My Thrash Metal Nostalgia Thread
 

This thread will probably not be a lot of fun for some of our younger posters but Thrash Metal played a big part in my early musical direction and it completely changed the landscape of Metal. It also (unfortunately) helped create the much maligned Metal sub genre because Thrash stepped outside of the typical Metal aesthetic and incorporated themes as diverse as Punk, N.Y Hardcore and Classical. I will review key albums and give brief band bios and will take the tried and tested alphabetical formula along with only rating bands pre 1990.


This American band originally released this debut on a British label on a shoestring of $1,200. Considering the album took just over a week to complete it is astonishing to hear so many influences screaming to be heard on this release. I always knew that this album would be that little bit different when lead singer/guitarist's Kenn Nardi's band photo consisited of his head half shaved and him wearing a Pink Floyd Animals T-shirt!

Suffering Hour hold's up remarkably well today in terms of track composition, but it is let down by a fairly uninspiring production and Nardi's schizophrenic vocal style that could be grating. However Anacrusis stood out from their crowd due to the incorporation of many Progressive elements to their music. Already remarked upon Nardi's vocal style when in screaming mode was annoying at times and his sudden switch mid song to a low key melodious warble is disconcerting but definitely a lot different to what many bands were doing at the time.

A lot of Thrash was recognisable by it's sudden tempo changes yet Anacrusis added another dimension by having very melodious passages in their music juxtaposed with sharp speed blasts. A lot of Thrash fans did'nt like them because they could be very mellow at times (as far as Thrash bands could be mellow), yet they were still far too heavy to enter the metal mainstream.

Subsequent releases saw Anacrusis indulge in their progressive side but they split in 1993. They could be seen as a little ahead of their time and in todays Metal diversity, they may well have found a niche.



Encyclopaedia Metallum - Anacrusis

Metalica, Slayer and Pantera and that's essentially it for me.

Then this thread may educate you then ;)

Being younger and actually getting into thrash in the most ass backwards of ways I never really associated Anacrusis with thrash. They always seemed more avant-garde and jazz metal-ish. Sort of like a less death metal Atheist. It wasn't until later when I got into hardcore that their sound seemed thrashy to me. So in a way its actually interesting hearing about it from someone who grew up with it.

A band that predates even Metallica but their original sound was very different at the time. Blind Illusion have a couple of small claims to fame. The first is the fact they only ever released one full length album despite being a unit for ten years. The other is that this release has none other than Les Claypool and Larry Lalonde playing on it Pre-Primus! Larry had just left fellow Bay Area band Possessed and Claypool had just split up an incarnation of Primus (who regrouped as the band Sausage in the mid 90's for an album). However the band was wholly Marc Beidermann's who remained the only constant member.

The Sane Asylum has now achieved iconic status within the Thrash community and the original release is a much sought after collectors item. The music on the album is disjointed both compositionally and tonally. Claypools bass work is virtually hidden throughout but 'Smash The Crystal' contains a few little bass runs that became a Primus trademark.

The whole album is generally a mismash of Power Metal, Thrash Metal and awkward tempo shifts with no discernible themes running through the tracks. This is also one of the albums assets. Because of the huge gestation period, the album has so many little snippets of past members and styles that it stood head and shoulders above many other albums upon releases.

One of the most original Thrash albums released at the time and an interesting curio for Primus fans.

Kamakazi:

Thrash metal was my music of choice in the mid/late 80's. I look forward to reading some of your selections. I probably would have put Anthrax "Among the living" in there at 'A'.

Never really got to grips with Thrash metal to be honest.
I didn't mind some of the earlier punk influenced stuff , but thats about it.
And once i'd heard stuff like Napalm Death & Electro Hippies they just made Thrash sound boring & redundant to me.

Most metal fans know the bigger names, so I am commenting on the lesser known albums wherever possible.

Used to listen to a lot of thrash...stopped listening to it much though now a days(apart from the odd song every now and then).
Love Overkill, Testament, Sodom, Exodus, Sepultura, Kreator and 100 other thrash bands which went along.

I can understand exactly where you are coming from here.I think if I had heard more Punk or post punk before Thrash then I may have skipped the scene a little more I was caught in the midst of the whole explosion of punk influenced metal bands: Napalm Death, Cerebral Fix, Extreme Noise Terror, Genital Deformities, Unseen Terror, Boltthrower, Carcass, Godflesh. These bands definitely blew the scene wide open but at 16 I was too naive to appreciate the complexities of genre music and I thought that these bands were just a bit faster and heavier!

I am happy about this thread because I never got into thrash. To me, the genre sounds samey and really bland. I can appreciate Metallica and stuff, but a lot of the more underground ones are overrated and play the same boring heavy riffs.

I liked Anacrusis though.

Coroner came from Sweden and adopted a more progressive leaning within their Thrash sound with each album taking in many more influences however their debut R.I.P is fairly standard Thrash with some nice tempo changes and some nice bass work. This is the title track and is a nice slice of the different influences that were creeping into the classic Thrash sound.

this thread is just what the doctor ordered

'C' did'nt leave me a lot of scope but there is some great artists on their way!

Death Angel were another band from the Bay Area and were American Filipino. What stood these out from the crowd was their incredible live intensity for a band so young. The drummer was unbelievably only 14 when they recorded this debut and the rest of the band were under 20! The albums production is meaty and raw and the band stuck to a heavy thrash/speed sound that showed metal influences instead of punk influences. Another debut that is hailed as a classic and the title track is a brilliant instrumental displaying all the characteristics of what Thrash Metal was about:

For a 14 year old that kid is pretty good. BTW, I got the Anacrusis album and absolutely loved it. I may even get the Coroner album too. Can't wait for the rest.

Great stuff. Anacrusis were a little different to what was going on at the time. Coroner's follow on album 'Mental Vortex' is even better than R.I.P but it is on my other PC and I have'nt had a chance to grab all the music of it yet. I'm pleased that you are digging the thread.

Death Angel must have been born with liquid thrash in their veins! I got carried away and did my knee on the desk... cheers JACK

You are young. You will survive!

You better have Ride The Lightning in here. Ten times better than Kill Em All and a million times better than the rest of the crap Metallica put out post-Black Album. Shame you can't put in a Megadeth album because of it. =p

I personally don't have much nostalgia for thrash metal (because I was unborn...chyeah) but my friends were some of the biggest metalheads ever. I discovered a bit through them, and an amount of good thrash like Death Angel.

Sweet thread, keep up the good work.

When I get to the letter 'M' it won't be either Metallica or Megadeth, that would be boring!

EXCEL-THE JOKES ON YOU (1989)

http://static.metal-archives.com/ima...7/1/8/8718.jpg

Excel's music was a sort of Thrash/Hardcore hybrid that appealed to skaters and thrashers alike. Indeed guitarist Adam Seigel joined the ranks of Infectious Grooves in the early 90's. Their music was well produced and was typical of the crossover sound at the time. The main reason I am including them is the remarkable similarity of the track 'Tapping Into The Emotional Void' with a certain famous Metallica track. Despite the Excel track being released 2 years earlier, nothing has ever gone to court although some ex-members did consider legal action in 2003. I have provided a link for the track so you can make your own mind up!

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Not similar at all!
I like the sound of this more i think, very catchy.

By the by, you don't have to put single song files in a rar file when uploading them.

So you don't think it sounds remotely like the opening track on the black album?

I'm being sarcy. I think it sounds like it with a bit flavour from the earlier albums, Metallica should have copied that bit too!

The more that is revealed about Metallica the more they fall in my estimation. Rat's droppings are currently one step higher...

If there's an album out this year i'll still be excited, though i think it may be in vain...

'88-'90-I was a massive Metallica fan. Saw them three times live and bought tons of merchandise. Looking back on the grand scheme of things-they are incredibly overated and just seemed to be the right band at the right time.

F : FORBIDDEN-FORBIDDEN EVIL


Forbidden were (yes you guessed it) a Bay Area band who produced a couple of albums in the late 80's/early 90's that had a distinct whiff of old school Metal. Seemingly taking their influences from bands such as Judas Priest and Iron Maiden and upping the ante. Vocalist Russ Anderson was never particulary strong and their music was one of the more generic sounds of the genre. Nevertheless their sound is a perfect example of how the NWOBHM greatly influenced thrash.

Give the debut a listen:

Forbidden Evil CD

I'm screwed for the letter 'G'. A few later bands are available (gorerotted, gorefest) but they are'nt really thrash. GWAR are the nearest but they were just awful lol

I remember those guys! Like a lot of thrash for me, I wasn't particularly into them on my own but my friends listened to them so they bring back fond memories for me.

Maelstrom perhaps?

Maelstrom? Nope.

Do you not like them or do you not know of them? They probably haven't aged particularly well, but they're one of the "M" bands I remember being semi-popular with people who liked thrash back in the day. At least in the area I grew up in.

Never heard them. To be honest ther was so many Thrash bands around at this time that the scene collapsed upon itself. Even now upon revisiting a few bands (some I still listen to), it is evident that many bands punched above their weight.

I just tried googling them with no luck because, guess what, there have been a crapload of bands named Maelstrom apparently. The band I'm thinking of was around in the late 80s/early 90s had a sound that was a little bit in the ballpark of Faith No More but still thrashy. I remember they also did a country cover of some Metallica song but I can't remember which one.

Ah-ha! I just found them on Rhapsody! They're more thrash/hardcore and less Faith No More than I remembered. It actually may be worth your while to check out a couple of the songs just for the hell of it. The country-fied Metallica cover they do is "For Whom the Bells Tolls" and it's still kind of amusing.

http://www.spiralfrog.com/sfimages/c...62652ligot.jpg

Thanks, I may take a look.

This needs updating. Expect a few new inclusions soon.

I am going to abandon the A-Z format and just post some great tracks and prop them up with reviews, influences etc.

http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/4...vescarsel4.jpg

Okay, a storming track from a band that were fairly derivative in the Speed Metal genre who managed to make a compotent Thrash album circa 88.
'No One Answers' has a stupendously good riff that epitomised late 80's American Thrash.

Although they've moved more into the power metal sub-genre. I love Angel Dust's 2 albums from the 80's "Into the Dark Past" and "To Dust You Will Decay".

If anyone wants a couple of great thrash albums. I recommend those two.

Sacred Reich-Surf Nicaragua



Sacred Reich were always one of the more tighter Thrash bands and this track is evident of this. There are numerous time changes and just a little showboating from the excellent drummer Greg Hall. Phil Rind also had a great distinctive voice. First album 'Ignorance' was slightly underproduced but still a great Thrash album. The Surf Nicaragua E.P contained this beauty and a solid version of Sabbath's 'War Pigs'. The American Way broke the band into the mainstream, but unfortunately thrash Metal was coming to the end of it's popularity.