10 Best Thrash Metal Albums Of The 21st Century

In extreme metal circles, whenever a word like “melody” seems to be uttered in even a remotely positive context, there’s always an air of quiet confusion that descends. Heavy music elitists, after all, like their tunes to be gritty and gnarly and constantly unforgiving, with catchy harmonies or sing-alongs just diluting what could be more aural madness.

The Teutonic warlords Kreator, however, prove that belief wrong whenever they unleash a new album, especially in the 21st century. Blending melodic death metal lead guitars with thrashing rhythms and aggression, modern Kreator is arguably the greatest this veteran outfit have ever been… and it all started with a little disc called Violent Revolution.

Coming after frontman Mille Petrozza and co. had spent the vast majority of the ‘90s experimenting with Rammstein- and Ministry-esque industrial metal, Violent Revolution not only marked Kreator’s return to full-blooded speed metal after over a decade away from it, but also the debut of lead guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö.

Not so coincidentally, the Finnish shredder bought with him a plethora of harmonic, melo-death-inclined leads. This in unison with Kreator’s rediscovery of more straight-forward thrash soon allowed Violent Revolution to be hailed as not only a glorious comeback, but also one of this century’s most badass metal discs.