Thrash metal

Thrash metal is a more aggressive subgenre of traditional heavy metal specifically characterized by heavy metal-like rhythms extreme, NWOBHM, speed metal, and hardcore punk in aggressiveness and forcefulness.

Songs in the genre often use fast percussion and low-register guitar riffs, which are also fast and cutting. The lyrics of thrash metal songs often deal with social problems, often with direct language and denunciation. It was one of the first subgenres of heavy metal to appear, being the song Stone Cold Crazy by Queen a referential piece for the future sound of thrash metal published in 1974. form, thrash metal is the basis and the greatest influence on extreme metal, which includes mainly death metal and black metal; in addition to having an important development (along with speed metal) in power metal, although this style took the music in a more melodic way. The genre has also peculiarly influenced other subgenres such as metalcore, this is demonstrated by bands like Trivium, Unearth or Chimaira as some of the most popular examples. It is worth noting the importance in the creation and evolution of the genre of the original bands better known as The Big Four of thrash metal, which are considered the most representative and in a foundational order.

Musical Traits

Thrash metal in general is characterized by the use of fast tempos, more aggressive guitar riffs and greater use of palm muting >, solos quite fast but with many notes that escape the tonality, giving it a characteristic sound, quite pronounced bass sounds inherited from the NWOBHM. Something very special in the style is the drums where pedal and bass drum alternate at speeds above 180 bpm, while it also uses double pedal or double bass drum and aggressive voices but without going to the extreme of heavier styles such as black metal, perhaps the fast and aggressive speed is more inherited from hardcore punk however thrash acquires more technique when it comes to execution.

Most thrash guitar solos are played at high speed, as they are characterized by fragmentation, and usage techniques, such as sweep picking, legato phrasing, two-hand tapping, trill, and tremolo lever. thrash metal guitarists are generally and completely influenced by the NWOBHM.

Speed, rhythm and time changes also define thrash metal. Thrash tends to have a fast-paced feel which may be due in large part to its aggressive drumming style, a cross between NWOBHM drumming and hardcore punk. For example, thrash drummers often use two bass drums, or a double pedal, in order to create a rather raw, accelerated and powerful sound.

To keep up with the other instruments, many thrash bassists often use a pick. However, some prominent thrash metal bassists use their fingers, such as Frank Bello, Greg Christian, Robert Trujillo, Jack Gibson, Steve DiGiorgio and Cliff Burton. Several bassists use a distorted bass tone, an approach popularized by Motörhead's Lemmy, Tom Araya (Slayer), David Ellefson (Megadeth), Cliff Burton and Jason Newsted (Metallica), among others.

The lyrics of thrash metal songs often address sociopolitical themes such as repression, social inequality and exploitation, environmental degradation, euthanasia, executions, nuclear war, political and religious corruption, surveillance, innovation Uncontrolled technology and war. Humor and irony can sometimes be found, but they are limited, and are the exception rather than the rule. The vast majority of the bands that handle these themes are of the crossover thrash style.

History

Origin and influences

thrash metal arose in the early 1980s from speed metal, and under the influence of the new wave of heavy metal British (NWOBHM), also incorporating the aggression and energy of what was known as hardcore punk on the American scene. The movement began in the United States, especially in the San Francisco Bay area, in what became known, later, as Bay Area thrash metal. The sound developed by the groups "thrash" it was faster and more aggressive, increasing the distortion of the electric guitars and using the technique of scratching ('scratching', with the pick).

Those considered as creators of this form of metal are the group Metallica with the song Hit the Lights (contained in their demo "Power Metal" from April 1982) which is considered as the first song of Thrash.

In Latin America this genre also gained a lot of strength in the mid and especially late 80s, some relevant bands of the genre are: V8 with their debut albums "demo 1982" and "fighting for metal", or Bloke from Argentina, Leprosy in Mexico, and Massakre in Chile.

Metallica is considered creator of thrash metal with his theme Hit the Lights.

"Stone Cold Crazy" by the English band Queen, included on their third album, Sheer Heart Attack from 1974, is considered an influence on thrash metal. According to the band members themselves, this song was slower at first and was one of the first songs to be played by the band in its early days. Similarly, it has been considered that the theme "Symptom of the Universe" by Black Sabbath, corresponding to the 1975 album Sabotage, has been influential within thrash metal, it was a direct inspiration for Diamond Head's pioneering song "Am I Evil?". It was also covered by bands as Grave.

That same year, the song "Parasite", composed by Ace Frehley from the Kiss album Hotter Than Hell, also proved to be ahead of its time, being immortalized by Anthrax on the video Live Noize.

The English band Iron Maiden is cited by various thrash musicians as one of the main influences.

Void represented one of the earliest examples of hardcore/heavy metal crossover, whose chaotic musical approach is often cited as particularly influential. His 1982 LP with Washington band The Faith featured both bands exhibiting up-tempo punk rock.

Since its inception, thrash metal has been considered the answer of the hardest metalheads against the more commercial metal of the 1980s, especially glam metal bands. i> like Mötley Crüe, Ratt and Twisted Sister, which underground groups accused of having sold heavy metal to the mass media just to gain fame and popularity, which is why they were called posers, hair bands or also light metal. It has been mentioned that thrash metal developed as a reaction against Reagan-era conservatism.

The year 1981 is considered a "critical" for this genre, several ideas can be appreciated that would be incorporated into thrash metal, including among these the riff of the song "Saints in Hell" or the structure of the song "White Heat, Red Hot" by the English band Judas Priest, as well as the live version of "Tyrant" on the 1979 album Unleashed in the East, which has elements close to the concept of thrash.

The demo Red Skies by the Metal Church group, from the end of 1981 also represented an approach to what would later become Thrash. It was an instrumental demo with a marked influence from the first time Iron Maiden.

The first band to materialize the typical sound of the style was Metallica, appearing on the scene with the Power Metal demos in April 1982, followed by No Life ' til Leather in July 1982 and their first studio album, Kill 'Em All (Megaforce records) in July 1983 featuring James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Cliff Burton and Kirk Hammett. This is the record that lays the foundations of thrash metal; loaded with speed and overwhelming guitar solos, raw, eclectic and that did not pose compromises with anything or anyone since it was a musical genre developing freely. They were immediately a decisive influence for bands like Slayer or Exodus, leading both to an even more aggressive sound.

Megadeth used the style thrash metal and developed it widely in their sound productions.

Later in 1985 the band Overkill released their debut album, Feel the Fire, and Slayer did the same with their pivotal EP Haunting the Chapel in 1984, which featured the song "Chemical Warfare". These events led to the formation of a darker and harder thrash, like the one that can be seen on the Exodus album, Bonded by Blood, or the one by Slayer, Hell Awaits, both from 1985. This year Artillery also debuted with Fear of Tomorrow, Hirax with Raging Violence and Megadeth, the band of former Metallica guitarist Dave Mustaine, with Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!.

Metallica also released their second studio album in 1984, Ride the Lightning, where they laid the foundations for the evolution to a darker and more refined style, moving away from the first loud and untidy thrash of Kill & #39;Em All. But it is in 1986 when thrash reached its highest point, when several albums came to light, to highlight a few; Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?, Reign in Blood, Darkness Descends, Obsessed By Cruelty, Pleasure to Kill, Zombie Attack, Queen of Siam, Game Over, Eternal Devastation and Master of Puppets, becoming considered the "world metal year".

Metallica's Master of Puppets is considered the most important work of thrash metal in general for its influence and the development of the genre. Being along with Rust in Peace, Reign In Blood and Among The Living the four albums that earned Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax respectively the nickname of The Big Four of thrash metal.

The term "thrash metal" was first used in the music press by the Kerrang! While the magazine journalist Malcolm Dome made reference to one of the "Big Four", Anthrax, and their song "Metal Thrashing Mad".

Style development

Thrash developed in the late 1980s, influencing other subgenres and bands like Possessed. Possessed is one of the first bands that developed the musical genre called death metal and released a demo in 1984 with a darker and underground thrash metal. One of the first examples of this musical genre are the classics Seven Churches by said band and Bestial Devastation by the group Sepultura, both from 1985. Also from that same year is the debut of the standard Italian thrash band: Bulldozer with their album The Day of Wrath. The Watchtower group's album, Energetic Disassembly (1985) set new standards for the technical composition (later to be called progressive metal), influenced by the jazz that bands had already taken up. such as Megadeth, which was later developed by the Coroner group or technical death metal bands such as Atheist or Cynic, as well as the works of the 90s by the group Death. It is also worth noting the important scene in Brazil in the evolution of the genre, the most representative bands were Sepultura, Sarcófago, Korzus and Expulser.

There were also groups like the Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, Suicidal Tendencies and S.O.D. that added even more hardcore punk influences to traditional thrash, creating the so-called crossover thrash, which would be a basis for the appearance of metalcore and groove metal in the 1990s.

Special attention deserves the thrash developed in Germany, quite fast and aggressive compared to some of its North American counterparts. Bands like Sodom and Destruction present a quite dark and evil proposal, which would serve as inspiration for the later black metal; also quite prominent are the "brewers" Tankard and the group Kreator, who with their first works showed that they crossed the line of thrash metal with a harder and more intense sound, thus inspiring the later creation of death metal. We will also highlight from German thrash metal to Deathrow, a group that evolved into a very technical thrash.

In 1988 the genre was saturated with many bands. This fact did not influence the time that several later albums were considered "classics". Forbidden, a group that appeared relatively late on the Bay Area scene debuted with the critically acclaimed track "Forbidden Evil". Testament was also a very important band that made an incredible debut with their album The Legacy in 1987, and their subsequent albums The New Order and Practice What You Preach consecrated Testament to the point of being placed next to the big four of thrash metal. Nor can we forget the contributions of some bands, such as Atrophy or Sacred Reich, which although they were not so successful, helped the scene at the time.

The band Vio-lence, for example, debuted with their acclaimed album Eternal Nightmare which also had a clear thrash metal influence. Sadus was also an important band, debuting with their album Illusions (Chemical Exposure), which had a completely different sound from other bands, as it combined thrash metal with death metal and progressive metal. Annihilator, a Canadian band, debuted in 1989 with their album Alice in Hell.

In the same way, the genre was also filled with groups that did not contribute anything to the sound of the musical genre, that is, they did not make it evolve. In the 1990s, this fact and the appearance of the new musical genre grunge meant that record companies were no longer interested in music of this genre until little by little it was almost forgotten.

Resurgence

Starting in 2000, thrash metal began to gain a bit of strength, after being forgotten and neglected in the 1990s. Bands that had distanced themselves from the genre began to release thrash metal albums like Kreator with Violent Revolution, Sodom with M-16 released in 2001 or Destruction with All Hell Breaks Loose, released in 2000. Recently more bands started releasing thrash metal albums like Megadeth with Endgame, Death Angel with Killing Season, Exodus with Exhibit B: The Human Condition, Testament with The Formation of Damnation, Overkill with Ironbound, Slayer with Christ Illusion or Anthrax with Worship Music.

Gangs that broke up in the 1990s reunited, such as Heathen, Nuclear Assault, Hirax, Toxik, among others. What helped a complete revival of thrash metal, is a movement that some call Revival thrash metal, which is the appearance of new bands like Violator, Evile, Warbringer, Kraptor, Municipal Waste, Toxic Holocaust, The Force, Crisix, Angelus Apatrida, Drunked, Havok among many others; mostly they want to revive the thrash sound of the 1980s.

Regional scenes

Like many musical genres, thrash has its own regionally based scenes, each of which has a slightly different sound:

• Bay Area thrash metal: located in the San Francisco Bay Area, this thrash characterised by being the most progressive and technical trend, being very influenced by the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Slayer, Testament, Exodus, Dark Angel,Metallic, Vio-Lence and Megadeth were the most prominent bands in the region.

• East Coast thrash metal: groups of this scene centered in New York tend to have an important influence of punk and hardcore usually put more emphasis on aggression and speed than on technicalism (although not in the case of bands like Toxik). Anthrax, Nuclear Assault, Overkill and Whiplash, as well as groupings crossover S.O.D., Method of Destruction and Agnostic Front, were some of the most prominent bands in the scene of the thrash East Coast.

• Teutonic terror: the bands belonging to the german areas and close to Germany had a great popularity in the 1980s, bands like Kreator, Sodom, Destruction, Tankard, considered the four grand of the thrash German, in addition to Holy Moses, Living Death, Exumer, Iron Angel, Angel Dust, Coroner, among others; they were characterized by a more crude sound and a darker theme. The thrash German is, together with the Brazilian, the closest to genres such as death metal.

• Brazilian thrash metal: from the classic scenes thrash, the Brazilian scene stands out for being the closest to death metalwith much similarity to teutonic thrash metal in terms of themes and sound; it includes bands such as Sepultura, Sarcofago, Mutilator, Vulcan or Violator.

• Thrash Metal Argentinian: founded by the legendary band V8, its main exponents are Hermetics, Horcas, Logos, Crazy Train, Lethal and Malón to name the most emblematic of the genre.

• American thrash metal: Perhaps one of the largest in the 1980s and today, although now there is not as much difference between the two coasts, we find bands like Municipal Waste, Havok, Warbringer, Drunked (Also Mexican descent), Toxic Holocaust, among others.

• European thrash metal: belongs to Europe, to this movement belong the rest of bands outside of Theutonic terror, areas such as England, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Scotland, Poland, Finland, Sweden, Norway or France among many other countries. Includes bands such as Angelus Apatrida, Cancer, Evile, Ktulu, Witchery, Decadence, Crisix or Strikeback, among others.