Your way in
Thrash metal 1983
NWOBHM plus hardcore punk: palm-muted riffs, brutal tempos and lyrics about war and society. The first truly extreme branch.
- Heaviness
- 8
- Speed
- 9
- Melody
- 6
- Where from
- California / Germany
- Tempo
- 180-250 bpm
- Song length
- 4-6.5 min
- Written about
- Nuclear war, Institutional corruption, Addiction, The horror film
- Vocals
- Shouted
Why this one
| You said | Thrash metal | Match | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shouting, but I can still hear the words When someone is singing, what should come out? | shouted | 100% | ×3 |
| As heavy as it gets How much weight do you want behind it? | 8 out of 10 | 80% | ×2 |
| As fast as anyone can play What pace? | 9 out of 10 | 90% | ×2 |
| The beginnings Does it matter when it was made? | 1983 | 44% | ×1 |
| Anger at something real What should the words be about? | Nuclear war, Institutional corruption, Addiction, The horror film | 100% | ×1 |
| Normal How long should a song be? | up to 6.5 min | 83% | ×1 |
| Weighted mean | 87% | ||
Ranked over all 150 genres in the encyclopedia, on the 6 answers you gave, weighted vocals 3, heaviness 2, pace 2, era 1, about 1, length 1 out of 10. Thrash metal ties with the next, and won on being the broader of the two. Where two genres score the same the broader one wins, because a genre with subgenres under it is somewhere to carry on from and a leaf is a full stop.
Five records, in this order
- 1The one to put on first
Slayer, Reign in Blood 1986
Slayer - Reign in Blood. Twenty-nine minutes that redefined the word extreme.
- 2Then
- 3Then
- 4Then
- 5One step further in
Exodus, Bonded by Blood 1985
Exodus - Bonded by Blood. Recorded in 1984, released late, and it held up anyway.
The first is Thrash metal's own entry point. After it come Thrash metal's essential records in the order the encyclopedia lists them. Every one of these has a page here with links out to somewhere it can be played.
If that is not it
-
D-beat 83%
Named after Discharge's drum pattern: galloping toms, motorcycle guitar and anti-war slogans shouted as choruses.
On the other branch of the tree entirely, and 6 steps from Thrash metal.
The way into D-beat -
Noise rock 68%
Alternate tunings, feedback as an instrument and rhythm sections that hit like machinery. The grandfather of sludge.
On the other branch of the tree entirely, and 5 steps from Thrash metal.
The way into Noise rock
Not simply the second and third of the ranking: those are almost always near neighbours of the first, which is three names for one suggestion. An alternate has to sit at least 4 steps through the tree from the headline and from the other alternate, which is the same floor the "sounds like this, but isn't" panel uses.
What your answers ruled out
- As heavy as it gets put 13 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Rock and roll, Folk rock, Country rock. Worth 2 of 10.
- As fast as anyone can play put 4 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Doom metal, Drone metal, Funeral doom. Worth 2 of 10.
- The beginnings put 67 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Folk metal, Metalcore, Nu metal. Worth 1 of 10.
- Anger at something real put 108 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Alternative rock, Black metal, Blues rock. Worth 1 of 10.
- Normal put 13 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Progressive rock, Krautrock, Acid rock. Worth 1 of 10.
Counted as genres scoring 20% or less on that answer alone. A recommendation that only shows what it chose is hiding half of what it did.