Thrash Metal Revival

During the 2000s, thrash metal experienced a revival of sorts. In the 1990s, the subgenre had died down a little to make way for newer, more extreme types of heavy metal. Many of the more mainstream thrash metal groups, such as Metallica and Megadeth, took on more of a hard rock approach in order to try to compete with grunge. Meanwhile, some thrash metal bands, such as Slayer, Testament and Exodus, stuck to their roots, but struggled to survive due to fans gaining more of an interest in new, heavier styles of metal.  Others groups like Destruction, Dark Angel, Vio-lence and Death Angel just couldn’t compete, so they disappeared entirely.

By the mid-2000s, thrash metal was cool again. Many fans had missed the passion of the music and longed to re-experience the mayhem that thrash metal brought to their youth, so new thrash metal bands started to emerge and old ones went back to their roots. Listed below are my ten favorite albums from the thrash metal revival movement. Take a look!

10. Death Angel - Killing Season

Death Angel was a really talented thrash metal band from the 1980s, but the band was always dragged down by the youth of its members. When Death Angel re-emerged in the 2000s after having broken up in the early 1990s, it sounded like a totally different band. The music was reminiscent of old Death Angel, but it was so much more mature. Weak link Mark Osgueda suddenly became one of the band’s biggest assets due the maturation in his voice. Killing Season has thus far been the highlight of Death Angel’s work since its reactivation, and is, in my opinion, the band's best album ever.

9. Megadeth - United Abominations

Megadeth has had three fantastic modern thrash metal albums: The System Has Failed, United Abominations and Endgame. My favorite is United Abominations. The album sounds really natural for Megadeth and is a great combination of the band’s work in the 1980s and the early 1990s. It’s a catchy thrash metal album that never tries too hard to impress its listeners. United Abominations is, in my opinion, the most underrated Megadeth.

8. Anthrax - Worship Music

Worship Music speaks for itself. Featuring the return of Joey Belladonna, the album sounds like Anthrax hasn’t missed a beat with its old singer. Worship Music is a great album by a band whose quality never suffered too much. Rob Caggiano did a great job producing the record too, and really motivated everyone to play their hearts out.

7. Warbringer - Worlds Torn Asunder

Warbringer is a newer thrash metal band that sounds like a combination of old-school Slayer and Exodus. This record is the band during its prime, and is heavy as hell. The band members all sound really pissed and it adds to the album’s intensity. That album opener, “Living Weapon,” is one of my favorite thrash metal songs ever. SO BRUTAL!

6. Cavalera Conspiracy - Inflikted

The Cavalera brothers didn’t play together for a long time after Max left Sepultura.  However, when the brothers finally reunited on Inflikted, all hell broke loose. This album features outstanding musicianship from everyone involved and is better than anything that modern day Sepultura has ever put out. If you’re a fan of Max Cavalera, even a little, this album is really worth listening to. It’s awesome!

5. Kreator - Phantom Antichrist 

Kreator has really done a good job at putting out memorable albums during the 2000s. The group’s most recent effort, Phantom Antichrist, is its best modern thrash metal album yet. The band still sounds great and will hopefully keep pummeling the ears of its fans for many years to come. Also, THAT ALBUM COVER IS FUCKING AWESOME! Look it up!

4. Battlecross - Pursuit of Honor

Battlecross is the newest band on this list. Pursuit of Honor combines thrash metal with melodic death metal in a way that has never been done before. Battlecross’ music is more passionate and exciting than the majority of heavy metal music that is coming out now. This album is worthy of all the praise it receives and should be checked out by thrash metal fans, as well as fans of groups such as At the Gates and Children of Bodom. Battlecross’ music does not disappoint.

3. Skeletonwitch - Beyond the Permafrost 

Hailing from Athens, Ohio, Skeletonwitch is one of the best modern thrash metal bands around. The group combines thrash metal and black metal in a way that no other group can emulate. The band's live performances are outstanding and the music is empowering. Beyond the Permafrost has become the group’s classic record, and it is one that many metalheads will surely be listening to for decades to come. 

2. Exodus - Exhibit B: The Human Condition

Exodus has done a brilliant job of refining its sound in the 2000s. Gary Holt’s songwriting abilities are incredible, and each song on this album is really memorable. Exodus is still creating classics, and it is evident with this record, which was released only three years ago. The band still sounds so youthful and alive even though the members have aged significantly. Singer Rob Dukes is doing a phenomenal job of filling massive shoes, and he has really helped to give this band new life. Exodus is one of the few old thrash metal bands that is currently putting out records that are better than some of its old work from the 1980s. Exhibit B: The Human Condition is incredible, and is a modern thrash metal masterpiece. 

1. Overkill - Ironbound

Overkill is unbelievable. This band is always so overlooked, despite the fact that it's one of the best thrash metal bands around. Overkill combines old school speed metal with thrash metal, and has been creating some of the most exciting, fast metal albums of the last decade. Ironbound is my favorite recent Overkill record, but the last three have all really been phenomenal, and are better than most of the rest of the albums on this list. Ironbound is a memorable record from top to bottom and is a must-hear album for every metalhead.

Speed Metal and Thrash Metal

Over the past couple of weeks, “Into the Pit: A Metal Blog” has covered the earliest subgenres of heavy metal music. These subgenres were the early beginnings of this heavier style of rock music, and they helped lay the foundation for what was to come in the 1980s.

During the 1980s, heavy metal music started to get faster and more aggressive than ever. New metal bands of the time were all trying to be more vicious than the next. That resulted in the rise of speed metal and thrash metal.

We have already briefly mentioned speed metal in the past few weeks when discussing bands such as Motörhead, Accept and Venom. Speed metal was developed during the 1970s, and it eventually evolved into thrash metal music.

There is some debate amongst heavy metal listeners as to whether speed metal is a legitimate subgenre. The people who argue that it is tend to say that speed metal is generally cleaner and more intricate than thrash metal music, which relies more heavily on long, wrenching rhythmic breaks. Personally, I do consider speed metal to be a legitimate subgenre of heavy metal music, though I believe it soon became indistinguishable from thrash.

Thrash metal is generally characterized by its fast tempos, double bass drumming, low-register vocals, intricate guitar riffs, and high register guitar solos. Thrash metal also usually consists of melodic singing or shouting vocals. The genre is heavily influenced by the NWOBHM and speed metal bands of the 1970s.

There were many “proto-thrash” songs of the 1970s, such as Diamond Head’s “Am I Evil?,” Judas Priest’s “Rapid Fire,” and even Queen’s “Stone Cold Crazy,” but the first real thrash metal bands were formed in the early 1980s. The most notable thrash metal bands in the US were known as “The Big Four” bands of thrash metal, and they consisted of Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax. These bands were the initial pioneers of thrash, and they are four of the most popular and prominent metal bands of all time.

Metallica was the first of the four bands to be formed, and are without a doubt the most popular metal band in the world today. Their first album, Kill ‘Em All, was released in 1983 and was one of the first real thrash metal albums.



One of Metallica’s most legendary albums was its third release, Master of Puppets, which has been hailed by some critics as the best metal album of all time.



The band really became a worldwide phenomenon, though, when they released their fifth album, titled The Black Album (also known as their self-titled release). It has been certified 15 times platinum in the US and is one of the most successful rock albums of all time. Since the album’s release, Metallica’s popularity has just kept growing, and today they are considered to be the most commercially successful metal band of all time.



It’s easy to spend three blog posts just talking about the significance of Metallica, but there are many other important thrash metal bands that deserve to be addressed here.

Megadeth, the second out of the “Big Four,” was formed by ex-Metallica guitarist, Dave Mustaine. Megadeth is the second most successful band of "The Big Four,” releasing landmark metal albums such as Peace Sells…But Who's Buying?, Rust in Peace, and Countdown to Extinction.



The last two bands of “The Big Four” are Slayer and Anthrax.

Slayer is the most inaccessible out of the four bands because of their controversial lyrical topics, intense speed and their vocalist’s harsh shouting vocals. Slayer has strongly influenced the development of death metal, and other underground metal subgenres. The band is most well known for their highly successful album, Reign in Blood; however, they have several other very highly acclaimed albums, such as Hell Awaits, South of Heaven, and Seasons in the Abyss.



Anthrax is the least successful of “The Big Four” but they still have a solid and devoted fanbase. They are the most musically consistent out of the four bands, and are known for their more melodic vocals. Anthrax’s most famous albums are Spreading the Disease, Among the Living and Sound of White Noise.



In the US during the 1980s, the San Francisco Bay Area was a very popular region for up and coming thrash metal bands. Several very popular thrash metal bands from this area include Testament, Exodus, Vio-lence, Forbidden and Death Angel. This blog is actually named after Testament’s song “Into the Pit.” Similarly, on the east coast there was also a strong thrash metal scene that led to the formation of Overkill, Whiplash, and Storm Troopers of Death.



Thrash metal also became popular worldwide. Germany was notable for their Teutonic thrash metal scene that sprouted many very popular thrash metal bands. The “three kings” of Teutonic thrash metal are Kreator, Sodom, and Destruction, as they were the most well known bands to come out of this scene. These bands heavily influenced the pioneering of death metal that was to come later in the decade.



One final thrash metal band that is extremely necessary to mention is Sepultura, who is from the Brazilian thrash metal scene. Led by the Cavalera brothers, Sepultura became one of the most popular thrash metal bands around the world for their albums, Beneath the Remains, Arise, Chaos A.D. and Roots.

Similarly to Slayer and the “three kings” of Teutonic thrash, Sepultura heavily influenced the development of death metal. The Cavalera brothers eventually left Sepultura during the 1990s, and now the band is led by long time guitarist Andreas Kisser, and longtime bassist Paolo Jr.



In the mid-1990s, grunge started to take over, and thrash metal became an exhausted genre of music. Many famous thrash metal bands changed their sound or experienced radical line-up changes. In particular, Metallica has been accused of having sold out around this time, as their style transformed into commercial hard rock.

Since then, thrash metal has seen a slight resurgence in popularity, which was fueled by newly-created thrash metal acts such as Municipal Waste, Warbringer, Lazarus A.D, Evile, and Skeletonwitch. Many famous thrash metal bands have also seen line-up reunions, and have reverted to their old musical habits of the 1980s. Recently, “The Big Four” played together for the first time ever, and have since done several subsequent shows together.

Thrash metal has been revived for now, and will hopefully stay popular during times to come.