What would you say are some of the thrashiest albums prior to say, Venom's 1981 Welcome to Hell release? Motorhead's 1979 Overkill is really the only thing I can think of here. Anything thrashier? (I'll leave "thrashy" as something to be defined.)

well, there's of course "Exciter" by Judas Priest, as well as "call to the priest" off of their "sin after sin" album. although it can't be labeled as "thrash", at least not thrash as it was come to be known as, it's not raw enough. it's closer to early speed/power metal, but it's definitly the fastest thing the be released at that time

Well, thrash got it's "thrasiness" mainly from the hardcore scene. Thus, you would want to inquire in that area.

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Now playing: Children Of Tragedy - Angels Have No Wings

Diamond Head perhaps. Metallica used to cover them prior to recording their own stuff.

Yes. I was wondering about this. So I started thinking along the lines of punk/metal hybrids of the late 70's. Maybe Brats (the band that would later develop in Mercyful Fate) fits here. But they aren't really very "metal" or or all that "fast" -- Any other suggestions, maybe something from Bay Area or NYC?

"Dissident Aggressor" is by far the thrashiest song Priest (or any band before them) recorded. The scream, the riffs, the drumming and Downing's frenetic solo are the stuff Slayer's sound is based on. The only 70s song that comes close is "Symptom of the Universe".

No doubt Diamond Head was influential on thrash, but here's a statement I would have a hard time believing: "Diamond Head' 1980 effort is the heaviest, fastest, rawest metal album produced that year" -- What album fits THAT bill??

Sabbath's Children Of The Grave, off their 1971 release Master Of Reality.

In addition to the usual suspects, (Venom, Motorhead, Diamond Head) Raven should get more credit for helping launch thrash than they do (their first full length was released in January of 81, though they had been a band since 74). They really struck me as sort of a missing link between traditional metal and thrash.

To some degree, though, I think that thrash was simply the natural progression of taking NWOBHM one step farther. There wasn't really one band or album that "started it all".

Stone Cold Crazy? Children of the Grave?

Also, the Unleashed In The East version of Diamonds and Rust. Well, at least the intro.

Bad Brains' Pay to Cum single was pretty damn thrashy. As well as the 1978 Black Flag EP Nervous Breakdown.

Discharge also released three EPs in 1980. And Charged GBH released a few as well.

Venom, Motorhead, Discharge, Raven, Diamond Head, Bad Brains, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, GBH...

focus more on hardcore punk, as it was heavily influential to what makes "thrash" sound like "thrash" as the genre's roots really fall under a form of NWOBHM that got caught up in a pit with some hardcore punk at a show, and eventually mixed the two together.

I was just reading the Bad Brains page on Wikipedia and came across a reference to a compilation disc released in 1982 called "New York Thrash." It contains material as old as 1978. Here is the track listing:

"I Hate Music" - The Mad
"Getaway" - Kraut
"Shotgun" - Heart Attack
"Social Reason" - The Undead
"New Year's Eve" - Adrenalin O.D.
"Illusion Won Again - Even Worse
"Cry Now" - Fiends
"Here and Now" - Nihilistics
"Nightmare - The Undead
"Taxidermist" - False Prophets
"Regulator (Version)" - Bad Brains
"Riot Fight" - Beastie Boys
"Love and Kisses" - Nihilistics
"Asian White" - Fiends
"Last Chance" - Kraut
"Emptying the Madhouse" - Even Worse
"Paul's Not Home" - Adrenalin O.D.
"Scorched Earth" - False Prophets
"God is Dead" - Heart Attack
"The Hell" - The Mad
"Big Take Over (Version)" - Bad Brains
"Beastie" - Beastie Boys
"M.A.C.H.I.N.E."* - The Stimulators
"Loud Fast Rules!"* - The Stimulators
* - bonus tracks included on 1998 CD reissue

Are any of those metal bands? The only ones I am familar with are Bad Brains and Beastie Boys.

Vardis, Atomkraft, TANK...I'm really surprised no one has mentioned these bands. Especially TANK.

I agree with all this.

Those bands from that "New York Thrash" album are hardcore punk bands, and I think the word "thrash" was used as a synonym for hardcore punk in the US. I think the term "hardcore punk" also came from the states.

Thrashing also used to refer to slam dancing, later known as moshing. I think the term could also have been taken from skateboarding, as in the skate mag "Thrasher".

The musical origins, I'm not exactly sure, I suppose from speed metal, but thrash is more rhythmic and choppy, and maybe heavier sounding. The early British punk bands that experimented with metal like the Exploited and GBH were actually closer to speed metal. But thrash metal does often have socio-political lyrics like in punk, speed metal very rarely.

Pure speed metal, not particularly thrashy.

The verse riff is thrashy, the rest of the song is firmly rooted in doom.

What about Accept's Fast as a Shark from Restless and Wild?
Although its 1982

Someone talking about this in the Thrash room on Soulseek, they mentioned the band Stress http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=9657

where can I hear this band? (is it on CD?)

this Overkill song is from 81 (but unreleased in any format until 83)

also, I think there may be some early (81-82) Metal Church that could classify

has anyone heard of a band called Pilot Breakdown that claims to have had a thrash song in 79?

Stress has a few songs on their Myspace page. You can get an idea of their sound from there.

Here is a wiki article on them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot_Breakdown

It cites no sources and makes some pretty outrageous claims. I am guessing that this band never really played thrash at all, or that maybe the band never even existed -- a hoax perhaps? Can anyone speak with authority on this? I find it very odd that there is no page on EM if this is genuine.

I can't find anything on blogspot either. You'd think there would be a fake RAR file somewhere.

They were also the closest things back then, along with Symptom of the Universe like you said.

That is a fake article. If a band sells 400,000 records and releases a double album at one point in their career, you can be assured that there would be some google hits on them.

Someone is doing it for the lolz.

Odd motivation.

Oh how I love the filter.

The Pilot Breakdown wiki even looks like someone just made some stuff up.

I forgot about the filter. haha

I always maintain that those are the two heaviest songs of the seventies (not counting slow, doom-heavy). I am glad to see someone else thinks the same.

Well, if you're looking for the earliest 'aggression' in thrashes roots, one cannot overlook the Damned. Most of the other unmentioned culprits have gotten their mentioned, so I thought I'd throw out the inspiration of Motorhead and Venom.

As long as Raven, Tank, Priest and Accept have been credited, you've got a basic idea of where thrash came from.

That is the biggest load of steaming bullshit I ever saw.

While Dissident Aggressor is fucking heavy, it is not thrashy. Exciter, Let Us Prey/Call for the Priest, and Running Wild are all thrashier. While Aggressor's guitar solos are highly influential to thrash, it wasn't anything new for Priest. Victim of Changes had a whammy bar abuse solo as well.

One must not forget Maiden's debut. Slayer's Fight til Death rips pages straight from the song Transylvania.

Motorhead's Overkill is thrashy.

No one can deny how important Venom was though. Perhaps the most influential band to come after 1980.

I came here to talk about Bad Brains but clearly that has been covered.

Bad Brains rules. The best hardcore punk band by far. Sonically and lyrically. It's a nice change from all the left wing ramblings.

They are also the only one I am aware of that solos.

Not on their early demos but definitely on Quickness and maybe some of the ones before that.

Overkill's The Beast Within certainly has thrashy parts...along with Leather Charm's Hit the Lights it might be the first true thrash song.

Other songs like Black Sabbath's "Children of the Grave" and Queen's "Stone Cold Crazy" have parts that may have influenced thrash.

Has anyone actually heard a version of "Hit the Lights" recorded by Leather Charm. It might sound quite dissimilar from the later versions recorded by Metallica.

I always figured referencing certain Metallica tunes as Leather Charm songs was an attempt to sound knowledgeable and cool (by not giving Metallica credit) and really has nothing to do with what Leather Charm actually was like.

Did Leather Charm ever record? I'd like to hear it, as well as the other early Hetfield bands. I've also heard that Lars was in a band who's name escapes me. I think it has the word "Knight" in it.

has thrashy "parts"?