A Top 100 Thrash Metal Albums List by Rexorcist

Likes: 1

Genre: Thrash Metal

This list is based on my personal genre tree

* Thrash Metal
** Black Thrash Metal
** Crossover Thrash
** Prog Thrash Metal
** Tech Thrash Metal

NOT COUNTED BUT POSSIBLY FEATURED: Thrashcore

1
Ride the Lightning

100 / USA

TM, Heavy Metal

As well as being my number one, this is the album I return to the most for its heavily metallic sound, excellent lyrics, magnificent power and ferocious jams.

2
Live Shit: Binge & Purge

100 / USA

TM, Heavy Metal

We get every side of the classic era on this album with perfect studio production. Many of these songs are as good as their counterparts, and thanks to the fact that each of the five albums don't sound like each other, there's more variety in the delivery.

3
Burnt Offerings

100 / USA

TM, US Power Metal, Power Metal, Heavy Metal

This is one of those albums that I thing embodies metal as a whole, and many of Iced Earth's best tunes are here as well. Despite having so many ranges of metal on both the greater and smaller levels of focus, it's incredibly consistent.

4
South of Heaven

100 / USA

TM

South of Heaven shows the mightly Slayer taking their thrash, hardcore and death influences into new territory as they're focusing more on writing a METAL album rather than just another showcase of speed and blasts.

5
No More Color

100 / Switzerland

Tech TM

In a half-hour, Coroner's insanity, complexity and unpredictability work together to do everything the band was capable of at that point. They really sound like monsters.

6
...and Justice for All

100 / USA

TM

This more technical album shows that the darkness of past effort still has new life willing to fight. Through the prog efforts, And Justice For All takes Metallica to worlds that they unfortunately never returned to.

7
The Blackening

100 / USA

Tech TM, Groove Metal

Machine Head takes the groove-thrash sound to a darker level, one that's poetic in its evil and perfectly balances groovy simplicity and metallic complexity.

8
Rust in Peace

99 / USA

TM, Speed Metal

Only tainted by the simplicity of Hangar 18's weak first half, this album is everything an energetic thrash album needs to be. Its metallic presence and Mustaine's personality are a perfect combo on this wild album full of jammers.

9
Terminal Redux

99 / USA

Tech TM

Everything that made Vektor's first two albums so good is at greater force now with more darkness, more progression and more menace.

10
Seasons in the Abyss

98 / USA

TM

Seasons in the Abyss finds Slayer balancing out the elements of the varied previous album with a stronger focus on different kinds of thrash, only made inferior to Seasons via weaker percussion power.

11
By Inheritance

97 / Denmark

TM

Very cool, very wild and boasting powerful metal spirit.

12
Dimension Hatröss

97 / Canada

Tech TM, Prog TM

While their punk attitude puts them through the occasional repetitive riff, Voivod also shows off an avant-garde side which keeps the album weird, entertaining and unpredictable.

13
Master of Puppets

100 / USA

TM, Heavy Metal

Although the metallic production of Ride the Lightning is gone, Master of Puppets has better lyrics and an overall range of catchier rhythms. Plus, that dark presence is still at full force.

14
Schizophrenia

97 / Brazil

TM

A very aptly-named album, Sepultura always had a knack for variety and showmanship, and this album shows off their best skills while keeping things unpredictable, loud and even creepy at times.

15
Mental Vortex

97 / Switzerland

Tech TM, TM

A little overlong, but loaded with a bunch of excellent performances that maintain the spirit of No More Color while keeping things a little more tame.

16
Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?

97 / USA

TM, Speed Metal

Peace Sells improves on the strengths of the debut with better songwriting. It's darker and meaner than before.

17
The Legacy

96 / USA

TM

Testament doesn't really stand out from the crowd much, but The Legacy is further proof that the band is made of excellent songwriters who know how to write different types of thrash songs and show their fans a good time.

18
Horrorscope

96 / USA

TM

A very cool album with some excellent solos and a very badass attitude.

19
Kill 'Em All

96 / USA

TM, Speed Metal

Even though its more simplistic than the later albums of their heyday, Metallica proves they have a lot of ability to write and perform great jams at peak performance.

20
The New Order

96 / USA

TM

This album seems to take a few cues from Master of Puppets, but Testament still writes their own songs with the own strong persona and obvious talents.

21
Reign in Blood

96 / USA

TM

Unadulterated thrash energy with the powers of darkenss on their side, they might be rehashing the same idea for 28 minutes, but the riffs are fresh and the punk attitude is terrifying.

22
Black Future

96 / USA

Tech TM

Nearly reaching the heights of Terminal Redux but not quite there, Vektor cemented themselves as moden thrash geniuses with their supersonic space sound and incredible technical skills.

23
Beneath the Remains

96 / Brazil

TM

Likely their darkest and most terrifying album, Sepultura'a thrash and death hybrid is not only technically impressive, but seriously scary.

24
Blood Fire Death

96 / Sweden

Traditional Black Metal, Black TM

Bathory's take on black thrash hybrid is musically perfect in its atmosphere and nearly in its delivery. This is basically a raw evil opera.

25
To Mega Therion

95 / Switzerland

TM

This album is raw metal evil. Its presence is akin to Venom might with more fixation on the nocturnal side, making this album way better than the usual Venom.

26
Burn My Eyes

95 / USA

TM, Groove Metal

On their first try, Machine Head wrote and delivered much cooler, more serious and more technical groove metal than the norm, even more than Pantera.

27
Punishment for Decadence

95 / Switzerland

Tech TM

Coroner were always a great band, but this is where they became brilliant. By giving further into their own personalities and showing better writing than on their debut RIP, Punishment for Decadence is an aggressive and maniacal piece of work that will never be fully outshined by Mental Cortex or No More Color.

28
The Gathering

95 / USA

TM

Testament are almost as good live as they are in the studio. This is an excellent collection of their best works with good production and a lot of energy.

29
Decade of Aggression: Live

95 / USA

TM

A double album full of thrashers might be a little long, but Slayer poured their hearts and souls into this live release which serves as a compliment to their legacy.

30
Coma of Souls

95 / Germany

TM

Kreator's love of violence has finally turned to brilliance in this violent but surprising collection of some of the most menacing and brutal thrash out there.

31
The Years of Decay

95 / USA

TM

While the songwriting is weaker than that of Horroscope and other classic thrash albums, Overkill make up for it by excess energy and personality that's fun to thrash and even sing to.

32
Outer Isolation

95 / USA

Tech Thrash

It might be a rehash of the previous album, but the strengths are still displayed without breaking tradition or sound by any means. Outer Isolation is worthy sequel that continues a raging journey into outer space at supersonic paces.

33
Lights Camera Revolution

95 / USA

Crossover Thrash, TM

This metal /punk hybrid album has all of the best traits of both genres working together in a youthful and attitudinal skater album with all of the fun, little bits of the skater dorkiness and a lot of cool riffs.

34
Practice What You Preach

95 / USA

TM, Heavy Metal

Testament continues their hot streak with one more album that might be suffering from familiatiry, but still has a lot of raw riff and writing ability belting it all out at max volume and expert delivery.

35
Killing Technology

95 / Canada

Tech TM, TM

Voivod is like a predecessor to Vektor in multiple ways, especially the sci-fi vibes. But the punk attitude and diversity is what separates them from Vektor, and they live it up with a lot of impressive technicality.

36
Vulgar Display of Power

95 / USA

Groove Metal, TM

Pantera knows attitude better than anyone. Every song on this album, while following a familiar pace throughout, is a total banger that makes you wanna punch your walls into Swiss cheese.

37
Extreme Aggression

95 / Germany

TM

Extreme Aggression is a title Kreator can live up to betteer than any band. Just because it isn't as heavy as Pleasure to Kill doesn't mean these guys can't rock out harder than most if not all other thrash bands. Their absurd heaviness is matched by greater writing to make this a real thrash gem instead of just a bunch of heavy thrashing.

38
Taking Over

95 / USA

TM

These songs are more well written and diverse than I would've considered before hearing this album. Almost as good as The Years of Decay, Overkill relies on personality again to match their instrumental abilities, and we get one more raw headbanger album by one of the best headbanger bands in the metal scene.

39
Brasil

95 / Brazil

Crossover Thrash

Thanks to a short runtime for each song and the album itself, every short track shows the band being able to do and deliver exactly what they want without drawing anything out. This gives the album the energy and personality you'd expect from a good Bad Religion album.

40
Night of the Stormrider

95 / USA

Power Metal, Heavy Metal, TM, PU Power Metal

A very cool story, an excellent sense of nocturnal vibes and some of their best riding make this Iced Earth album another essential for a metal collection.

41
Bonded by Blood

95 / USA

TM

This is the kind of thrash album that can do a lot of different things: rock out loud, creep you out, get a little quirky and keep you on your toes.

42
Arise
4.0
4.3

94 / Brazil

TM

Because of its familiar style in comparison to the previous album, Beneath the Remains, this album can't help but be compared to it unfavorably. But much of the same raw thrash talent is still there with a bunch of new songs and cool tricks.

43
Hell Awaits
4.0
4.0

94 / USA

TM

Hell Awaits marks the point where Slayer gave up the speed metal on the debut, marking the band's evolution from a very catchy speed band to a serious band where the t-shirt matters because the songs are there for you to thrash with, not to rock to.

44
Terrible Certainty

94 / Germany

TM

Terrible Certainty has less heaviness but more writing ability, making this one of the more complex albums by one of the world's heaviest bands, songwriting that isn't always great but has some genius every now and then.

45
Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!

93 / USA

TM, Speed Metal

Megadeth's debut proves that the band always had the talent to be one of the greatest of all time with a bunch of very cool songs with some good speed metal energy and a riotous foreground.

46
Live at the Fillmore

93.5 / USA

TM

These versions aren't as good as the studio versions, but the overall collection still gives us a lot of their hits played wonderfully.

47
PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation

92.5 / Australia

Prog TM

Even though the writing isn't quite brilliant, the delivery and variety offer a lot of fun to be bad. This album's difficult to classify thanks to its unique sound and delivery.

48
Psycho Surgery

92.5 / USA

TM, Tech TM, Christian Metal

This Christian band improves on their sound from the debut with more complexity, marking them as a signature metal band for Christians.

49
Morbid Tales

92 / Switzerland

TM

Even though Celtic Frost didn't have the best recording quality, their creepy atmosphere and clever blend of thrash, black and death still seep out in heavy doses.

50
Feel the Fire

92 / USA

TM

It might be more generic than the other classic Overkill albums, but there are a lot of fun tunes here. Overkill's personality saves the day again.

51
R.I.P.
3.9
3.7

92 / Switzerland

Tech TM

52
Show No Mercy

92 / USA

TM, Speed Metal

53
Leave Scars

92 / USA

TM

54
Cowboys From Hell

92 / USA

Groove Metal, TM

55
Best Wishes
0.0
0.0

92 / USA

Crossover Thrash, New York Hardcore

56
'Aντιτιμωρουμένη

91.5 / China

Black TM, Tech TM, Dissonant Black Metal

57
Heresy

92 / Germany

TM, Speed Metal

58
Biermächt
0.0
0.0

91 / USA

Crossover Thrash

59
Live at Eindhoven

91 / USA

TM

60
Speak English or Die

91 / USA

Crossover Thrash

61
Deathcrush

91 / USA

Black Metal, TM

62
Spreading the Disease

87 / USA

TM

63
Chaos A.D.

91 / Brazil

Groove Metal, TM

65
Alice in Hell

91 / Canada

TM, Tech TM

66
Malleus Maleficarum

91 / Netherlands

Death Metal, TM

67
The Great Southern Trendkill

90 / USA

Groove Metal, TM

68
Through the Never

90 / USA

TM, Heavy Metal

69
Stop the Bleeding

90 / USA

TM, Heavy Metal, Christian Metal

70
Terror Squad

90 / Denmark

TM, Tech TM

72
Never, Neverland

88

TM, Tech TM

73
Fear of Tomorrow

87 / Denmark

TM, Tech TM

74
Into the Dark Past

87 / Germany

TM, Speed Metal

75
Dreaming Neon Black

86 / USA

Prog TM, TM

76
Time Is Up
3.8
3.8

86 / USA

TM

77
Control and Resistance

86 / USA

Prog TM, Tech TM

78
III: Alpha Omega

86 / USA

Crossover Thrash

79
Pleasure to Kill

86 / Germany

TM

80
Tempo of the Damned

86 / USA

TM

81
4 of a Kind
2.8
2.8

85 / USA

TM, Crossover Thrash

82
Darkness Descends

85 / USA

TM

83
Legions
0.0
0.0

85 / Denmark

TM

84
Quadra

85 / Brazil

TM, Groove Metal, Tech TM

85
Lower Form Resistance

85 / Canada

Tech TM, Tech Death Metal

86
The Wings of War

84.5 / USA

TM

87
Souls of Black

84 / USA

TM

89
Low
3.4
3.7

83 / USA

TM

90
Among the Living

83 / USA

TM

91
Cada dia mais sujo e agressivo

82 / Brazil

Crossover Thrash

93
So Far, So Good... So What!

82 / USA

TM

94
The Sound of Steel

82 / USA

Tech TM, Neoclassical Metal

95
Enemies of Reality

81.5 / USA

TM

96
B.A.C.K.
3.3
3.3

81.5 / Denmark

TM

97
Shogun

81 / USA

Melodic Metalcore, TM

98
Nevermore

80 / USA

TM, US Power Metal

99
The Return......

79 / Sweden

Traditional Black Metal, TM

100
We Have Arrived

77.5 / USA

TM