre of glam metal which also developed concurrently in the 1980s. Derived genres include crossover thrash, a fusion of thrash metal and hardcore punk.
The early thrash metal movement revolved around independent record labels, including Megaforce, Metal Blade, Combat, Roadrunner, and Noise, and the underground tape trading industry in both Europe and North America. The genre was commercially successful from approximately 1985 through 1991, bringing prominence to Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax, all grouped together as the "Big Four" of U.S. thrash metal. Other bands, such as Overkill, Metal Church, Nuclear Assault, Flotsam and Jetsam, and Bay Area acts Exodus, Testament and Death Angel, never achieved the same level of success as the "Big Four" but had also developed a strong following in the metal community, through MTV's Headbangers Ball or otherwise. Some of the most popular international thrash metal bands from this era were Brazil's Sepultura, Canada's Voivod and Annihilator, Switzerland's Coroner, England's Onslaught, and the genre's German "Big Teutonic Four": Kreator, Destruction, Sodom, and Tankard.
The thrash metal genre had declined in popularity by the mid-1990s, due to the commercial success of numerous genres such as alternative rock and grunge. In response, some bands had either disbanded or moved away from their thrash metal roots and more towards influences such as punk (or crossover thrash), progressive, groove metal, or alternative metal, and later industrial or nu metal. The genre has seen a resurgence in popularity since the late 1990s/early 2000s, with the arrival of various bands such as Bonded by Blood, Evile, Hatchet, Havok, Lamb of God, Municipal Waste, and Warbringer, who have all been credited for leading the so-called "thrash metal revival" scene.
Characteristics
Thrash metal generally features fast tempos, low-register, complex guitar riffs, high-register guitar solos, and double bass drumming. The rhythm guitar parts are played with heavy distortion, power chords and often palm muted to create a tighter and more precise sound. Vocally, thrash metal can employ anything from melodic singing to shouted or screamed vocals. Most guitar solos are played at high speed and technically demanding, as they are usually characterized by shredding, and use advanced techniques such as sweep picking, legato phrasing, alternate picking, tremolo picking, string skipping, and two-hand tapping.
David Ellefson, the original bassist of Megadeth, described thrash metal as "a combination of the attitude from punk rock but the riffs and complexities of traditional metal." On the origins of thrash metal, Dan Lilker (bassist and co-founding member of Anthrax, S.O.D. and Nuclear Assault) recalls: "Thrash was just what they called 'faster hardcore,' because you literally thrashed around when you were either playing it or reacting to it. And thrash metal was born because it was influenced by thrash hardcore, and they just thought it was more metal, so they said, 'Okay, this is thrash metal.'"
The guitar riffs often use chromatic scales and emphasize the tritone and diminished intervals, instead of using conventional single-scale-based riffing. For example, the intro riff of Metallica's "Master of Puppets" (the title track of the namesake album) is a chromatic descent, followed by an ascent based on the tritone.
Cymbal stops/chokes are often used to transition from one riff to another or to precede an acceleration in tempo.
To keep up with the other instruments, many bassists use a plectrum (pick). However, some prominent thrash metal bassists have used their fingers, most notably Frank Bello, Greg Christian, Steve Di Giorgio, Robert Trujillo, and Cliff Burton. Several bassists use a distorted bass tone, an approach popularized by Burton and Motörhead's Lemmy. Lyrical themes in thrash metal include warfare, corruption, injustice, murder, suicide, isolation, alienation, addiction, and other maladies that afflict the individual and society. In addition, politics, particularly pessimism and dissatisfaction towards politics, are common themes among thrash metal bands. Humor and irony can occasionally be found (Anthrax for example), but they are limited, and are an exception rather than a rule.
Etymology The term "thrash" originated as a way of referring to hardcore punk, as shown on the 1982 hardcore compilation album New York Thrash. By 1983, the term "thrash metal" had entered colloquial use as a way to denote the fusion of hardcore and metal. The 1983 debut issue of Metal Forces used the term to describe the bands on the first Metal Massacre and Mike Varney's first three U.S. Metal compilation albums. Later the same year, the thirteenth issue of Metal Mania used the term in an article, saying it was used synonymously with "heavy thrash" and "punk metal", going on to say acts in the genre included Tank, Metallica, MDC, GBH, Discharge and Crucifix. The term is sometimes incorrectly credited to a 1984 Kerrang! magazine article by journalist Malcolm Dome, who used the term in reference to the song "Metal Thrashing Mad" by Anthrax.
Around 1984, the most dominant name for what is now defined as thrash metal was "power metal", a name which eventually evolved to refer to the separate power metal genre. Similarly, for much of the 1980s, the names "thrash metal" and "speed metal" were generally used synonymously. The separate speed metal genre was defined retrospectively in the 1990s, to refer to 1980s bands who bridged the gap between thrash metal and power metal.
History Roots (1970s – early 1980s)
The term "proto-thrash" has been used to describe bands as having elements of speed metal or thrash metal before those genres came to prominence in the early-to-mid-1980s. Deep Purple's 1970 album Deep Purple in Rock is perhaps the earliest proto-thrash/speed metal album, as music journalist Martin Popoff noted, "It's really about the discipline and classical haughtiness of this record, as well as 'Hard Lovin' Man' which is a great contender for first proto-thrash song ever." Blue Öyster Cult's second album Tyranny and Mutation (1973) has also been proclaimed as one of the earliest examples of proto-speed/thrash metal, with Scott Morrow of RIP Magazine writing, "Along with albums by such pioneers as Led Zeppelin, Mountain, Deep Purple, Blue Cheer, and Black Sabbath, some of the earliest speed metal sounds can be heard on Blue Öyster Cult's masterpiece Tyranny and Mutation. With its screamin' stun guitars, growling vocals, maniacal tempos and overall bad-dude attitude, B.Ö.C. set a precedent in the still-young metal arena. This, however, was only a glimpse of future mayhem."
Other works described as proto-thrash/speed metal include Queen's 1974 song "Stone Cold Crazy", Kiss' 1974 song "Parasite", Black Sabbath's 1975 song "Symptom of the Universe", Diamond Head's 1980 song "Am I Evil?", and at least two tracks from the Ronnie James Dio-era of Rainbow: "A Light in the Black" from their 1976 album Rising and "Kill the King" from the 1978 follow-up Long Live Rock 'n' Roll. The new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) bands emerging from Britain in the late 1970s further influenced the development of early thrash. The early work of artists such as Diamond Head, Iron Maiden, Venom, Motörhead, Tygers of Pan Tang, Raven, Saxon and Angel Witch, among others, introduced the fast-paced and intricate musicianship that became core aspects of thrash. Phil Taylor's double-bass drumming featured in Motörhead's 1979 song "Overkill" has been acknowledged by many thrash drummers, most notably Lars Ulrich, as a primary influence on their playing. Thrash metal bands have also taken inspiration from Judas Priest, with Slayer guitarist Kerry King saying that, "There would be no Slayer without Priest." Metal Blade Records executive Brian Slagel played a key role in bringing the NWOBHM to a larger audience, as he was responsible for discovering both Metallica and Slayer and producing their earliest studio recordings.
Greg Prato of Ultimate Guitar notes, "Although the thrash movement seemed to have much more in common with punk than prog fashion-wise (leather jackets vs. capes), musically, there were certainly moments when thrash leaned more towards the prog side of things." Canadian progressive rock band Rush, for example, has been cited a formative influence on the thrash metal movement. In a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone, Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante said: "When I was first learning to play drums, I would strap on my headphones, play along with [Rush's live album All the World's a Stage] and be transformed. I remember talking with Cliff and Kirk back when we first met, and we all agreed how much of an influence Rush was on all of us."
The thrash metal genre is also strongly influenced by punk rock, drawing inspiration from sources ranging from traditional punk bands from the 1970s, including the New York Dolls, the Ramones, the Sex Pistols and the Dead Boys, to late 1970s/early 1980s hardcore punk bands Discharge,Knowles, Christopher.The Secret History of Rock 'n' Roll. Cleis Press, 2010 GBH, Black Flag, the Misfits, the Dead Kennedys, and Bad Brains. The Ramones' 1976 self-titled debut album in particular has been noted as a key influence on the genre, due to its sound, which introduced the three-chord thrash style of guitar. Void has been credited as one of the earliest examples of hardcore/heavy metal crossover, whose chaotic musical approach is often cited as particularly influential. Their 1982 split LP with fellow Washington band The Faith showed both bands exhibiting quick, fiery, high-speed punk rock. It has been argued that those recordings laid the foundation for early thrash metal, at least in terms of selected tempos, and that thrash is essentially hardcore punk with the technical proficiency missing from that genre. The crossover with hardcore punk has also been cited as important influence on thrash, especially the English hardcore punk band Discharge, whose "influence on heavy metal is incalculable and metal superstars such as Metallica, Anthrax, Machine Head, Sepultura, Soulfly, Prong and Arch Enemy have covered Discharge's songs in tribute." The eponymous debut albums by D.R.I. and Suicidal Tendencies, both released in 1983, have been credited for paving the way for thrashcore.