Not all music lasts forever. Psychedelia, Electro-Pop, Bitpop, Disco, Nu-metal, Pop Punk. All were huge mainstream success, but didn’t survive for long, mostly not beyond their decade.
Thrash metal emerged in the 1980s to huge success, but by the 1990s had all but disappeared. Normally this would mean the end of an era, but thrash made a welcome comeback by the end of the noughties.
How did this genre survive where so many have not?
The Origin of Thrash Metal
There is much debate over the exact origin on heavy metal music. For me, the formation of 3 bands in 1968 – Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, and in Judas Priest in 1969 that really began it all.
Metal has never been the major part of the mainstream. It has never been the most popular music to hit the charts. But it has always had a big underground following, and often had chart success throughout it’s history. Not so much in the 60s, when metal was often derided by critics.
However in the 70s, Judas Priest and Motorhead finessed their metal style, and by the end of the decade we had Iron Maiden and Saxon and heavy metal had defined it’s identity.
Metal really hit the mainstream and underground scene hard in the 80s. Glam metal (or hair metal if you prefer) took the mainstream limelight. Van Halen, Motley Crue, Twisted Sister, Poison. All the massive hair you could shake a can of hairspray at.
But not all metal fans appreciated this. Glam was very much about the show as much as the music. Where is the music that the disenfranchised youth wanted to hear? Something new needed to arrive to fill this void. Something to escape from the huge perms, bright colours and catsuits.
Thrash Metal Has Arrived
In the underground, the thrash Big 4 emerged in the US (Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax), and the Teutonic 4 from Germany (Sodom, Kreator, Tankard, Destructor).
Thrash metal set standards for which much of metal today is defined. It took the pace of power and speed metal, added in aggressive, anti establishment vocals from the hardcore punk scene and turned it all up to 11.
All the qualities missing from glam were here. No over indulgence or focus on image. Fast paced short songs. But retaining the technical, ‘shredding’ nature of the guitar work rooted in heavy metal.
Check out Metallica below from 1985, and one of metal’s greatest basslines (RIP Cliff Burton).
The big 4 also had their own distinct style which sparked many sub-genres. Metallica set the standard, with speed and aggression and James Hetfield‘s signature relentlessly tight down picked rhythm. Megadeth took a much more technical approach, with the unique playing style of Marty Friedman advancing the progressive side of metal.
Slayer took a much darker approach, in both song writing and lyrical style which set off more extreme genres of metal. Being from New York (the rest were from the Bay Area) Anthrax had much more of a hardcore influence. They also had a much more classical metal style vocalist in Joey Belladonna, differentiating them from the other three.
1986 was the pinnacle year for thrash metal. Two of the biggest thrash albums (and biggest metal albums of all time) were released in Metallica‘s Master of Puppets and Slayer‘s Reign in Blood.
By 1990 Megadeth had released Rust in Peace, the gold standard for technical precision and innovation and there was an inordinate amount of quality thrash music about. One of metals greatest solos below.
However there was a defining period of time for the future of thrash metal, and heavy metal in general. The release of two albums in 1991.
A Musical Shift and The Decline
We hit 1991 and the release of one of metals biggest albums. Metallica‘s self entitled album, commonly called The Black Album. This album was a sharp change in style for Metallica, reverting to a mid paced radio friendly ‘classic metal’ sound, rather than the fast paced thrash sound.
As a result of this, the other thrash metal bands either followed suit or disappeared altogether. Megadeth‘s Countdown to Extinction released in 1992 followed the same pattern as The Black Album and was very successful. Kreator were really the only band to return to their roots, with 2001’s excellent Violent Revolution.
However the bigger problem for heavy metal in general was the rise of grunge and other alternative rock music. In particular the unexpected monumental success of Nirvana‘s third album Nevermind. Not only was this album a huge commercial success (and has since sold over 30 million copies), it influenced an entire cultural phenomenon.
The simplified power chord hook heavy approach was a stark contrast to the technical nature of thrash metal. Lyrically, themes of isolation, self reflection, oppression, guilt and betrayal are very similar to that found in metal (thrash metal covering many of themes too). Angst ridden youth wanting to find music to identify with, who may have turned to thrash metal, now had grunge to fill that void.
Metallica further aided this shift by changing to a hard rock/grunge sound on the Load and Reload albums released in 1996 and 1997. Whilst heavily derided by their long time fans (who were already pissed off at the direction their eponymous album took), the singles from these albums got a huge amount of commercial airtime.
Bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains dominated where metal once did. See below for how drastically Metallica‘s sound changed.
The Rise of Nu-Metal
During this time, metal made a sharp turn in style due to the meteoric rise of Korn. This spawned the birth of nu-metal, and within an extremely short time there were more nu-metal bands than you could possibly remember.
Their relatively simple, syncopated rhythm patterns, mixed with heavily down-tuned guitars is very much the antithesis of thrash metal. Because of this, and mixed with hip-hop influence, nu-metal ruled the charts. Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst was a genuine pop megastar, Kid Rock was forever in the limelight, and Linkin Park released one of metal’s biggest selling albums in Hybrid Theory.
One notable exception to the rule in the USA was the Florida death metal scene, which hit notoriety in the 90s. Bands such as Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and Deicide made waves for their ultra aggressive approach, taking over where thrash metal had waned. Famously reaching a peak with the inclusion of Hammer Smashed Face in Ace Ventura. However the overly extreme nature of this music is always destined to remain part of the underground scene.
By the end of the decade pop punk, grunge and nu-metal dominated the charts. Thrash metal had all but vanished. Normally this is the time in which a genre of music would have run its course and disappear (see hair metal), or would evolve (like speed metal evolving into power metal).
To a degree thrash metal did evolve. In the underground scene, death metal took heavy influence from thrash bands like Slayer, and metalcore took influence from the riff heavy hooks of thrash. But thrash in its rawest form was all but gone.
A Triumphant Return
However in 2008 thrash metal made a triumphant return to the headlines by the release of Death Magnetic by Metallica. After the 90s alt-rock years, and 2003 highly divisive St Anger (was it really deserving of its hate?), Metallica had finally released a thrash album again. Not trying to take some evolved metalcore hybrid approach, this was proper thrash metal.
Then in 2009 Slayer released World Painted Blood and Megadeth released Endgame. Again both of these albums took them back to their thrash metal roots. Like rediscovering an artform lost to the realms of time, the big 4 remembered how to write an album that powered their youth. I do wonder however, would it not have been for Metallica‘s meteoric rise with the The Black Album, would any of these bands have survived long enough to be relevant by 2009? Who knows, maybe even the most stout OG Metallica fan can be thankful to that eponymous album for that at least.
See below the notable change in Slayer‘s style back to thrash.
The Legacy and The Future
From this, there has been a wave of new thrash bands coming to life in the 2010s and beyond. Bands like Warbringer, Power Trip (RIP Riley Gale), Evile, Alien Weaponry and Havok are all playing traditional thrash metal. The fact that young bands are playing in the classical thrash metal style shows the rebirth of the genre.
So why did thrash metal make a return where so many others have not?
Thrash metal had a very big underground following in its inception, and grew in many different forms on both sides of the pond. It rose to it’s initial prominence sticking to its core principles, and built a loyal fanbase.
Not pretty to look at, there were no posers, no pretty frontmen for magazine covers or MTV. It was simply talented musicians throwing themselves into their music. There is no cringe factor to be ashamed of when the young fans grow up. No emphasis on fashion which looks heavily outdated when the decade is through. No cultural movement which moves on.
It feels very much like the punk rock movement in the 1970s. Youth wanting a raw, anti-establishment style of music to fall behind. An escape from reality. However punk was very much a cultural rebellion as it was music. Punk eventually evolved into hardcore and pop-punk as times moved on.
Thrash has first and foremost always been about the music. There is always a connection to thrash metal which can be appreciated by those that listen to music and those that play music. Young, old it doesn’t matter.
Thrash is and always has been great to watch live, which is a fundamental part of music holding a loyal fan base. The energy and life it breathes into the crowd will always get a reaction.
For these reasons thrash metal has endured a decline where other genres have died or been forced to evolve.
Thrash is still here, and long may it continue!
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