10 Most Important Metal Bands Of All Time

When thrash started making its first rumblings in the early '80s, it was a breath of fresh air for the entire metal scene. Instead of the hard rock that was still rooted in blues and pop-rock, these were songs that sounded ugly, with scary riffs and vocals that could sound more like a rabid dog than a rock and roll scream. Though bands like Metallica were pioneering thrash in the mainstream, Slayer was where thrash really started to get nasty.

From the band's first record Show No Mercy, these guys were as metal as metal gets, with some of the most disturbing lyrics being played over the fastest riffs you've ever heard. After a few years of straightforward thrash, the band's opus Reign In Blood made them the unofficial ambassadors for the darker side of heavy music. The influence that Slayer had on the scene was so massive that the subgenres of death metal and black metal probably wouldn't have blossomed the way they did without the breakneck tempos of Dave Lombardo or the maniacal frenzy of notes coming from Kerry King.

Slayer may have been around long after the birth of heavy metal, but this is where metal lost its trademark fangs and traded them in for a full-on machete to your eardrums.