--- title: "Thrash Metal" type: "MusicGenre" url: "https://themetalnet.com/genre/thrash" bands: 2765 era: "early 1980s" --- # Thrash Metal **Thrash Metal** is a metal genre, formative in the early 1980s. TheMetalNet maps 2,765 bands and 6,151 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 | Macro genre | | Formative era | early 1980s | | Bands | 2,765 | | Albums | 6,151 | | Formation span | 1961 to 2026 | ## Sub-genres - [Thrash Metal](https://themetalnet.com/genre/thrash-metal) (2,405 bands) - [Technical Thrash Metal](https://themetalnet.com/genre/technical-thrash) (14 bands) - [Crossover Thrash Metal](https://themetalnet.com/genre/crossover-thrash) (148 bands) - [Groove Metal](https://themetalnet.com/genre/groove-metal) (423 bands) ## Notable bands (top 60 by prominence) - [Metallica](https://themetalnet.com/band/metallica) (United States, 1981) - [Megadeth](https://themetalnet.com/band/megadeth) (United States, 1983) - [Pantera](https://themetalnet.com/band/pantera) (1982) - [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) - [Soulfly](https://themetalnet.com/band/soulfly) (United States, 1997) - [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) - [Agnostic Front](https://themetalnet.com/band/agnostic-front) (United States, 1981) - [Corrosion of Conformity](https://themetalnet.com/band/corrosion-of-conformity) (United States, 1982) - [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) - [DevilDriver](https://themetalnet.com/band/devildriver) (United States, 2003) - [The Haunted](https://themetalnet.com/band/the-haunted) (Sweden, 1996) - [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) - [Ektomorf](https://themetalnet.com/band/ektomorf) (Hungary, 1994) - [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) - [Body Count](https://themetalnet.com/band/body-count) (United States, 1989) - [Stam1na](https://themetalnet.com/band/stam1na) (Finland, 1996) - [Tankard](https://themetalnet.com/band/tankard) (Germany, 1982) - [Absu](https://themetalnet.com/band/absu) (United States, 1991) - [Chimaira](https://themetalnet.com/band/chimaira) (United States, 1998) - [Cro‐Mags](https://themetalnet.com/band/cro-mags) (United States, 1982) - [D.R.I.](https://themetalnet.com/band/d-r-i) (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) - [Dagoba](https://themetalnet.com/band/dagoba) (France, 1997) - [Dry Kill Logic](https://themetalnet.com/band/dry-kill-logic) (United States, 1995) - [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) - [Thundercat](https://themetalnet.com/band/thundercat) (United States, 1984) - [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) - [Ratos de Porão](https://themetalnet.com/band/ratos-de-porao) (1980) - [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) - [Total Chaos](https://themetalnet.com/band/total-chaos) (United States, 1989) ## Where it is played - [United States](https://themetalnet.com/country/us): 463 bands - [Germany](https://themetalnet.com/country/de): 194 bands - [Sweden](https://themetalnet.com/country/se): 96 bands - [Brazil](https://themetalnet.com/country/br): 91 bands - [United Kingdom](https://themetalnet.com/country/gb): 84 bands - [Argentina](https://themetalnet.com/country/ar): 79 bands - [Finland](https://themetalnet.com/country/fi): 68 bands - [Canada](https://themetalnet.com/country/ca): 59 bands ## Bands formed by decade | Decade | Bands formed | | --- | --- | | 1960s | 30 | | 1970s | 12 | | 1980s | 506 | | 1990s | 443 | | 2000s | 602 | | 2010s | 583 | | 2020s | 154 | --- Source: [TheMetalNet https://themetalnet.com/genre/thrash](https://themetalnet.com/genre/thrash). Catalog data from MusicBrainz and Metal Archives. Full site index: https://themetalnet.com/llms.txt