For quite some time now, true thrash metal has been almost non-existent. In parts of the country, in the underground scenes, and even in the mainstream, more bands are bringing it back. From the big Thrash bands back in the day (Sepultura, Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer, Exodus, Overkill, Kreator, etc.), few are still active AND still making thrash metal. While thinking about thrash metal without the legends who made the genre what it is makes metalheads sad, there is still a lot to look forward to.
If you look around on MySpace music through the “Thrash” genre tag you will find many things, most of which are not thrash. Some things that aren’t even metal. If you look deep enough, there is some good old thrash metal to be found. Most of these bands were either around in the 80’s, or are made up of teenagers who look and act like they were teens in the 80’s. Fatal, Ravage, Evil Army, and Razormaze are just a few of the up-and-coming young thrash bands out there. It’s not just the new guys, either. Slayer is still going strong, Metallica’s Death Magnetic was clearly turning more toward their old school sound, and Kreator just started a summer tour with Exodus – all well known bands in the thrash scene from the 80’s.
Given all the changes going on in metal, perhaps the resurgence of traditional thrash is the largest. Instead of bands like Shadows Fall, Chimaira, and Unearth adding the “trash” tag onto their music, real thrash bands are taking it back. A lot of more mainstream bands have been trying to bring the thrash sound to their band, like Bullet for my Valentine, Machine Head, and Trivium. Tough to say where it goes from here, but it seems as though thrash will soon be back again, and in a big way.
(disclaimer: I did not make the image above, nor am I taking credit for it – here is where I found it)
The Heaviest Matter of the Universe 
Anyone who writes an entire article about thrash is a person I want to keep track of. Glad to see someone else flying the flag high. What happened to your Twitter account. I just noticed your account is deleted. Did you get banned or did you delete it? Either way it might make for a good article for this blog.
I’ve been a fan of metal my whole life. It all started with my dads Sabbath albums as a small kid in the 70’s. It progressed from Sabbath to AC/DC, Motorhead to..Maiden, Priest, Venom..you know the routine.
My life changed in 1983 with Metallica’s Kill Em All. Through tape trading I heard their demo..but it wasn’t until Kill Em All was released that I really took notice. That was THE shit! Me & my friends needed more. Then Ride The Lightning came out &..HOLY SHIT!
In 84 I saw them live for the first time at the Moore Theater in Seattle WA. Armored Saint opened the show. Metallica however blew our fucking minds.
That was the start of my Thrash addiction. It hadn’t received the term yet..but all my favorite bands soon fell into that sub genre of metal. I bought all the albums..saw damn near all the bands. If they played Seattle in the 80’s & 90’s..I more than likely saw them. The list would cover most of the bands on that pic up there.
Thrash & the more extreme sub genres of metal have been back in the mainstream & doing pretty well for awhile now. Resurgence indeed.
I agree..it is hard to say where its going from here exactly. “Real” Thrash has been done & redone.
The interesting thing will be..where can a sub genre like Thrash go? Can it progress & grow without getting a “BULLSHIT! THAT’S NOT REAL THRASH” attitude from fans?
Change is not welcome in certain genres…Thrash & Death metal are hard genres to move forward with. The pigeonholing of bands into small sub genres was a sad thing from the get go.
Ok..I’m going to shut my piehole now. Sorry if this is a bit of a sloppy comment. I have had a few & need sleep.
Oh..by the way..I found your blog through you unfollowing me on Twitter. No hard feelings on that what so ever. Just thought I would point out that apparently unfollowing can bring someone in your direction as much as a follow. Haha.
Take it easy man. Nice blog!
Thanks for reading!
I want to comment on the part about the evolution of Thrash. I’m not opposed to evolution within the genre, but too many people have a too broad view of what Thrash is. Bands like Shadows Fall and the most recent Throwdown album are on the outer fringes of Thrash. Without the roots of a genre in tact, is it really part of that genre? I mean, you can progress as far as the roots of the genre will allow, but once you have ousted the core genre requirements, you’re onto something entirely different. Such is the case in eary death metal. It came from Thrash mostly, but once they lost the key rhythms and sound, it became death metal.
Thrash-tastic article! You can listen to 100% pure fuckin thrash metal on ThrashoholicA Radio with Unkle Thrash and DJ Shredder every friday night on http://www.wvkr.org at 11pm PDT.