I think thrash fans and musicians have forgotten the power

Troublezone wrote:

There's nothing like a great solo over a heavy riff. Players like Rocky George, Dimebag and Tommy Victor were cool because they played a bit outside the box of what others were doing.

Rocky George is always somebody I think of when I think of well played thrash solos (along with Skolnick) and I agree that more modern thrash bands need to give us some (and as always, good vocals as well-yeah, I'm still beating that drum).

Long time reader, first time poster.


1. Most definitely. A good solo can get your adrenaline pumping just as much as a tasty riff.
2. Probably stems from the general attitide towards them in the 90's.
3. Ole Drake definitely plays some good stuff (Love Infected Nation's solo), Seems like up and comming Sword of judgement's guitarist lays em down nicely as well.
4. Could have still been good, IMO, but not great. I'm a rythm man myself, but you can't deny the well played solo!
5. Boring. It works (great) for some, but I can't imagine my thrash/speed metal without solos like the ones in Deliverance - Flesh and Blood, Megadeth - Holy Wars, Metallica - Creeping Death, etc., that made me break out the air guitar unashamedly!

The lack of guitar solos was just one of many factors that put me off St Anger. Some of those tracks had a rather a simple song structure, that they were just crying out for for inclusion of a solo here and there.

I'm a big fan of Megadeth, and one of the key reasons is because Dave Mustaine and Chris Broderick (and Broderick's predecessors) litter songs with plenty of solos. With my belief that Mustaine is not the greatest singer and Megadeth does not carry quite the same aggressive bite of the '80's, I feel that the musical craftmanship and especially lead guitar work help to make Megadeth albums a selling point for my tastes.

Meanwhile, I can think of classic albums, such as Mortification's Scrolls of the Megiloth, or some Napalm Death, which are largely devoid of guitar solos, but riffing gets the job done and they are still a pleasure to listen to. Yet, I rely on other bands, such as Obituary including guitar solos to complete the overall package. If I imagine a band like Obituary not having guitar solos, Obituary may come up a tad short for my liking.
All my favourite thrash bands typically have guitar solos in them, and whether they're just a random set of notes, or structured in nature, really doesn't matter to me - as long as they fit the music.

Guitar solos and thrash are a very complex recipe that has to be made with some thought in order to be engaging. When you have an excessively fast song with a lot of aggression behind it, the easier route is to just shred. But shredding alone--I'm speaking primarily double-picking with few to no dynamics in the mix--isn't interesting. Guys like Marty and Kerry knew how to hook it up and put some melody in front. As much as I love Dan Spitz (whose work on Spreading the Disease was several notches above the later albums) and Bobby Gustafson, they did fall prey to the "shred method," IMHO. Let's not forget that thrash has been a bit more anti-melodic than other metal genres. That makes it even more of a challenge.

TL;DR: hats off to lead thrash guitarists.

I love a good solo. It adds a little gusto to a song. However, I don't think that every song needs one to make it a good song. That said, an entire album without solos would get very monotonous so there's got to be a fine line in the diversity of an entire album.

Gotta agree with this. It's a good changeup when a band forsakes a solo or two in the album.