Best of 2008: The State of Thrash Metal!
Thrash Metal really hit hard for me this year. And While the seeds for this new school-old school thrash movement have been dropping for quite some time now, I feel 2008 saw the full bloom of back-to-the-basics Thrash Metal. And no I don’t mean Metallica’s awful Death Magnetic! From straight 80′s Bay Area style thrash to NYC style crossover Thrash, whatever floats your boat, chances are there’s some group of upstart 17 year olds out there doing it again with the same passion and intensity that made you bang your head in the first place. For me, Thrash is one of those things where you shouldn’t really fuck around with the formula too much. Just give me a killer riff and be as brutal with it as possible!
I’ve already profiled Pitiful Reign’s Visual Violence, Bonded By Blood’s Feed the Beast & Toxic Holocaust’s An Overdose of Death on my 40 Best Albums of 2008 list, but there were quite a few more terrific Thrash releases out this year besides those! Below are 12 more albums (in no particular order) that I think both an aging headbanger and a thrash neophyte could both enjoy.
1. Amok – Downhill Without Brakes (Self-Released)
2. Hatchet – Awaiting Evil (Metal Blade)
3. Hospital of Death – Beers, Bitches, Blood (Self-Released)
4. Cross Examination – Menace II Sobriety (Organized Crime)
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5. Gama Bomb – Citizen Brain (Earache)
6. The Dying – Triumph of Tragedy (Eye Spy)
7. SSS (Short Sharp Shock) – The Dividing Line (Earache)
8. Guillotine – Blood Money (Pulverised)
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9. Warbringer – War Without End (Century Media)
10. Korupture – The Book of Time (Self released)
11. Hexen – State of Insurgency (Old School Metal)
12. Legion of the Damned – Cult of the Dead (Massacre)
For some of these bands 2008 marked the release of a debut full-length album. While for others 2008 marked the release of yet another excellent notch in their short-lived Thrash careers. Guillotine however put out their first record in over a decade, which I’m sure was in no small part sparked by this global Thrash resurgence!
So… are we in the midst of a full-on Thrash revival? Well, not exactly, because Thrash has never really gone anywhere. It’s taken the occasional back seat to other forms of metal that were more in fashion, but it’s been chugging along since it’s inception with a few quality releases each year. But I also think yes, definitely we’re into a revival. Save for the your usual old fart curmudgeons, I think a good deal of longtime metal fans will acknowledge that there has not only been a steady surge of quality releases over the past 2-3 years, but there are more and more metal shows sprouting up regularly that are not solely filled with people who are just friends of the bands. Even some graybeards are starting to catch wind that this “new wave” is worthy of keeping an eye on. Something is definitely happening, but it’s hardly reached it’s tipping point. None of these bands, save Municipal Waste and 3 Inches of Blood, have really been able to break past the usual metal media outlets and/or blogs onto the radar of the general music media. And sadly, the indie music media is still too preoccupied with Doom Metal as its current Metal Du Jour to notice there’s a whole wide world of amazing Thrash being made that would appeal to more than that 40 year old living in his mother’s basement (no offense!).
What’s going on may seem like the same ol’ same old to an outsider, but I really do think these are exciting times for Thrash fans! This is the first time in a long time that a good Thrash show doesn’t involve a band who’s got 20 or so years on its audience! I hope I can turn some people into new fans, rekindle the interest in some of my old friends who have given up on the fun associated with Thrash… or at the very least get a thumbs up from Brian Posehn!
- My Pal the Crook
December 19th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Warbringer’s album = total thrash. Is it me or did they channel D.R.I.? 3 Inches of Blood also rock – they have a new album coming out soon. Anyone remember an old cali band called Life Sentence?
December 19th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
+1 on the 3 Inches of Blood shit. The second album especially really goes for it…hobbit-haters be damned.
December 19th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
I am putting my money on a full-on thrash revival! The kids these days fucking love it, and it makes me feel great. It’s refreshing to know that amongst the packs of emerging youths, that there are a good representation of gnarly little bastards who wanna dedicate themselves to headbanging and partying hard! I see it every time I am at metal shows, the amount of kids there keep growing AND they wild the fuck out.
December 19th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
If I can pontificate as not a fan of Thrash, but as just someone who enjoys watching the ebbs and flows of music movements:
Be careful what you wish for Dennis! For this to be the type of revival that has any long standing effects on anything besides Metal or Thrash there needs to be one or two crossover bands (and I don’t mean crossover in the D.R.I. sense of it). Someone needs to get commercial airplay and coverage the way Metallica, Megadeth & Anthrax were able to in the peaks of their careers. But in doing so you basically signal the death knell for the whole revival scene more or less.
December 20th, 2008 at 3:48 am
Yes, nice selection here. Only you say that you prefer a thrash band that doesn’t mess with the formula too much, but still your list contains some of the new-crossover stuff. I think the newer thrash bands are allright, only it doesn’t beat the older thrash stuff. http://www.myspace.com/evilarmy, for example is great new thrash..
December 21st, 2008 at 11:26 pm
Sorry bro, I don’t understand what you mean. Any and all of these “new” crossover bands follow the same basic convetions of traditional crossover or party Thrash.
This isn’t 1984-85 when Crossover Thrash was something wild and different. Being a Crossover Thrash act to me in 2008 is as much “not messing with the formula” as trying to ape “Ride the Lightning” note for note.
December 22nd, 2008 at 3:59 am
Hmm, well maybe it’s taste then, but to me older crossover bands like Excel or D.R.I. sound really different from what Municipal Waste or Bonded By Blood are doing. As I said, i like these newer bands, but I wouldn’t say it’s the old thrash formula, that’s all.
December 23rd, 2008 at 11:42 am
Cool to see UK band SSS on this. Not a fan of the new stuff but I did like the old stuff (demo and 7″).
December 31st, 2008 at 4:23 pm
No Sauron (US)? See http://www.witches-brew.org
February 20th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
you named some really good thrash albums from 2008. a few that are top notch that are not mentioned and one in paticular that has to be among the top 5 if not #1
>> Negligence – Options of a trapped mind <<
Planar Evil – Mankind way of life
Temple of blood – Overture
Prophecy – Legions of violence
Commando – Sudden Invasion
Deathhammer – Forever ripping fast
Holy Moses – Agony of Death
Fallen Angels – Rise from Ashes
April 22nd, 2010 at 2:55 pm
Check this out. A new trash metal group from Holland.
Free CD download. Really sounds greatit!!