Lancashire Loud’s Top 10 Thrash Tracks

This feature brings together the team’s top thrash metal tracks, spanning more than three decades. We cover everything from Slayer to Exodus and Power Trip. Take a look below to see our top choices, or head over to the Lancashire Loud Thrash Metal Spotify Playlist by clicking the link.

Slayer — “Raining Blood”

It’s impossible to talk about thrash, without mentioning Slayer. “Raining Blood” closes the band’s 1986 album, Reign in Blood, which was their first with producer Rick Rubin. The whole record comes in at less than half an hour, but includes some of their most well-known material, including “Angel of Death”.

In an interview with Metal Hammer, Kerry King admitted that he didn’t quite know how significant the album would be while they were making it. Four decades on, it’s still a defining release for them. Even though there were a few tracks we could have chosen from this band, “Raining Blood” is so iconic that it just had to claim the spot.

Exodus — “Bonded by Blood”

“Bonded by Blood” opens up Exodus’s 1985 album of the same name. It was completed in 1984, but various issues delayed the release. By then, the Bay Area thrash scene that Exodus helped to establish was starting to gain widespread attention. The album features Paul Baloff on vocals alongside Gary Holt and Rick Hunolt on guitars. It would end up being Baloff’s only full-length studio album with the band, but he did return for a live release. With songs including “A Lesson in Violence” and “Strike of the Beast”, this album is a defining release for the thrash genre, and we just had to pick a song off it.

Anthrax — “Indians”

“Indians” is from Anthrax’s 1987 album, Among the Living. Scott Ian has previously spoken about writing “Indians” to draw attention to the treatment of Native Americans, but other songs on the record have a completely different source of inspiration. “Among the Living” draws inspiration from Stephen King’s The Stand, and “I Am the Law” focuses on Judge Dredd. This wide range of inspiration is what makes the album such an enjoyable listen, with tracks like “Indians” standing out as the top choice for us.

Sepultura — “Arise”

“Arise” is from Sepultura’s fourth album. Released in 1991, it follows Beneath the Remains. The band travelled to Florida to work with Scott Burns, and this release marked their first time making an album outside Brazil. The record gave an early indication of the direction that they would go on to explore beyond thrash, and as Andreas Kisser has pointed out, there are some South American influences that appear throughout the album. For this feature, we chose “Arise”, as it documented the period before Chaos A.D. and Roots took the band into different territory.

Annihilator — “Alison Hell”

Annihilator were led by Jeff Waters at the time of their 1989 debut, Alice in Hell. He also produced the album, and played both guitar and bass on the recordings. Randy Rampage, who was previously in D.O.A., handled the vocals. Even though there are five musicians on the sleeve, Waters, Rampage and Ray Hartmann were responsible for the instruments and vocals. “Alison Hell” is a great entry point for anyone looking to explore the album.

Testament — “Practice What You Preach”

This next song is the title track from Testament’s third album, which came out in 1989. It follows The Legacy and The New Order, and helped to put them on the map. Annihilator actually supported Testament during their tour of this album, while promoting Alice in Hell.

Megadeth — “Tornado of Souls”

“Tornado of Souls” is from Rust in Peace, the first Megadeth album to feature Marty Friedman and Nick Menza. They joined Mustaine and David Ellefson in a line-up that would eventually go on to record Countdown to Extinction, Youthanasia and Cryptic Writings. Even though classics like Rust in Peace include songwriting that covers a diverse range of subjects, this one has a much more personal background. Mustaine linked “Tornado of Souls” to his previous relationship. Aside from the songwriting, Friedman’s solo also speaks for itself.

Power Trip — “Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe)”

Released on Power Trip’s second album, Nightmare Logic, in 2017, “Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe)” is actually the most recent track on our list. With production handled by the esteemed Arthur Rizk, it was an essential track for our feature.

Kreator — “Pleasure to Kill”

“Pleasure to Kill” is the title track from Kreator’s second album, which was released in 1986. It came after their debut, Endless Pain. Mille Petrozza has confirmed that they hadn’t expected to make a second album, but when their label asked them to return to the studio, they couldn’t say no.

Petrozza took a lot of inspiration from the movie Faces of Death, using this as a recurring theme throughout the record. It would end up being an important release for them, and influenced music way beyond thrash.

Metallica — “Battery”

“Battery” opens Metallica’s 1986 album, Master of Puppets. This album saw them return to Copenhagen’s Sweet Silence Studios, where they worked with Flemming Rasmussen, after they collaborated with him on Ride the Lightning. It would also be their final album with Cliff Burton, who died later that year. Although there are many songs which could have taken this spot for Metallica, we had to go with “Battery”.

Concluding Lancashire Loud’s Top 10 Thrash Metal Tracks

These ten tracks bring together bands from the US, Canada, Brazil and Germany, covering several of the scenes that helped thrash become everything it’s known for today.

Check out our other Loud features on the Lancashire Loud website, including Loud Black, Loud Power and Loud Melodeath.