--- title: "Thrash Metal" type: "MusicGenre" url: "https://themetalnet.com/genre/thrash-metal" parent: "Thrash Metal" bands: 2405 era: "early 1980s" --- # Thrash Metal **Thrash Metal** is a metal sub-genre, formative in the early 1980s. TheMetalNet maps 2,405 bands and 5,369 albums under it. Thrash metal is fast, aggressive, and precise — built on rapid downpicked, palm-muted riffs, tight double-kick drumming, and shouted, barked vocals, born in the early 1980s as a harder answer to glam. America’s Big Four (Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax) drove the Bay Area and East Coast scenes, while Germany’s Kreator, Sodom, and Destruction ran it faster and nastier. Lyrics tackle war, politics, corruption, and social decay. It is the bridge from traditional metal to the extreme genres that followed. ## Facts | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Genre | Thrash Metal | | Level | Sub-genre | | Parent genre | Thrash Metal | | Formative era | early 1980s | | Bands | 2,405 | | Albums | 5,369 | | Formation span | 1961 to 2026 | ## Notable bands (top 60 by prominence) - [Metallica](https://themetalnet.com/band/metallica) (United States, 1981) - [Megadeth](https://themetalnet.com/band/megadeth) (United States, 1983) - [Slayer](https://themetalnet.com/band/slayer) (United States, 1981) - [Anthrax](https://themetalnet.com/band/anthrax) (United States, 1981) - [Sepultura](https://themetalnet.com/band/sepultura) (Brazil, 1984) - [Machine Head](https://themetalnet.com/band/machine-head) (United States, 1991) - [Kreator](https://themetalnet.com/band/kreator) (Germany, 1982) - [Suicidal Tendencies](https://themetalnet.com/band/suicidal-tendencies) (United States, 1982) - [Testament](https://themetalnet.com/band/testament) (United States, 1983) - [Annihilator](https://themetalnet.com/band/annihilator) (Canada, 1984) - [Exodus](https://themetalnet.com/band/exodus) (United States, 1979) - [Overkill](https://themetalnet.com/band/overkill) (United States, 1980) - [Sodom](https://themetalnet.com/band/sodom) (Germany, 1981) - [The Exploited](https://themetalnet.com/band/the-exploited) (United Kingdom, 1978) - [Destruction](https://themetalnet.com/band/destruction) (Germany, 1983) - [Death Angel](https://themetalnet.com/band/death-angel) (United States, 1982) - [Prong](https://themetalnet.com/band/prong) (United States, 1986) - [Voivod](https://themetalnet.com/band/voivod) (Canada, 1982) - [Celtic Frost](https://themetalnet.com/band/celtic-frost) (Switzerland, 1984) - [GWAR](https://themetalnet.com/band/gwar) (United States, 1985) - [Municipal Waste](https://themetalnet.com/band/municipal-waste) (United States, 2000) - [Acid Drinkers](https://themetalnet.com/band/acid-drinkers) (Poland, 1986) - [Tankard](https://themetalnet.com/band/tankard) (Germany, 1982) - [Absu](https://themetalnet.com/band/absu) (United States, 1991) - [Cro‐Mags](https://themetalnet.com/band/cro-mags) (United States, 1982) - [Flotsam and Jetsam](https://themetalnet.com/band/flotsam-and-jetsam) (United States, 1984) - [Mokoma](https://themetalnet.com/band/mokoma) (Finland, 1996) - [Deströyer 666](https://themetalnet.com/band/destroyer-666) (Australia, 1994) - [Pro‐Pain](https://themetalnet.com/band/pro-pain) (United States, 1992) - [Mr. Bungle](https://themetalnet.com/band/mr-bungle) (United States, 1985) - [Nuclear Assault](https://themetalnet.com/band/nuclear-assault) (United States, 1985) - [Onslaught](https://themetalnet.com/band/onslaught) (United Kingdom, 1983) - [Toxic Holocaust](https://themetalnet.com/band/toxic-holocaust) (United States, 1999) - [Turbo](https://themetalnet.com/band/turbo) (Poland, 1980) - [Holy Moses](https://themetalnet.com/band/holy-moses) (Germany, 1980) - [KAT](https://themetalnet.com/band/kat) (Poland, 1979) - [Artillery](https://themetalnet.com/band/artillery) (Denmark, 1982) - [Dave Lombardo](https://themetalnet.com/band/dave-lombardo) (United States, 1965) - [Dew‐Scented](https://themetalnet.com/band/dew-scented) (Germany, 1992) - [Hirax](https://themetalnet.com/band/hirax) (1984) - [Legion of the Damned](https://themetalnet.com/band/legion-of-the-damned) (Netherlands, 1992) - [Mystic Prophecy](https://themetalnet.com/band/mystic-prophecy) (Germany, 2000) - [Ringworm](https://themetalnet.com/band/ringworm) (United States, 1991) - [Sylosis](https://themetalnet.com/band/sylosis) (United Kingdom, 2000) - [Coroner](https://themetalnet.com/band/coroner) (Switzerland, 1983) - [Mekong Delta](https://themetalnet.com/band/mekong-delta) (Germany, 1985) - [Razor](https://themetalnet.com/band/razor) (Canada, 1984) - [Gama Bomb](https://themetalnet.com/band/gama-bomb) (Ireland, 2002) - [Mortification](https://themetalnet.com/band/mortification) (Australia, 1990) - [Rytmihäiriö](https://themetalnet.com/band/rytmihairio) (Finland, 1988) - [Sacred Reich](https://themetalnet.com/band/sacred-reich) (United States, 1985) - [Soziedad Alkoholika](https://themetalnet.com/band/soziedad-alkoholika) (1988) - [Darkane](https://themetalnet.com/band/darkane) (Sweden, 1998) - [Deceased](https://themetalnet.com/band/deceased) (United States, 1984) - [Forbidden](https://themetalnet.com/band/forbidden) (United States, 1985) - [Tourniquet](https://themetalnet.com/band/tourniquet) (United States, 1990) - [Witchery](https://themetalnet.com/band/witchery) (Sweden, 1997) - [Angel Dust](https://themetalnet.com/band/angel-dust) (1984) - [Carnal Forge](https://themetalnet.com/band/carnal-forge) (Sweden, 1997) - [Dr. Know](https://themetalnet.com/band/dr-know) (United States, 1981) ## Where it is played - [United States](https://themetalnet.com/country/us): 396 bands - [Germany](https://themetalnet.com/country/de): 182 bands - [Sweden](https://themetalnet.com/country/se): 91 bands - [Brazil](https://themetalnet.com/country/br): 83 bands - [United Kingdom](https://themetalnet.com/country/gb): 75 bands - [Finland](https://themetalnet.com/country/fi): 61 bands - [Argentina](https://themetalnet.com/country/ar): 57 bands - [Canada](https://themetalnet.com/country/ca): 55 bands ## Bands formed by decade | Decade | Bands formed | | --- | --- | | 1960s | 28 | | 1970s | 11 | | 1980s | 487 | | 1990s | 390 | | 2000s | 545 | | 2010s | 475 | | 2020s | 118 | --- Source: [TheMetalNet https://themetalnet.com/genre/thrash-metal](https://themetalnet.com/genre/thrash-metal). Catalog data from MusicBrainz and Metal Archives. Full site index: https://themetalnet.com/llms.txt