Thrash Metal

Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized most typically by its fast tempo and aggression. Thrash metal songs typically use fast percussive beats and fast, low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work. Lyrically, thrash metal songs often deal with social issues and reproach for The Establishment, often using direct and denunciatory language, an approach which partially overlaps with the hardcore genre. Thrash metal's "Big Four", the four bands widely regarded as the genre's most successful and influential acts, are Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax due to their status as pioneers of the genre in the 1980s. Some common characteristics of thrash metal are fast guitar riffs with aggressive picking styles and fast guitar solos, and extensive use of two bass drums as opposed to the conventional use of only one, typical of most rock music.

The origins of thrash metal are generally traced to the late 1970s and early 1980s, when a number of predominantly American bands began fusing elements of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with the speed and aggression of hardcore punk. Thrash metal is more aggressive compared to its relative, speed metal, and is thought to have emerged at least in part as a reaction to the more conventional and widely acceptable sounds and themes of glam metal, a much less aggressive heavy metal sub-genre which emerged simultaneously.