List of thrash metal bands

Various bands have played thrash metal at some point of their career. The genre evolved in the early 1980s from combining the drum beats of hardcore punk with the guitar style of the new wave of British heavy metal.^[2] It emerged partially as a reaction to the more conventional and widely acceptable glam metal, a less aggressive, pop music-infused heavy metal subgenre which appeared simultaneously.^[3]

Four American bands, Anthrax, Megadeth, Metallica, and Slayer, are credited with popularizing the genre, earning them the title of the "Big Four of Thrash".^[4]^[5] In Germany, Destruction, Kreator, Sodom, and Tankard, led the Teutonic thrash metal scene, garnering the nickname "The Big Four of Teutonic Thrash".^[6]^[7] The Clash of the Titans tour, which featured Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, Testament, and Suicidal Tendencies, is considered to be the genre's pinnacle, after which thrash metal saw a decline in popularity throughout the 1990s.^[8] Thrash metal has seen a resurgence in recent times, with many of the older bands returning to their roots with their new releases.^[9] A new generation of thrash metal bands emerged in the early 2000s, drawing lyrical and visual inspiration from the older groups.^[10]^[11]

Thrash metal was an inspiration for later extreme genres such as death metal and black metal. This list also includes certain bands which belong to the first wave of black metal. These bands essentially played thrash metal with a heavy emphasis on Satanic and occult themes in the lyrics and imagery.^[12] Over the years, thrash metal has developed a few subgenres of its own, such as crossover thrash and groove metal.^[13]

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Band	Formed	Origin	Note
Acid Drinkers	1986	Poland	^[14]	Tomasz "Titus" Pukacki of Acid Drinkers
Acid Reign	1985	United Kingdom	^[15]
Aftermath	1985	United States	^[16]
Agent Steel	1984	United States	^[17]
Am I Blood	1992	Finland	^[18]
Anacrusis	1986	United States	^[19]
Angel Dust	1984	Germany	^[20]
Angel of Sodom	2009	Finland	^[21]
Angelus Apatrida	2000	Spain	^[22]
Angkor Wat	1986	United States	^[23]
A.N.I.M.A.L.	1993	Argentina	^[24]
Annihilator	1984	Canada	^[25]	Jeff Waters and Dave Padden of Annihilator at Wacken Open Air, 2013
Anthrax	1981	United States	^[26]	Anthrax at Wacken Open Air, 2013
Artillery	1982	Denmark	^[27]	Artillery, 2010
Atomkraft	1979	United Kingdom	^[28]
Atrophy	1986	United States	^[29]
Aura Noir	1993	Norway	^[30]	Aura Noir at Inferno Festival, Oslo, 2011
Austrian Death Machine	2008	United States	^[31]

Band	Formed	Origin	Note
Bathory	1983	Sweden	^[32]
Battlecross	2003	United States	^[33]	Battlecross at Rock im Park festival, 2014
Believer	1986	United States	^[34]
Bio-Cancer	2010	Greece	^[35]
Black Obelisk (Russian: Чёрный обелиск)	1986	Russia	^[36]
Blind Illusion	1979	United States	^[37]
Blood Feast	1985	United States	^[38]
Blood Tsunami	2004	Norway	^[39]	Pete Evil of Blood Tsunami, London, 2007
Body Count	1990	United States	^[40]	Ice-T with Body Count, Prague, 2006
Bonded by Blood	2005	United States	^[41]
Brotality	2016	United States	^[42]
Bulldozer	1980	Italy	^[43]	Alberto Contini of Bulldozer at Tuska Open Air, 2011
Bullet for My Valentine	1998	United Kingdom	^[44]

Band	Formed	Origin	Note
Carnal Forge	1997	Sweden	^[45]	Carnal Forge, 2009
Carnivore	1982	United States	^[46]	Carnivore at Wacken Open Air, 2006
Celtic Frost	1984	Switzerland	^[47]	Celtic Frost at Tuska Open Air, 2006
Cerebral Fix	1986	United Kingdom	^[48]
Channel Zero	1990	Belgium	^[49]
Coroner	1983	Switzerland	^[50]
Crash	1991	South Korea	^[51]
Criminal	1991	Chile	^[52]	Anton Reisenegger of Criminal, live in 2013.
Cripper	2005	Germany	^[53]
Crumbsuckers	1982	United States	^[54]	Crumbsuckers album rehearsal, 1989
Cryptic Shift	2013	United Kingdom	^[55]
Cryptic Slaughter	1984	United States	^[56]
Cyclone Temple	1989	United States	^[57]

Band	Formed	Origin	Note
Darkane	1998	Sweden	^[58]	Darkane lineup
Dark Angel	1981	United States	^[59]	Ron Rinehart of Dark Angel, 2014
Dead Brain Cells	1986	Canada	^[60]
Death Angel	1982	United States	^[61]	Death Angel at Sauna Open Air, Tampere, Finland, 2010
Deceased	1984	United States	^[62]
Defiance	1985	United States	^[63]
Defleshed	1991	Sweden	^[64]
Deliverance	1985	United States	^[65]
Demiricous	2001	United States	^[66]
Demolition Hammer	1986	United States	^[67]
Deströyer 666	1994	Australia	^[68]	Deströyer 666 at Hole in the Sky, 2007
Destruction	1982	Germany	^[6]	Destruction at Festival AlternaVigo, 2009
Dew-Scented	1992	Germany	^[69]
Dorsal Atlântica	1981	Brazil	^[70]
Dorso	1984	Chile	^[71]
D.R.I.	1982	United States	^[72]
Dust Bolt	2007	Germany	^[73]	Dust Bolt at Rockharz Open Air 2016

Band	Formed	Origin	Note
Early Man	2003	United States	^[74]	Early Man, 2007
Embodyment	1993	United States	^[75]
Epidemic	1986	United States	^[76]
Eudoxis	1984	Canada
Evildead	1987	United States	^[77]
Evile	2004	United Kingdom	^[78]	Evile, Madrid, 2008
Exciter	1978	Canada	^[79]
Exhorder	1985	United States	^[80]	Exhorder at Turok Open Air in Germany, 2018
Exodus	1979	United States	^[81]	Exodus, 2012
The Exploited	1978	United Kingdom	^[82]	The Exploited in 2018
Extol	1993	Norway	^[83]
Extrema	1986	Italy	^[84]
Exumer	1985	Germany	^[85]

List of thrash metal bands

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See also

References

Wikiwand - on

Band	Formed	Origin	Note
Gama Bomb	2002	Northern Ireland	^[89]
Generation Kill	2008	United States	^[90]
God Forbid	1996	United States	^[91]	God Forbid at The Hague, The Netherlands, 2009
Grinder	1987	Germany	^[92]
Gwar	1984	United States	^[93]	Gwar at Arena Joondalup, 2010

Band	Formed	Origin	Note
Hämatom	2004	Germany	^[94]	Hämatom at Rockharz Open Air 2019
Hand of Fire	2010	United States	^[95]
Hatesphere	1998	Denmark	^[96]	Hatesphere at Hamburg Metal Days, 2014
Hatriot	2011	United States	^[97]
The Haunted	1996	Sweden	^[98]	The Haunted, Karlstad, 2007
Hatchet	2006	United States	^[99]
Havok	2004	United States	^[100]	Havok performing in 2013
Heathen	1984	United States	^[101]	Kragen Lum and Jason Viebrooks of Heathen at Helfest, 2013
Hellhammer	1981	Switzerland	^[102]
Helstar	1982	United States	^[103]	Helstar in Aschaffenburg, Germany, 2009
Hermética	1987	Argentina	^[104]
Hirax	1982	United States	^[105]	Hirax in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2009
Hobbs' Angel of Death	1987	Australia	^[106]
Holocausto	1985	Brazil	^[107]
Holy Moses	1980	Germany	^[108]	Sabina Classen of Holy Moses, 2005
Horcas	1988	Argentina	^[109]
Hyades	1996	Italy	^[110]

Band	Formed	Origin	Note
Karmant	2016	Bangladesh	^[115]	Karmant at Bangladesh Thrashfest 2023
Kayser	2004	Sweden	^[116]
Kekal	1995	Indonesia	^[117]	Jeff Arwadi of Kekal in the Netherlands, 2004
Korrozia Metalla	1984	Russia	^[118]
Korzus	1983	Brazil	^[119]
Kreator	1982	Germany	^[120]	Kreator at Kraków, Poland, 2009
Kraptor	2007	Venezuela	^[121]
Kryptos	1998	India	^[122]	Kryptos at Harley Rock Riders Season III, India, 2012

Band	Formed	Origin	Note
Lȧȧz Rockit	1982	United States	^[123]
Lair of the Minotaur	2003	United States	^[124]
Lamb of God	1994	United States	^[125]
Lawnmower Deth	1987	United Kingdom	^[126]
Lazarus A.D.	2005	United States	^[127]
Legion of the Damned	2004	Netherlands	^[128]	Harold Gielen of Legion of the Damned at Metalcamp, 2009
Lethal	1988	Argentina	^[129]
Living Death	1980	Germany	^[130]
Living Sacrifice	1989	United States	^[131]
Loudblast	1986	France	^[132]
Lost Society	2010	Finland	^[132]
Lyzanxia	1996	France	^[133]
Lich King	2004	United States	^[134]