BIOGRAPHIES

Here are some thrash metal biographies that I made for my old website. I have now transcribed and updated some of them a bit. Enjoy!

American thrash metal legends Metallica were the biggest band of the big four and also one of the pioneers of the genre with their 1983 release Kill 'Em All. They put out four legendary albums (Kill 'Em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets and ...And Justice For All) before they went on a more experimental and commercial run. Read more >>>

After being fired from Metallica, Dave Mustaine started his own equally legendary run. Just like Metallica, Megadeth put out four great records before their more experimental 90's. (Killing is my Business..., Peace Sells... But Who's Buying, So Far, So Good... So What? and Rust in Peace.) The band underwent numerous lineups but Dave Mustaine has been the only constant. Read more >>>

Slayer were the most extreme band of the big four. They had a long run with several great albums, including the legendary Reign in Blood. But in more recent years the quality of their output haven't lived up to the same standard. R.I.P. Jeff Hanneman. Read more >>>

Kreator, the premier European thrash metal band were also one of the most extreme thrash metal bands of the eighties with a legendary album like Pleasure to Kill leaning towards death metal before death metal was fully a thing.  Read more >>>

Exodus was another legendary Bay area thrash band. Despite being pioneers and delivering high quality metal through the years somehow Anthrax robbed them of their rightful place in the big four, With Bonded By Blood as their magnum opus. Read more >>>

Testament, also a Bay area band from San Francisco started out as Legacy before vocalist Chuck Billy joined the band. With several classic records released in a row Testament became the most respected band of the second wave of thrash bands that arrived on the scene in '87-'88. Read more >>>

Sepultura hailing from Brazil quickly rose as the premier South American metal band during the 80's. The Cavalera brothers delivered blistering and aggressive thrash. They got some real classic albums in their discography such as Schizophrenia, Beneath the Remains and Arise. Read more >>>

Sodom has delivered some devastating teutonics attacks throughout several decades now.

They started out as almost a black metal band before refining their sound with classics such as Persecution Mania and Agent Orange. Read more >>>

American thrash metal band Overkill has been one of the most consistent bands in the genre. For forty plus years they've delivered nothing but thrash metal, well besides a few that leaned into groove metal. Read more >>>

The Bay area was the birthing place for many thrash metal bands including Forbidden. With a strong vocalist who wasn't afraid of using his falsetto and some crazy tight and fast riffing Forbidden became legends of the genre with Forbidden Evil and Twisted Into Form. Read more >>>

Vio-Lence another second wave thrash band from the Bay area. Their Eternal Nightmare dropped like a bomb on the late eighties thrash scene. It was a masterpiece they struggled to live up to. Later on some members moved on and formed Machine Head. Read more >>>

Swiss tech thrash legends Coroner made it to the top of the genre despite being from a tiny European country. Their immense technical skills made them unstoppable from R.I.P. to Grin they developed into a more progressive sound over the years. Read more >>>

Arizona's own Flotsam and Jetsam might be most known for being Jason Newsteds band before joining Metallica but their early material could compete with the giants of the genre. Doomsday for the Deceiver and No Place For Disgrace. Read more >>>

Anthrax, one of the big four of thrash hailed from New York and they became huge with albums such as Spreading the Disease and Among the Living. Over the years they have had a few singers and they've experimented with their sound quite a bit. Read more >>>

Artillery hailed from Denmark and they got signed to Neat Records and that led to them releasing the first Scandinavian thrash metal album in Fear of Tomorrow. They followed it up with Terror Squad and they crowned their career with By Inheritance. Read more >>>

Celtic Frost from Switzerland were a pioneering band within the extreme metal genre. They rose from the ashes of Hellhammer and managed to establish themselves as one of the biggest bands on the European scene with albums such as Morbid Tales and To Mega Therion. Read more >>>

 

Death Angel from the Bay area of San Francisco were one of the prominent bands of the second wave of thrash. Their debut The Ultra-Violence remains a classic. Worth noting was that they were more or less all related and they were the youngest thrash band that rose to prominence. Read more >>>

Destruction from Germany was one of the premier German thrash bands, They started out quite extreme and their early material is quite influential. They've been thrashing successfully for forty years now. Read more >>>