25 Of The Most Under-Appreciated Albums In US Thrash History!
Forget The Big 4.....this is what you should be listening to!
Holy Terror – Terror And Submission (1987)
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Holy Terror‘s debut from 1987 remains one of the more aggressive albums from thrash’s golden age and this cult band deserved far greater acclaim for this and its equally accomplished follow-up, Mind Wars.
One of the most original sounding thrash bands of the 80’s, Terror And Submission recalls the classic clatter of Venom and Possessed and retains the filthy sound that thrash originally pioneered before Metallica and Megadeth etc bought a commercialised sheen to the genre. Still indebted to the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, “Evil’s Rising” particularly paid homage to the classic sounding, harmonised riffs of Diamond Head and Tygers Of Pan Tang while “Blood Of The Saints” updated Judas Priest’s British Steel for speed obsessed thrash enthusiasts!
Caught between speed metal’s barely in control histrionics and the melody of the NWOBHM, it’s the insanely varied vocals that push Terror And Submission into the realms of ‘classic’ status. Delivering a tour-de-force of ear-shattering shrieks and screams, melodic high’s and deathly low’s and thrash metals’ obligatory mid-range rasp, Keith Deen should be revered as one of the finest vocalists in thrash metal history; precious few could compete with his sheer skill and diversity.
Acknowledged as a semi-obscure classic among thrash die-hards, Terror And Submission remains a unique and under-appreciated entry in the history of thrash metal.
Note: Total Terror, a boxset containing Terror and Submission, Mind Wars, the El Revengo compilation and live material, was recently released via Dissonance Productions. So, if you don’t own this underrated masterpiece, now is the time to treat yourself!
Worship Metal – thanks for the inclusion oh Aftermath
Eyes Of Tomorrow is top class….and often overlooked. It just had to be included! 🙂 \m/
In the studio today finishing up the follow up to Eyes of Tomorrow. More aggressive and filled with attitude. Chris can’t wait to get it to you.
Amazing news! Can’t wait to hear it!! \m/
Whiplash ‘Power and Pain’
Good call but I think it recieves more love than the majority of the albums on here 🙂 \m/
Vendetta – Brain Damage.
Every song has great thrash beats and machine gun speedy riffs. Two guitarist and both sing.
But Vendetta are German…..this is a US thrash list 🙂 \m/
Toxik’s ‘World circus’. Great list by the way, many discoveries to check out (same remark for the german list).
Another good call…..and many thanks for the compliments, glad you enjoyed both features! 🙂 \m/
OMG !! GREAT LIST …but you guys have seemed to forget…Blind Illusion’s The Sane Asylum…Hands down (in my humble opinion!!) the most UNDERATED album EVER !! in any GENRE even !! If you havent heard it go online & LISTEN …a THRASH MASTERCLASS from the warped mind of MARK BIEDERMANN Les Calypool & Larry Lalonde !!
Thank you kindly…..look out for Blind Illusion in a follow-up feature….there’s loads more under-appreciated US albums we want to shout about! \m/
Sacrilege bc’s “Party With God” this is one of the all time underrated Thrash LP’s crossover that quite possibly started the blackned thrash movement.
Great list! Honored to have Intrinsic on there.
Thanks Mike! \m/
Forbidden.DBC,Sabbat,Cyclone,Violence and Cyclone Temple to name a few more! 🙂
Cheers Scott! Sabbat are British and Cyclone are Belgian though, so they can’t be included in a US thrash list. I think Forbidden and Vio-Lence are generally rated high and discussed often but Cyclone Temple are a great shout! \m/
oops sorry!
No worries man! 🙂 \m/
Uncle Slam,Pissing Razors and Wrath. Or is Pissing Razors from Mexico?
Pissing Razors are from Texas I think, but always considered them to be groove metal. Sub-genres causing problems as always!! haha
Great shout when it comes to Uncle Slam and particularly Wrath….a follow-up feature is in the works and these could both be included 🙂 \m/
demolition hammer – epidemic of violence is one of the most brutal and relentless thrash albums of all time, it deserves a spot there imo
Can’t argue with you there! \m/
Can’t argue with that! \m/
Hey very interesting blog!