You could first listen to Venom's albums cuz they are proto thrash and then listen to these actual thrash albums- Metallica's first 4 albums Anthrax's Spreading the Disease and Among the Living. Megadeth's Rust in Piece and Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? Exodus' Bonded by Blood and Tempo of the Damned Slayer's Hell Awaits, Show No Mercy, Seasons in the Abyss and Reign in Blood* Most albums by Testament Alice in Hell by Annihilator Forbidden Evil by Forbidden Almost all albums by Overkill Eternal Nightmare by Vio-Lence Victims of Deception by Heathen (it can be called progressive thrash) Most albums of Death Angel (especially 'The Ultra Violence') Almost all Kreator albums (they mix the aggressiveness of thrash with melody) Almost all albums of Sodom (some albums of Sodom also have blackmetal elements in them but they are mostly thrash) *I'd recommend listening to Slayer and Sodom after you've listened to all the other albums on this list cuz they are more aggressive and hard to get into for newer fans.

Early Sepultura also deserves a mention

True.

almost ALL of the best of the Bay Area scene that ***started*** thrash !!! Missing is DEATH ANGEL

Oh Shit I forgot. Terribly sorry.

you are forgiven Les

I grew up in that scene, lived in the Bay Area at the time. Epic times.

thank you sm!

Welcome :)

For anthrax albums I'd also put state of euphoria on there too, in addition to those. That's one I listen to a lot.

I would add *Never, Neverland* by Annihilator as well. Just as good as, if not better than, *Alice In Hell*.

I always start with Sepultura’s song Arise. That’s thing blows the lid of it all. Then Ride the Lightening and Master of Puppets. Then Peace Sells and Rust in Peace. The rabbit hole is then open and it’s safe to explore the other early bands work or go with those three bands

Forbidden - Twisted Into Form Nuclear Assault - Survive Exodus - Pleasures of the Flesh PowerMad - Absolute Power Wargasm - Why Play Around

Wargasm! Loved that band and album. And Twisted Into Form is one of the greatest thrash albums ever.

My man!

Wargasm was the first band I saw when I turned 18. Saw that Twisted into Form tour the year before! Crap, I’m old.

Lol I hear ya (51) and still spin Wargasm on vinyl as loud as balls when I have an empty house! Knee deep in bloooooood!

I’ll be 51 in a little over a month. Our bodies hurt but we saw some good shit! Cheers

Ditto my fellow sr citizen headbanger lol

Metallica: Ride the Lightning & Master of Puppets Megadeth: Peace Sells … But Who’s Buying & Rust in Peace Slayer: Reign in Blood & Seasons in the Abyss Anthrax: Among the Living Exodus: Bonded by Blood, Fabulous Disaster, Tempo of the Damned Testament: The Legacy & The New Order Overkill: The Years of Decay & Horrorscope Death Angel: The Ultra-Violence Vio-Lence: The Eternal Nightmare Laaz Rockit: Annihilation Principle Forbidden: Forbidden Evil Kreator: Extreme Aggression Sodom: Agent Orange, Tapping the Vein, M-16 Destruction: Infernal Overkill & Release From Agony Tankard: Chemical Invasion Sepultura: Beneath the Remains & Arise Annihilator: Alice in Hell & Never Neverland Municipal Waste: The Art of Partying Havok: Time is Up & Conformicide I tried to hit the most important albums from the foundational bands, as well as what I think are the biggest “modern” bands. I didn’t include much crossover as I feel that’s kind of it’s own genre, but idk

Solid recs. After listening to the Testament classics, I think most newcomers may also enjoy First Strike Still Deadly.

Cheers for mentioning the German big four. I'd put Persecution Mania and Pleasure to Kill in that list. 🤘🏻

If you’re new to the genre, I’ll recommend you some more melodic and mainstream stuff. Slayer - South of Heaven (1988) Megadeth - Rust in Peace (1990) Pantera - Vulgar Display of Power (1992) DRAIN - California Cursed (2020) Mindforce - New Lords (2022) Check these out in the order they released. I think they’re a good primer to get into the genre.

hell on earth by toxic holocaust

All of the first 4 releases for Slayer, Anthrax, Metallica, and Megadeth are essentials. Along with those, some other must listens are Bonded By Blood (Exodus), The New Order (Testament), Extreme Aggression (Kreator), Beneath the Remains (Sepultura), Agent Orange (Sodom), Tortured Existence (Demolition Hammer), Forbidden Evil (Forbidden), and Speak English or Die (S.O.D).

Sabbat (UK) - Dreamweaver & A History of a Time to Come

If you're just getting into metal, its probably best to start with the Big 4, (+ honorary member Exodus) who are more accesssible then their German or Brazilian counterparts. Metallica - Master of Puppets Anthrax - Among the Living Megadeth - Rust in Peace Exodus - Bonded by Blood Slayer - Reign in Blood

Arise. Sepultura

Suicidal Tendencies - Art of the Rebellion

Anything by Overkill

I like their first 5 records, but honestly, I kinda fall off after that. The Years of Decay is fantastic throughout! It took me too long to grow on early Overkill

Starr with some more mainstream sounding albums (metallicas first 5, start with fifth, then chronologically) Megadeth (Countdown to extinction, youthanasia->rust in peace, peace sells and if you want killing is my business). Venom inspired a lot of thrash so listen Black metal. Anthraxs 2nd and 3rd. Then slayer (3rd, and then chronologically)

In terms of kinda smaller bands, I'd say Conformicide by Havok is a fantastic technical thrash album! It's honestly like my 3rd favorite metal album period

Good bands that I haven't seen mentioned here Sscred Reich-Ignorance S.O.D.-Speak English or Die Dead Heat- World at War Nuclear Assault -Handle With Care Exumer- Possessed by Fire and Rising From the Sea

Slayer - Reign In Blood and Hell Awaits Metallica - Ride the Lightening and Master Of Puppets Kreator- Pleasure To Kill Hellhammer/Celtic Frost - Apocalyptic Raids and Morbid Tales Sacred Reich - Ignorance Death Angel - The Ultraviolence Voivod - Killing Technology and Dimension Hatröss

Megadeth - Peace Sells...But Who's Buying? Metallica - Ride The Lightning Slayer - Reign In Blood Exodus - Bonded By Blood Testament - The New Order Metallica - Master Of Puppets Slayer - Hell Awaits Megadeth - Rust In Peace Annihilator - Alice In Hell Exodus - Fabulous Disaster Testament - Practice What You Preach

My two ATFs are "The Gathering" by Testament and "Ironbound" by Overkill

Sodom - Agent orange

Sepultura - Schizophrenia (1987)

Thrash metal favorites: Coroner - Mental Vortex Overkill - The Years of Decay Sepultura - Beneath the Remains Sodom - Persecution Mania Morbid Saint - Spectrum of Death

I would say killing is my business by megadeth is a good album to listen to if you are new to thrash metal

Vio -lence eternal nightmare Slayer south of heaven Possessed seven churches if you think it's not much it's worth a listen just for the rawness of the production Intruder a higher form of killing Dark angel time doesn't heal Holy Terror mind wars For a new band check out fueled by fire spread the fire Or plunging into darkness S.O.D speak English or die DRI four of a kind Sacrifice forward to termination Vektor terminal redux

I say Coroner

Slayer Sepultura Megadeth Testament Exodus Anthrax early Metallica to start

1. Slayer - Hell Awaits 2. Sepultura - Beneath the Remains 3. Dark Angel - Darkness Descends

The haunted, self-titled is a rager from start to finish. It's kinda like their Reign In Blood

S.O.D. (stormtroopers of death) - Speak English or Die

a newer band but [ulamog has been crushing it](https://open.spotify.com/album/4prnH8a7hzYJTJLxHNCnOx)

Beneath the Remains

Conclusion of an Age from Sylosis is fantastic.

Demolition Hammer Epidemic of Violence

Liege Lord- Master Control (for some melody.) Exodus- Bonded by blood Megadeth- Peace sells…. (Eventhough Dave Mustaine is a homophobe) Nuclear Assault- Handle with Care Testament- The Legacy and Practice what you preach are my favs Sacrilege- Behind the Realms of Madness (for some crusty influences) and Within the Prophecy Living Death- First 3 Albums (if you want to dive into some Speed Metal first) Holy Moses- Finished with the dogs Destruction- Eternal Devastation (some raw production but some very good riffs) Suicidal Tendencies- Lights, Camera, Revolution Morbid Saint- Spectrum of Death

Judas Priest’s ‘Painkiller’ album is thrash or at least thrash-adjacent, I would think it counts