10 Essential Thrash Metal Bands You Need To Listen To
1. Slayer
No one has quite encapsulated every aspect of thrash, as both music and an attitude, the way Slayer did.
The meanest of The Big Four split eardrums worldwide with 'Reign in Blood', their third tour de force of metal mayhem. In less than 30 minutes, the Huntington Park menaces redefined what it meant to be heavy. Kerry King, one of metal's finest and gnarliest guitar slashers, splats together some of the most finger-cutting compositions ever put to LP. Tom Araya, cranky as ever, growls and screams into the mic. The whole thing is just a sensory beatdown unfit for the faint of heart.
For Slayer, this level of bloodthirsty, audio savagery was the norm in a commendable 40-year odyssey through tinnitus-prompting musical madness. Bar a couple of slightly lower energy efforts in the noughties, the thrash gods' discography is bursting at the seams with bad attitude and lightning-quick shredders.
Lyrically, there's a reason Slayer have a stronger cult following but less of a mainstream presence than the other members of The Big Four. Their grisly studies on topics such as Nazi war crimes, Satanism, human experimentation and organised crime can make for a grim and glum listening experience.
Fortunately, lovers of thrash tend to be pretty happy with the darker side of the metal world making Slayer a perfect fit.