GMD Votes: Top 20 Thrash Albums

[TechnicalBarbarity]

It's always hard to rank newer albums with the classics in a "top/best of" list. That being said, the new school doesn't have anywhere near enough quality work. Outside of 4-5 albums, there's absolutely nothing else worth mentioning with the classic.

Destruction and Overkill both deserve to have albums in the top 20 before allotting two slots for Testament.

Well i don't see a problem if two albums from a band were allowed on the initial list and people voted them both in. And personally i think those two Testament albums are better than anything Destruction or Overkill have done ... nothing from overkill even comes close really.

 

[Baroque]

Point is, I can't listen to half the albums on this list anymore because they're played out. Only option is to listen to new music. I'm not saying the new bands are 'better than' the older albums, I don't even know how we would measure that. I'm saying they are just as good as the older albums, in that they evoke the same feeling in me when listening to them, as the old albums did 2 decades ago. And they're FRESH. Brand new music to listen to and play out. And they still kick ass in concert unlike the old bands (with few exceptions, Kreator is still pretty damn high energy).

Another example: Warbringer is currently a better live show than any of the big 4. And their music is as good as or better than anything Metallica did since And Justice for All. I would prefer to listen to them in a heartbeat instead of Metallica, because Metallica is fucking played out. What is the best thrash of today? I think another thread is needed. But, all of maybe 4 or 5 of us would have an informed opinion. People just dismiss it 'it sounds like the old bands but not as good' without giving it a chance.

 

[Krow]

I feel like warbringer wouldn't be nearly as good as slayer or half as fun as megadeth or even anthrax....

 

[Baroque]

Go see them and find out. I've seen them 4 times. One time was at the same show as Megadeth and Anthrax, the battle for San Bernardino. No one matched Warbringer's energy all day. Anthrax was fun though. Dave just seemed bored and fed up with playing his old songs. Stood in one place and didn't move. Overkill was a bunch of old men complaining about the venue and shit.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

Good music being "played out" is something that i still have yet to understand. But i know i'm in the minority here, so whatever. I would take just about every album on that list over any of the newer stuff. Yea, there are a few good bands and albums, but like i said they just don't hold a candle to most of the albums on this list or even other classics.... and it's not like nostalgia is the deciding factor here.

And trust me, this is coming from someone who listens to a shit load of modern thrash.

-------------------

Warbringer are fucking awesome, i can just imagine how awesome their shows are

 

[Baroque]

Outside of 4-5 albums, there's absolutely nothing else worth mentioning with the classic.

I'll see your 4-5, and raise you 10-11.

Exmortus - In Hatred's Flame
Exmortus - Slave to the Sword
Warbringer - War Without End
Vektor - Black Future
Vektor - Outer Isolation
Fueled by Fire - Trapped in Perdition
Fueled by Fire - Plunging into Darkness
Black Fast - Starving out the Light
Evile - Enter the Grave
Hatchet - Dawn of the End
Hexen - Being and Nothingness
Hexen - State of Insurgency
Deathraiser - Violent Aggression
Mantic Ritual - Executioner
Warfect - Exoneration Denied

 

[WarMace]

1) Metallica - Master of Puppets
2) Megadeth - Rust in Peace
3) Metallica - Ride the Lightning
4) Slayer - Reign in Blood
5) Testament - The Legacy
6) Metallica - Kill Em All
7) Sepultura - Beneath the Remains
8) Testament - The New Order
9) Vio-lence - Eternal Nightmare
10) Slayer - Show No Mercy
11) Exodus - Bonded By Blood
12) Slayer - Hell Awaits
13) Sodon - Persecution Mania
14) Kreator - Pleasure to Kill
15) Dark Angel - Darkness Descends
16) Coroner - No More Color
17) Morbid Saint - Spectrum of Death
18) Artillery - By Inheritance
19) Vektor - Black Futute
20) Holy Terror - Mind Wars

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

I'll see your 4-5, and raise you 10-11.

Exmortus - In Hatred's Flame
Exmortus - Slave to the Sword
Warbringer - War Without End
Vektor - Black Future
Vektor - Outer Isolation
Fueled by Fire - Trapped in Perdition
Fueled by Fire - Plunging into Darkness
Black Fast - Starving out the Light
Evile - Enter the Grave
Hatchet - Dawn of the End
Hexen - Being and Nothingness
Hexen - State of Insurgency
Deathraiser - Violent Aggression
Mantic Ritual - Executioner
Warfect - Exoneration Denied

... lol! Are you trying to say that Dawn of the End and Executioner as some of the best thrash metal albums of all time? Really man??? No fuckin' way. There's a difference between good and great, and a lot of those albums are just good, while just about every album in this thread is top notch. That's the problem with thrash metal today ... there are way too many shitty bands, a few good ones, and only one or two great ones.

I really like Enter the Grave, Violent Aggression, Starving out the Light and both FbF albums ... shit i own just about every album on that list. But most of those have no business being mentioned with the 5 star albums that are listed here, and it has nothing to do with nostalgia, these albums are just pound for pound better in just about every single way. And like i said, outside of the two Hexen and Vektor albums, there's absolutely nothing that deserves to be mentioned with these classics ... and that's including In Hatred's Flame and Worlds Torn Asunder ... the two best albums from the two bands that come closest to Hexen and Vektor in terms of quality thrash.

 

[Baroque]

... lol! Are you trying to say that Dawn of the End and Executioner as some of the best thrash metal albums of all time? Really man??? No fuckin' way. There's a difference between good and great, and a lot of those albums are just good, while just about every album in this thread is top notch.

Perhaps not, but they're definitely in the top 20 new wave of thrash in my opinion. I'd rather listen to them than Ride the Lightning at this moment in time. I'll put on Dawn of the End right now.. that intro.. and track 2 while writing this.. yep, quality.

That's 2 albums, I still doubled your count of 4-5.

That's the problem with thrash metal today ... there are way too many shitty bands, a few good ones, and only one or two great ones.

This argument just doesn't hold up. More bands means more to choose from, more good ones to discover. Don't listen to the shitty ones. There are plenty of old shitty bands too.

I really like Enter the Grave, Violent Aggression, Starving out the Light and both FbF albums ... shit i own just about every album on that list.

Glad to hear it. Those albums are great and these young guys need our support to continue putting out the music we like. I haven't been able to find a copy of Warfect, do you have that one?

But most of those have no business being mentioned with the 5 star albums that are listed here, and it has nothing to do with nostalgia, these albums are just pound for pound better in just about every single way.

I don't buy it. It's everything to do with nostalgia, with previous favorites or even trying to fit in. Pleasure to Kill isn't even Kreator's best album, it's Coma of Souls, and 18 reviewers on Metallum agree with me on that one. But because Coma of Souls wasn't one of their first 4 people won't vote for it. OMG it was released in the 90's, how untrue.

And like i said, outside of the two Hexen and Vektor albums, there's absolutely nothing that deserves to be mentioned with these classics ... and that's including In Hatred's Flame and Worlds Torn Asunder ... the two best albums from the two bands that come closest to Hexen and Vektor in terms of quality thrash.

I prefer War Without End. Total War, Combat Shock, At the Crack of Doom, so many good tracks on that one. Combat Shock is the song that got me into Warbringer. But it's fine, either way, I do honestly believe one of those two Warbringer albums deserves company with for example Kill 'Em All.

Exmortus, I won't even argue further about them. I can see arguments that they're not pure thrash and so they might not fit in this list. I'll put them in another category then: Best Metal Albums (any genre).

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Destruction is the best of the German trio*

By far. I'd take any Destruction full-length circa 86-90 over their entire discographies of Kreator and Sodom combined.

The Holy Terror singer isn't good at all. That convo can end now. He's the equivalent of handing the mic to someone with a 'drome and saying "Yell like a metal dude!"

If the singing in a song like Distant Calling doesn't give you full body tingles, you've failed spiritually.

I don't buy it. It's everything to do with nostalgia, with previous favorites or even trying to fit in. Pleasure to Kill isn't even Kreator's best album, it's Coma of Souls, and 18 reviewers on Metallum agree with me on that one. But because Coma of Souls wasn't one of their first 4 people won't vote for it. OMG it was released in the 90's, how untrue.

It has nothing to do with that. Pleasure to Kill is almost unarguably their most significant/influential album, and with it comes to savage aggression and early death/thrash, it's easily up there with the best. Coma of Souls is Kreator hopping on the major label trend and trying to sound like Metallica like so many others around that period, one of their worst albums actually.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

lol @ Coma of Souls being Kreators best album, and even more so for implying that people would favor it just because it's from the 80's? Rust in Peace was also technically released in the 90's.

Instead of going off about how someone can possibly prefer the neutered version of Kreator on Coma of Souls to the nonstop unfiltered rage of PTK, i'll just say this is where taste comes in to play. IMO Pleasure to Kill is far and beyond not only their best album, but the best thrash metal album to ever come out of Germany ... you think that's nostalgia? Coma of Souls is a great album, but it's basically neutered Kreator and was aimed at a wider group of listeners and brought in more of the softies that were afraid of the unfiltered, aggressive nonstop brutality of Pleasure to Kill. And by the way even though i've owned both albums were talking about right now since i was a youngster, i wasn't a real fan of teutonic thrash til about '05 ... so once again, no nostalgia here.

The fact of the matter is that most of the top thrash bands released their best works in the 80's, that can't be argued and once again has nothing to do with nostalgia.

That's 2 albums, I still doubled your count of 4-5.

Lol no, you didn't. I don't know if you missed the part where i said that outside of those four Vektor and Hexen albums, there is nothing that modern thrash has produced that's worthy of being mentioned with these albums. Warbringer and Exmortus are also some of the best thrash bands of today, but i definitely wouldn't put them on the elite status of those other two. And i was actually trying to be nice, but for you to even bring up Enter The Grave, DotE, Executioner, Deathraiser or any of the FbF albums here is a bit ridiculous ... maybe they'll wear off after you give em a few more spins.

This argument just doesn't hold up. More bands means more to choose from, more good ones to discover. Don't listen to the shitty ones. There are plenty of old shitty bands too.

Yea but my point was that there are only a few truly 5 star modern thrash bands ... and one of them called it quits last year. Oh and you're not saying there are more thrash bands today right? The problem is there are far less bands today but 90% of them are pumping out generic watered down garbage.

Glad to hear it. Those albums are great and these young guys need our support to continue putting out the music we like. I haven't been able to find a copy of Warfect, do you have that one?

No, i actually haven't heard anything from them outside of the track you posted in the thrash thread the other day. Good stuff I still have a shit load of new stuff to lsiten to along with my regulars .... so i'm kind of holding back on buying or downloading anything for a while.

 

[EspaDa]

1. Megadeth - Rust in Peace
2. Metallica - Ride the Lightning
3. Slayer - Hell Awaits
4. Sepultura - Beneath the Remains
5. Sodom - Persecution Mania
6. Exodus - Bonded by Blood
7. Slayer - Reign in Blood
8. Kreator - Pleasure to Kill
9. Testament - The Legacy
10. Slayer - Show No Mercy
11. Vektor - Black Future
12. Metallica - Master of Puppets
13. Dark Angel - Darkness Descends
14. Metallica - Kill 'Em All
15. Morbid Saint - Spectrum of Death
16. Vio-Lence - Eternal Nigthmare
17. Testament - The New Order
18. Coroner - No More Color
19. Artillery - By Inheritance
20. Holy Terror - Mind Wars

 

[The Ozzman]

I like Coma of Souls the best from Kreator

 

[End of Glory]

It's not as good as PtK but it's their 2nd or 3rd best imo, can't decide between Coma of Souls and Violent Revolution.

 

[divine_torture]

I'll see your 4-5, and raise you 10-11.

Exmortus - In Hatred's Flame
Exmortus - Slave to the Sword
Warbringer - War Without End
Vektor - Black Future
Vektor - Outer Isolation
Fueled by Fire - Trapped in Perdition
Fueled by Fire - Plunging into Darkness
Black Fast - Starving out the Light
Evile - Enter the Grave
Hatchet - Dawn of the End
Hexen - Being and Nothingness
Hexen - State of Insurgency
Deathraiser - Violent Aggression
Mantic Ritual - Executioner
Warfect - Exoneration Denied

Mantic Ritual is so bad ass. It sucks they split. I bought their album at a show (Opened for Destruction, I think) because their live show fucking KILLED. Evile is all around solid.

Warbringer is a favorite, too. And Exmortus.

You might be right. I'm stuck in the 80's just because those bands were first. I'm old at 26 already. Shit

 

[zerostatic]

I have to agree with T B here. A lot of the new thrash bands are good, but not great. I really like Warbringer, and while I've seen them more times than I can remember I have always thought they were missing something. A few years back I attended a show with Hatchet, Hexen, Vektor and Warbringer. All the bands were great and I thought Vektor was the most impressive.

It comes down to personal taste. I rank Overkill's Feel the Fire and Years of Decay over anything by Testament. Overkill is one of the few bands from the 80s that is still releasing quality thrash and they are great live.

 

[End of Glory]

The problem with Overkill is that their albums are fading out. They are always impressive in the beginning but after 4-6 tracks their material doesn't keep my interest.

I'm with Baroque. Maybe not with everything he listed but I find no problem with ranking and compairing old and new albums. Also if I would have been listening only to "the old classics" then Thrash overall would have lost my interest a long time ago.

 

[divine_torture]

Overkill, Destruction, and Sodom are still writing good music

 

[divine_torture]

1) Dark Angel -Darkness Descends
2) Slayer - Hell Awaits
3) Coroner - No More Color
4) Morbid Saint - Spectrum of Death
5) Sodom - Persecution Mania
6) Metallica - Master of Puppets
7) Sepultura - Beneath The Remains
8) Exodus - Bonded By Blood
9) Kreator - Pleasure to Kill
10) Megadeth - Rust In Peace
11) Testament - The New Order
12) Vektor - Black Future
13) Slayer - Show No Mercy
14) Metallica - Ride The Lightning
15) Testament - The Legacy
16) Slayer - Reign in Blood
17) Metallica - Kill 'Em All
18) Violence - Eternal Nightmare
19) Artillery - By Inheritance
20) Holy Terror - Mind Wars

 

[End of Glory]

Overkill, Destruction, and Sodom are still writing good music

I know, but compare Overkill's albums with Testament's Dark Roots of Earth, the first 5 tracks are kickass as hell but after that it gets boring.. Overkill's Years of Decay gets boring after the first 5 for example.
Destruction is the best of the best and they are the only Thrash band along with Testament that in my opinion haven't released a bad album (ofc from bands with a bigger discography so no one would say 'what about HeXeN and Vektor?!?!')