20 essential thrash albums

I have most of them. Only missing 2.

7. Thanatos: "Emerging From The Netherworlds"

19. Acid Reign: "Obnoxious"


I would have picked different albums for Anthrax (Spreading the Disease), Flots (Doomsday for the Deceiver) and Ulitmatum (Into the Pit). The Onslaught I only have on cassette.

I have ten on the list. Looks like I need to pick up a few more to beef up my metal cred.

Temple of Blood wrote:

"Among the Living" Master Of Puppets is probably the most overrated thrash album ever. I loved it as a kid but it did not age well. I can't listen to it any more.

Fixed that for ya

On a serious note though, I still like "Among The Living" quite a bit, but it wouldn't be my pick for Anthrax.

1. Flotsam and Jetsam: "No Place For Disgrace".
2. Annihilator: "Never, Neverland"
3. Slayer: "South Of Heaven"
10. Sabbat: "Dreamweaver"
12. Anthrax: "Among The Living"
13. Overkill: "Under The Influence"
15. Death Angel: "Act III"
16. Exodus: "Fabulous Disaster"
17. Ultimatum: "Puppet Of Destruction"
20. Sepultura: "Beneath The Remains"

^^^^^^^^^^I have those^^^^^^^^^^

i know it's just the guys favorites list, but only 5 of those would i call "essential".

DeathCult wrote:

Temple of Blood wrote:

"Among the Living" Master Of Puppets is probably the most overrated thrash album ever. I loved it as a kid but it did not age well. I can't listen to it any more.

Fixed that for ya

On a serious note though, I still like "Among The Living" quite a bit, but it wouldn't be my pick for Anthrax.

I prefer Persistence of Time myself. That album just doesn't get enough love.

mc666 wrote:

i know it's just the guys favorites list, but only 5 of those would i call "essential".

Which 5? I would guess...


2. Annihilator: "Never, Neverland"
3. Slayer: "South Of Heaven"
6. Kreator: "Terrible Certainty"
11. Dark Angel: "Darkness Descends"
13. Overkill: "Under The Influence"

I'd call 7 of them essential (though not necessarily my personal favorites).

Listened to THANATOS ... they're great. Definitely could appeal to fans of POSSESSED.

ultmetal wrote:

mc666 wrote:

i know it's just the guys favorites list, but only 5 of those would i call "essential".

Which 5? I would guess...


2. Annihilator: "Never, Neverland"
3. Slayer: "South Of Heaven"
6. Kreator: "Terrible Certainty"
11. Dark Angel: "Darkness Descends"
13. Overkill: "Under The Influence"

actually, from his selection i would say...
Kreator - Terrible Certainty
Dark Angel - Darkness Descends
Overkill - Under The Influence
Nuclear Assault - Handle With Care
Sepultura - Beneath The Remains

mc666 wrote:

ultmetal wrote:

mc666 wrote:

i know it's just the guys favorites list, but only 5 of those would i call "essential".

Which 5? I would guess...


2. Annihilator: "Never, Neverland"
3. Slayer: "South Of Heaven"
6. Kreator: "Terrible Certainty"
11. Dark Angel: "Darkness Descends"
13. Overkill: "Under The Influence"

actually, from his selection i would say...
Kreator - Terrible Certainty
Dark Angel - Darkness Descends
Overkill - Under The Influence
Nuclear Assault - Handle With Care
Sepultura - Beneath The Remains

Darn it! I almost picked Sepultura but left it off in favor of Slayer! Thought for sure Slayer would be on your list.

mc666 wrote:

ultmetal wrote:

mc666 wrote:

i know it's just the guys favorites list, but only 5 of those would i call "essential".

Which 5? I would guess...


2. Annihilator: "Never, Neverland"
3. Slayer: "South Of Heaven"
6. Kreator: "Terrible Certainty"
11. Dark Angel: "Darkness Descends"
13. Overkill: "Under The Influence"

actually, from his selection i would say...
Kreator - Terrible Certainty
Dark Angel - Darkness Descends
Overkill - Under The Influence
Nuclear Assault - Handle With Care
Sepultura - Beneath The Remains

I can agree with that as far as picking essentials.

ultmetal wrote:

Darn it! I almost picked Sepultura but left it off in favor of Slayer! Thought for sure Slayer would be on your list.

if it had been Hell Awaits or Reign In Blood, then yeah. South Of Heaven was good, but not what i'd call essential.

I own these albums:

1. Flotsam and Jetsam: "No Place For Disgrace".
3. Slayer: "South Of Heaven"
6. Kreator: "Terrible Certainty"
9. Onslaught: "In Search Of Sanity"
11. Dark Angel: "Darkness Descends"
12. Anthrax: "Among The Living"
13. Overkill: "Under The Influence"
14. Nuclear Assault: "Handle With Care"
15. Death Angel: "Act III"
16. Exodus: "Fabulous Disaster"
20. Sepultura: "Beneath The Remains"

I have Annihilation Principle on a data CD-R, but I don't count it since it's not a hard copy. I never listen to it, anyway. Terrible Certainty and Darkness Descends are by far my favorite albums in this list, I'd place them in my top 5 favorite thrash albums list.

After not having heard it for some time, this discussion prompted me to crank "Among the Living" at the gym this morning. Still sounded great to me! A timeless album IMO.

I also cranked the remastered Puppet of Destruction in my car. The new version is SOOOOO much better than the old one, it's night and day. The original mastering sucked! Thought so when it was released, really think so now that it's been mastered properly.

Temple of Blood wrote:

"Among the Living" is probably the most overrated thrash album ever. I loved it as a kid but it did not age well. I can't listen to it any more.

I used to feel the same way about that album (and Anthrax in general) for a long time, but on a whim I upgraded AMONG... to CD a couple of years ago and enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. Since then I've re-acquired CDs of most of the old Anthrax albums I used to have on tape/vinyl back in the day.

I think there was a period of time where that band sounded "dated" to me, but now enough time has passed since then that their stuff has a "retro" charm to it... if that makes any sense.

SPREADING THE DISEASE still smokes AMONG THE LIVING though. It always did.

Fat Freddy wrote:

SPREADING THE DISEASE still smokes AMONG THE LIVING though. It always did.

Agreed! That one is a classic.

I have 18 out of 20, but none of them is in my Top 20 (the Sepultura and the Kreator album come closest) and most of those albums are not essential in my book.

firestarter wrote:

I have 18 out of 20, but none of them is in my Top 20 (the Sepultura and the Kreator album come closest) and most of those albums are not essential in my book.

It's all a matter of opinion. What would your Top 20 be?

I wouldn't say any of them are ESSENTIAL except Dark Angel "Darkness Descends" and Sepultura "Beneath The Remains".

If we're picking what we consider to be "essential" out of this list:

2. Annihilator: "Never, Neverland"
3. Slayer: "South Of Heaven"
5. Voivod: "Nothingface"
6. Kreator: "Terrible Certainty"
8. Laaz Rockit: "Annihilation Principle"
10. Sabbat: "Dreamweaver"
11. Dark Angel: "Darkness Descends"
12. Anthrax: "Among The Living"
13. Overkill: "Under The Influence"
16. Exodus: "Fabulous Disaster"
17. Ultimatum: "Puppet Of Destruction
20. Sepultura: "Beneath The Remains"

I like the other ones as well, they just wouldn't be my picks. Hell some of these wouldn't even be my picks, but they're all good choices.

Essentials from this list, according to me:

2. Annihilator: "Never, Neverland"
6. Kreator: "Terrible Certainty"
10. Sabbat: "Dreamweaver"
12. Anthrax: "Among The Living"
14. Nuclear Assault: "Handle With Care"

kmorg wrote:

Essentials from this list, according to me:

2. Annihilator: "Never, Neverland"
6. Kreator: "Terrible Certainty"
10. Sabbat: "Dreamweaver"
12. Anthrax: "Among The Living"
14. Nuclear Assault: "Handle With Care"

I'd still pick "Survive" over "Handle With Care", it's just sooo much better. "Fabulous Disaster" will always be my Exodus pick too, Bonded and Pleasures are good, but they hit GOLD with that one.

WOW! That created quite a stir lol


Hiya everybody, I'm the author of the list! Thanks Scott for posting the list on the forum, as you rightly said it's all a matter of opinion right? Anno, bands like Testament or Heathen should also be there... but hey, it's only 20 right? Tankard and Xentrix are also worth mentioning when it comes to European thrash. And yes, in case you're wondering, Metallica and Megadeth are not there because they're good bands but in my humble opinion these albums absolutely own!

A couple things I'd like to point out folks:

- The list is "in no particular order" (some said he was surprised that the Flotsam album was first)

- With some bands, it could've been other albums as well. Yep, "Ultra-Violence" could've perfectly been there instead of "Act III". Or "Horrorscope" and "Years of Decay" instead of "Under the Influence".

- I think Thanatos is downright thrash... mmmh there's some death metal there, but they sound very European thrash to me. This album sounds just a little dated but it still makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck!

I grew up on thrash metal guys. I love my old school albums and re-visit them very often.


Scott, the only copy I have of the Puppet album is the remastered version that I got from you guys. It's a terrific album and it simply inspires me. That's why it's there. It's that good bud.


Oh, if you actually check on the link you can also surf through the website and listen to my band, Nephwrack, which I sing for. We just put out our second album and we're fairly known in the south of England, where I live. So far we've played with bands like Evile, Wolf, Firewind... and we're getting rave reviews for this new album. We play heavy metal with a current touch and a fair sprinkling of thrash here and there. Scott has checked out the songs on the website and we seem to have gained a new fan, which is totally cool.


Stay heavy folks, and I'm happy that at least you found my list interesting!!

Thrash forever!

\m/

ultmetal wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Not a bad list. I wouldn't put F&J at number 1, but that's just me. I never found the appeal of that album. Moving on...

Quote :

7. Thanatos: "Emerging From The Netherworlds"
Sadly overlooked album, and an underground classic in its own right. These Dutchmen sure could deliver fine thrash and this album is infectious. Stephan Gebedy had a very "European" thrash kind of voice if you know what I mean. Songs like "Aggressive Perfector" and "Outward Of The Inward" are sheer intensity. Top album.

Never heard of them or that album. Anyone?

Nope, never heard that one either. Started searching it out after I read it though.

Yeah, i have their cd. They are from Holland and the rerelease of that album comes with bonus tracks (old demo). They played a cool thrash/death metal. MANDATOR and DEAD HEAD were two other cool dutch thrash bands with some death touches.

Ravenscraig wrote:

Scott has checked out the songs on the website and we seem to have gained a new fan, which is totally cool.

Thrash forever! \m/

Indeed.