This is a subgenre of metal music that originated in the early 1980s. It combines the speed and aggression of hardcore punk with the intensity and complexity of heavy metal.
Thrash songs are usually very fast, with tempos around 200 beats per minute (bpm), but they can vary from slow to mid-tempo. Thrash uses distorted guitars, an aggressive vocal style and dense harmony vocals or chanting to create a noisy sound.
The origin of thrash is often attributed to Metallica’s 1983 album Kill ‘Em All, which helped define the genre by combining elements from punk rock, hardcore punk and speed metal into one new style
The term “thrash” was coined by guitarist Jeff Hanneman in reference to his guitar playing technique. In an interview, he said: “I just call it ‘thrash’ because that’s what we’re doing…we’re just thrashing away on these riffs”.
Notable Artists
There are many notable thrash metal artists. Some of the most famous include:
Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer.
Exodus and Testament also deserve a mention in this list of great thrash metal bands.
Thrash Metal Festivals
There are a number of large festivals that cater to this genre, including:
Wacken Open Air, Germany
Hellfest, France
Rock am Ring and Rock im Park (the latter held at the same time as Wacken), Germany
Graspop Metal Meeting, Belgium
Bloodstock Open Air, England
Thrash Metal in Film and Television
In film and television, thrash metal has been used in a number of films.
The most notable example is the documentary Some Kind of Monster, which was released in 2004. The film follows Metallica during the making of their album St. Anger and its subsequent tour.
In addition to this documentary, there are several other examples that you may be familiar with:
Airheads (1994) stars Steve Buscemi as an aspiring guitarist who joins a band called “The Lone Rangers”;
Dazed and Confused (1993) features Matthew McConaughey’s character performing a solo on stage at his high school’s graduation party;
The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988) documents Los Angeles’ underground music scene from 1982-1986;
Heavy Metal Parking Lot (1986) features fans waiting outside for tickets to see Judas Priest perform live at the Capital Center arena in Landover Maryland on October 22nd 1986
The Metal Awards
The Thrash Metal Awards is an annual awards show that honors the best in thrash metal music. It was created by VH1 in 2003, but has since been discontinued.
The Golden Gods Awards are presented annually by Metal Hammer magazine to honor musicians in the heavy metal music genre. They were first awarded in 1989 and have been held every year since then except for 2006 (when they were canceled).
Kerrang! Awards are given out annually by British rock magazine Kerrang! to honor artists in various categories such as “Best Album”, “Best Live Band” etc., with winners decided by a panel of judges rather than readers’ votes like many other publications do.
It was established in 1993 as an alternative to other mainstream music awards ceremonies such as Brits or Grammys which tend not to recognize heavy metal bands at all; however there has been some crossover between these two events over time – most notably when Metallica won Best International Group at both events back-to-back during their Black Album era (1990-1992).
