Thrash metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo. The songs usually use fast percussive beats and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead guitar work. The lyrical subject matter often includes criticism of The Establishment, opposition to armed conflicts, and at times shares a disdain for the Christian religion with that of black metal. The language is typically direct and denunciatory, an approach borrowed from hardcore punk.
Agnostic Front is an American hardcore punk band from New York City. Founded in 1980, the band is considered an important influence on the New York hardcore scene, as well as a pioneer of the crossover thrash genre.
Hirax is an American thrash metal band from Cypress, California. Starting in 1984 under the leadership of vocalist Katon W. De Pena, the band played in Los Angeles and San Francisco with several of their thrash metal peers such as Metallica, Exodus, and Slayer. The band was an early example of thrash metal, speed metal and crossover thrash, yet inspired by cross-genre influences including blues vocalist Sam Cooke, who De Pena once cited as "the greatest vocalist [De Pena] has ever heard."
Repulsion is an American grindcore band from Flint, Michigan, founded in 1984.
Sworn Enemy is an American metallic hardcore / crossover thrash band from New York City.
Deströyer 666 is an Australian extreme metal band formed in 1994 by vocalist and guitarist K. K. Warslut. The group originated in Melbourne, Australia and by 2001 had relocated to Europe.
Excel is a crossover thrash band from Venice, California, founded in 1983 by singer Dan Clements and guitarist Adam Siegel. They were influenced by 1970s punk rock musicians like the Germs and Black Flag, and heavy metal bands like Black Sabbath, Trouble, Slayer, Corrosion of Conformity and Cryptic Slaughter. They were also influenced by street art, Excel is known for painting graffiti on the streets of the cities where they make their tours, hence there are many different logos of the band.
Attitude Adjustment is an American crossover thrash band from the San Francisco Bay Area. Their debut album, American Paranoia, is considered to be an early "crossover" between hardcore punk and thrash metal.
Arma Angelus was a metalcore band from Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1998 and disbanded in 2002. Members of the band were Pete Wentz, Tim McIlrath, Jay Jancetic, Daniel Binaei, Adam Bishop and Timothy Miller.
Switchblade were an Australian five-piece metal band from Sydney, Australia, who formed in 2001 and disbanded in 2011. During their career they released two albums, and played support for bands such as Slayer, Machine Head, Exodus, Trivium and Nevermore during their respective Australian tours. They also appeared at Metal for the Brain and the Come Together Music Festival.
Zoetrope was an American heavy metal band from Chicago. Although their sound was akin to thrash metal, the group described themselves as "Street Metal".
Fantom Warior is an American thrash metal band that was founded in 1984 in Union, New Jersey. consisting of John Chernack, Keith Pires, James Jensen (drums) and Steve Schley (guitar). The band's major influences were Slayer, Metallica and Anthrax. Fantom Warior had a self-distributed demo and album as well as appearing on a compilation album. Fantom Warior's musical style was said to be hardcore thrash similar to Slayer and Kreator with changes throughout their songs that mix speedcore and very heavy thrash. Their music contained a blend of speed and technical development unknown to some of the other bands of their time.
Merlin is a death metal band from Russia, formed in 1992 in part by bassist and female growling vocalist Mary Abaza.
Dance Club Massacre was an American deathcore band from Chicago, Illinois. Formed in 2004, the group originated as a simple recording project between founding members Nick Seger and Kurt Latos. After recording three songs described as "Halloween-core" and distributing them to friends, the project became a complete band when friends began rehearsals with one another all while attending college.
Aftermath is an American thrash band from Chicago, Illinois, United States, which formed in 1985. They have released three studio albums under two monikers and been involved in several compilation projects. They subsequently changed their name to Mother God Moviestar in 1998 after a trademark dispute with Dr. Dre in which the court found that both could use the name. The band reformed as Aftermath in 2015.
Phantasm was an American thrash metal band from Los Angeles, active between 1986 and 1988. The supergroup included several notable members, including early Metallica bassist Ron McGovney, Hirax singer Katon W. De Pena, and prolific drummer Gene Hoglan. The band did not record an album during its period of activity, but issued live and demo material on the 2001 CD Wreckage.
Demolition Hammer is an American thrash metal band from the Bronx, New York, active from 1986 to 1995 and again since 2016. To date, the band has released three full-length studio albums: Tortured Existence (1990), Epidemic of Violence (1992) and Time Bomb (1994).
Greg Saenz is an American drummer from Highland Park, California, currently based in Coachella Valley. He started playing for groups around North East Los Angeles in 1985, mainly influenced by drummers such as John Bonham, Cozy Powell and Phil Taylor. He later joined Excel where he stayed for several years. Saenz is a former member of My Head and the Dwarves. He occasionally serves as a touring drummer for Yawning Man, and is currently a touring drummer for John Garcia and the Band of Gold.
Cannae is an American metalcore band from Boston, Massachusetts. Their style mixes death metal, hardcore and thrash metal, with a focus on dual guitar work, heavy, double bass drumming and both growling and screaming vocals. They are currently signed to Prosthetic Records.
Hogan's Heroes was an American hardcore punk band formed in New Jersey in 1984. During their time they recorded three full lengths for California label New Red Archives. The band broke up in 1993.
