Bonzo Brad's Heavy Metal Thunder: THE Albums That Inspired Thrash

Thrash metal has been a kind of metal I started to dig more and more as I dug deeper into the genre. At first, I’d only listen to Metallica and that was it. I never broadened my thrash horizons. That was until I heard Anthrax and their little ditty about the Cherokee people. You know…”Indians.” Then I started to become more interested in the genre and started to put my feet in the thrashy waters. I started to look for any classic thrash record around, from “Reign in Blood” to “Peace Sells…” Once I got them and started to listen, I couldn’t fucking stop. Now, my love of thrash has grown big time. I am now a fan of lesser-known thrash bands like Death Angel, Sodom, and Nuclear Assault, along with still loving Metallica and Anthrax. Because of my love of the genre, I decided to really dig deep and try to find it’s roots and what band/albums really helped kick start thrash. This is what I came up with:

Queen – “Sheer Heart Attack”

One reason why I think this album is an influence on thrash: “Stone Cold Crazy.” That song was one of many that really helped kick start thrash. I mean, that fucking riff by Brian May!? Good god! That thing is monstrous. The drumming on that tune by sir Roger Taylor is so fucking driving too. It’s a fucking brilliant tune, and is one of my favorite Queen tunes of all time. But, it’s not just that song that helped thrash become thrash. Brian May’s guitar work influenced a lot of thrash guitarists, especially Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield of Metallica. Other tracks to check out that were influential on thrash is the rollicking album opener “Brighton Rock” and the asskicking “Now I’m Here.”

Black Sabbath – “Sabotage”

There are MANY Sabbath records that could be put in this spot, like “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” or “Heaven and Hell.” But, this album is so fucking dark and heavy and was definitely a precursor to thrash. To me, this is definitely Sabbath’s heaviest record. No doubt about it. A track that always gets me on this album is “Symptom of the Universe.” That riff is fucking mental and gargantuan. Even Sepultura thought so when they covered it on their “Roots” record. No one can come up with a riff the way Tony Iommi does. The man is pure genius and was a huge influence on many thrash guitarists, from Kerry King of Slayer to Dimebag Darrell of Pantera. Geezer Butler was also quite the influence on thrash bassists with his thunderous bass slapping, with his big fans being Frank Bello of Anthrax and Cliff Burton of Metallica. This album was also a big influence. The darkness and epicness of songs like “Megalomania” and “The Writ” would influence a lot of thrash bands as they would mature.

Judas Priest – “Unleashed in the East”

Here’s another band that could have many albums on this list. Priest was extremely influential in thrash music, with their twin guitar attacks, pulsating drums, and Christ-like vocals of Rob “the Metal God” Halford. On their live record “Unleashed in the East,” those things mentioned earlier were put into full force. The album has many killer proto-thrash tunes, like the double-kick driving “Exciter,” “Sinner,” and “Tyrant.” These songs would make dudes in bands like Overkill and Anthrax get all excited and thrash it out on their instruments. Priest was really in their element on this record, being more furious, ferocious, and vicious as ever. “Stained Class” and “British Steel” would be two other records I’d consider influential on thrash, but this album really has the thrash elements down pat, like speed, energy, and intensity, along with a certain rawness too, due to it being live. Killer band, really killer record. One of my favorites of all time.

Motorhead – “Ace of Spades”

What can you say about Motorhead? These guys were loud, fast, and crazy as fuck. They pretty much had the thrash thing down before many other bands and would go on to influence many thrash bands in America with their loud, raw style of metal. Many people were introduced to Motorhead through the song “Ace of Spades,” along with the album of the same name. The album was chock full of killer tunes, from the title track to “The Hammer.” The band was unbelievably raw and loud, compared to most bands of their time. They had an almost punky attitude to them, mixed in with ferocious metal, which is pretty much the ingredients for a killer thrash style. Motorhead pretty much got the ball rolling for many thrash bands and are still going at it.

Iron Maiden – “Killers”

Maiden’s first two records are extremely influential on thrash music. When Maiden had Paul Di’anno in the band as their singer, they had more of a street-style, punky metal thing going on, but with virtuosic playing over it, making it a little more technical than Motorhead, but still keeping the attitude and ferociousness. If I had to pick between the two albums as which one is the better one and most influential, I’d no doubt say “Killers.” The album had many classic tunes on it, like the album opener “The Ides of March/Wrathchild,” the title track, “Murders in the Rue Morgue,” and “Another Life.” This album has a little more punch to it too, courtesy of the fantastic production by the legendary Martin Birch. That gives this album more reason to be a very influential album on the thrash scene.

Diamond Head – “Lightning to the Nations”

No Diamond Head, no Metallica or Megadeth. These dudes were HIGHLY influential on these bands, especially this record. This is the only record they are really known for, due to half the album being covered by Metallica. But, it serves it right to be known, because the album really kicks ass and has some really killer riffing going on courtesy of guitarist Brian Tatler. You can definitely hear the influences of Zeppelin and Purple, along with Sabbath and Priest, in the songs on this record, like “Am I Evil?” “Sucking My Love,” and “Helpless.” Hard to find album anymore, but if you want to find a few of the roots of thrash, just go to good ole Youtube and find ya some Diamond Head.