Speed Thrash
Located in 2 routes
The velocity-maximalist wing of thrash, where tempo is the point: blistering 200-260 BPM tremolo and downpicked riffing, near-constant double-bass and skank-beat drumming, and a feverish, take-no-prisoners energy that pushes thrash toward the edge of death metal. Production is raw and trebly, solos are frantic whammy-bar sprints, and vocals are a hoarse, shrieked or barked snarl ridden hard atop the gallop. Where mainstream thrash breathes with mid-paced grooves, speed thrash floors the accelerator and rarely lets up, prizing relentless aggression, abrupt tempo shifts, and the sensation of a song forever about to fly off the rails.
History
Speed thrash grew out of the early-'80s collision between European speed metal (Motorhead, Venom, Exciter) and the emerging American thrash scene, as bands raced to out-pace one another. Slayer's 'Reign in Blood' (1986) set the velocity benchmark; Dark Angel answered with 'Darkness Descends' the same year, frequently cited as the fastest thrash album of its era and the proving ground for drummer Gene Hoglan. Canada's Razor and Sacrifice, Germany's Kreator and early Destruction, and the Bay Area's Exodus and Forbidden all pushed the high-RPM end, while late-'80s outfits like Demolition Hammer and Morbid Saint took the speed so far it bled directly into death metal. The style functioned as thrash's extremity arms race, and its hyperspeed picking and double-kick blasting became a direct ancestor of the death and grindcore movements that followed.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Metallum (Metal Archives): Dark Angel, Razor, Kreator, Demolition Hammer, Morbid Saint
- Albert Mudrian, Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal and Grindcore
- AllMusic: thrash metal / speed metal style overviews