Crossover Thrash Metal

This week on “Into the Pit: A Metal Blog” we are going to be talking about crossover thrash metal. Frequent readers may remember that we talked about thrash metal some time ago, and before reading this new post, it might not be a bad idea to reread the previous entry about thrash metal. Crossover thrash metal is a specific type of thrash metal that takes heavy influence from hardcore punk music. Crossover thrash metal was popular during the late 1980s and 1990s. It spawned a wave of bands that gained large underground followings.

Crossover thrash metal bands are often mistaken as being part of other subgenres that combine heavy metal and hardcore punk. Thrashcore is a term that is often carelessly thrown around and many fans don’t know the different between thrashcore and crossover thrash metal. The distinction is that thrashcore is a term used to describe hardcore punk bands with fast tempos. Crossover thrash metal is a term used to describe bands that are primarily rooted in thrash metal, but do happen to take influence from hardcore punk. 

Metalcore was also a term in the 1990s that was sometimes used to describe crossover thrash metal bands, but since then, metalcore has evolved into an entirely different subgenre with completely different musical tendencies. We will talk about metalcore in depth at a later date, but it is important to know that crossover thrash metal bands just simply combine thrash metal and hardcore punk. If a band doesn’t do exactly that, then they are not a crossover thrash metal band.

There has never been a crossover thrash metal band to really make a huge name for itself, but there are a lot of crossover thrash metal bands with very sizable followings. These bands include D.R.I., Corrosion of Conformity, Stormtroopers of Death, Suicidal Tendencies and Gwar.

D.R.I. (also known as “Dirty Rotten Imbeciles”) was arguably the first band to pioneer crossover thrash metal. Formed in 1982, the band released seven albums and became a monumental force in the thrash metal scene, first pioneering thraschore and then crossover thrash. They never gained an extreme amount of popularity, but they are highly regarded by much of the heavy metal community for releasing  influential albums such as the Dirty Rotten LP, Crossover and Thrash Zone. Their Crossover album is where the term “crossover thrash” came from.

Corrosion of Conformity is another fairly successful and well known crossover thrash metal band. The band’s main members, Mike Dean, Woody Weatherman, Reed Mullin and Pepper Keenan, are all very well known for their contributions to heavy metal music. Corrosion of Conformity achieved a decent amount of success with their album Animosity. But when Keenan joined the band for their subsequent records, their sound changed and they became slightly more mainstream. Their albums Blind, Deliverance and Wiseblood are all considered to be classic records of heavy metal, even though they strayed from Corrosion of Conformity’s crossover thrash roots. The band has recently released a self-titled album without Keenan, who is busy with the heavy metal supergroup Down. Keenan still remains a member of the band, though.

Stormtroopers of Death (also known as S.O.D.) is a crossover thrash metal supergroup started by Scott Ian of Anthrax. The group also includes Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante, ex-Anthrax bassist Danny Lilker and Psychos bassist Billy Milano on vocals. Their debut record Speak English or Die, released in 1985, is highly regarded by heavy metal critics and fans alike. It is a very influential record that helped to attract people to the subgenre.

Suicidal Tendencies is probably the most famous crossover thrash metal band and is regarded as one of the “fathers” of the subgenre. Led by Mike Muir, Suicidal Tendencies has released eight studio albums, with the first three being particularly crucial to the development of crossover thrash. It is important to note that Rob Trujillo, who currently plays bass for Metallica, received a large amount of notoriety for his work with Suicidal Tendencies.

The last crossover thrash band that has been very important to the development of heavy metal music is Gwar. Gwar is a satirically comedic metal band who has a large cult following. The members take on the identities of monsters and dress up in science fiction/horror themed costumes. Gwar is notable for being one of the first bands to talk about tabooed subjects through their lyrics. 

Beyond the bands previously mentioned, groups such as Prong, Nuclear Assault, Agnostic Frost, Sworn Enemy, Municipal Waste, Sick of It All and Cro-Mags have also achieved a decent amount of success through playing crossover thrash metal. The subgenre will always remain an underground phenomenon as it continues to expand.