thehistoryofthrashpart1

 
PART I.

THE HARD ROCK YEARS.
THE PROLOGUE.

This is my attempt to chart the evolution of thrash metal as I understand it. I’ve avoided writing a full historical piece on the genre for years. Partly because it’s a massive undertaking, and partly because it’s difficult to strike the right balance between missing key moments and drowning the reader in detail. And, of course, I wasn’t there. I was a fan, not a participant. But then again, most books about World War II weren’t written by people who lived through it either. So after decades of listening, reading, and obsessing about thrash metal, it finally feels like the right time to take a proper swing at this.

So this article has been a long time coming. I actually started writing it around 2015, but it became a too big undertaking for me at the time but now, more than ten years later, it’s time to tie everything together and finish what I've started. In these documents, we’ll move through the major eras of thrash metal, tracing the turning points, the breakthroughs, and the chaos that shaped the genre into what it became. But to understand any of that, we have to go back to the late sixties. The moment when rock music first hardened. Hard rock didn’t just evolve; it accelerated. Each new band pushed the music faster and heavier, a steady gallop toward the metallic intensity that would eventually make thrash metal possible.

THE HARD ROCK YEARS. (1967-1974)

To understand thrash metal and how it came to be, we need to look at the musical climate that existed before the first wave hit. The story begins in the late sixties, when the earliest hard rock bands emerged out of blues rock and psychedelic rock, helped along by the shockwave of the British Invasion.

The British Invasion brought a flood of bands that reshaped rock music: The Kinks, The Who, The Yardbirds, The Beatles, The Animals, and The Rolling Stones dominated the airwaves in the UK and the US. Meanwhile, America had its own countercurrent of psychedelic heaviness; Blue Cheer, Coven, Sir Lord Baltimore, Vanilla Fudge, MC5, and Iron Butterfly. Bands that pushed volume, distortion, and experimentation further than ever before.

At the same time, blues rock was blooming. Jimi Hendrix, Humble Pie, Grand Funk Railroad, Canned Heat, Steppenwolf, Cream, and the Jeff Beck Group all contributed to a louder, more electrified, more aggressive sound. The late sixties also introduced shock rock through performers like Arthur Brown and Alice Cooper, who brought theatrics, danger, and taboo imagery into rock. Coven went even further, openly embracing occult themes on their 1969 album Witchcraft Destroys Minds and Reaps Souls.

This era also saw the earliest appearances of the "Sign of the horns". Ronnie James Dio would later popularize it, but Terry “Geezer” Butler was photographed using it as early as 1971, and Coven had already incorporated it into their imagery.

   

   Coven - Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls (1969)

As the decade turned, three bands took the next evolutionary step and defined what hard rock and eventually heavy metal would become. They were called 'The Unholy Trinity' and they consisted of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath.

LED ZEPPELIN

Led Zeppelin reshaped heavy music with a combination of massive riffs from Jimmy Page, the soaring charisma of Robert Plant, and a rhythm section that could shift from delicate to thunderous in a heartbeat. Their early albums: Led Zeppelin (1969), Led Zeppelin II (1969), Led Zeppelin III (1970), and the monumental Led Zeppelin IV (1971) laid the groundwork for what heavy rock would become.

Tracks like "Whole Lotta Love", "Immigrant Song" and "Black Dog" pushed volume, groove, and mystique into new territory. By the mid‑seventies they were the biggest rock band in the world, and their blend of blues power, mythic imagery, and sheer sonic weight became a blueprint for generations of heavier bands.

DEEP PURPLE

Deep Purple injected speed, precision, and technical firepower into rock at a time when few bands dared to play that fast or that tight. Albums like Deep Purple in Rock (1970), Fireball (1971), and Machine Head (1972) showcased blistering musicianship, with songs such as "Fireball" and "Highway Star" pushing rock toward a faster, more aggressive edge.

Their Mark II lineup: Ian Gillan, Ritchie Blackmore, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice became legendary, but internal tensions eventually boiled over. In 1973, both Gillan and Glover left the band, marking the end of Deep Purple’s classic era. Still, their early‑seventies output set a new standard for speed, virtuosity, and heaviness.

BLACK SABBATH

Black Sabbath brought darkness, downtuned riffs, and a sense of dread that no other band had dared to explore. Their first four albums: Black Sabbath (1970), Paranoid (1970), Master of Reality (1971), and Vol. 4 (1972) defined the sound and spirit of heavy metal. Tony Iommi’s crushing guitar tone, Geezer Butler’s occult‑tinged lyrics, Bill Ward’s thunderous drumming, and Ozzy Osbourne’s eerie, unpolished voice created a mood unlike anything else in rock.

Sabbath’s imagery and themes shocked parents and thrilled young listeners, and their influence became the bedrock of every heavy genre that followed doom, stoner, thrash, death, and black metal all trace their lineage back to these early records.

Black Sabbath, Deep Purple & Led Zeppelin

Throughout the early seventies, hard rock continued to expand. Rush, Uriah Heep, Blue Oyster Cult, AC/DC, KISS, UFO, Scorpions, Budgie, Alice Cooper, Judas Priest, and Thin Lizzy all added their own distinct elements. Twin‑guitar harmonies, high‑speed riffing, theatrical excess, and a growing sense of heaviness.

Thrash metal was still years away, but the foundation was firmly in place. The musicians who would later create thrash grew up on this era. The seventies provided the riffs, the attitude, the volume, and the momentum. 

The evolution of Hard rock kept accelerating. Heavier riffs, faster tempos, sharper production. It was a steady gallop toward the explosive intensity that would erupt in the early eighties.

FAST AND HEAVY SONGS FROM THE ERA: 1967-1974
(Spotify-Playlist)

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>>> PART II >>>