Bands to Make the Big Four of Thrash Metal the Big Five

The Top Ten
1 Exodus Exodus is an American thrash metal band formed in 1979 in Richmond, California. Spanning a career of 37 years, Exodus has gone through numerous lineup changes, two extended hiatuses, and the deaths of two former band members.

Yes, Exodus. not testament- Exodus had it with MetallicA back in 1982-1983, they'd play together, hang together and part together, Dave Mustain admitted that there is the big 5 and the 5th being exodus

Exodus are definitely "Big 5"-worthy, not only because they are older than all the "Big 4" bands (having formed in 1979) and had Kirk Hammett as their guitarist in their early days, but they were the first Bay Area thrash metal band to exist. That predates Metallica, who hadn't even moved to the Bay Area until shortly after they hired Cliff Burton as their bassist. Not to mention, one of Exodus' early demos inspired Slayer to make "Show No Mercy", and they would inspire many bands of their generation such as Megadeth, Anthrax, Testament, Sepultura, Death Angel, Kreator and many others. Without Exodus, there would be no such thing as thrash metal or the bands of that genre.

Honestly, there are only three logical options: Exodus, Testament, and Overkill. The reason I don't include Kreator is that they were more influential to death metal than to thrash. Exodus was one of the creators of thrash, so they deserve a shot. Testament has a huge following now, and is still making great music. Despite not being one of the first, they kept thrash alive through the early 90's. Overkill was, in my opinion, more influential in shaping the East Coast thrash scene more than Anthrax. Their consistency is greater than almost any other band. In addition, they continue to make good albums, such as Ironbound and Electric Age.

I voted for Overkill. I am more of a fan of Overkill than the others. Looking at it objectively, I would vote for Testament, though. What defined the "Big 4" was their popularity, and how they brought the thrash genre to metal fans as a whole. Testament is easily more popular than Exodus and Overkill, and they've popularized it much ...more

Kirk is in the best band by far and is the best lead guitarist by far (Jaymz is a rhythm) so his old band must be the top. They are great without Kirk too.

2 Testament Testament is an American thrash metal band from Berkeley, California. Formed in 1983 under the name Legacy, the band consists of vocalist Chuck Billy, guitarists Eric Peterson and Alex Skolnick, bassist Steve DiGiorgio and drummer Gene Hoglan.

Bands to Make the Big Four of Thrash Metal the Big Five
Best Thrash Metal Bands You Need to Check Out Besides the Big 4
Top Ten Best Thrash Bands That Are Not In the Big Four

No need for these three lists to exist at the same time. They are practically the same.

The most successful thrash band outside of the big four. Excellent thrash metal throughout their entire career. The Legacy, The New Order, and Practice What You Preach are all thrash metal albums of perfection.

How about a new Big 4 of Thrash? Instead of most commercially successful bands, just make it the bands who are most consistently true to the genre.
Testament
Overkill
Exodus
Kreator

I like them better than Anthrax, they should have been the other one, and I still love Anthrax.

3 Overkill Overkill is an American thrash metal band, formed in 1980 in New Jersey. They have gone through many line-up changes, with singer Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth and bassist D.D.

The reason Overkill deserves a place in the Big 4 or Big 5 is not because they've existed longer than all the Big 4 bands, but because they're the best thrash metal band ever.

Overkill is a highly underrated band, and my 4th favorite thrash band

4 Annihilator Annihilator is a Canadian thrash metal band founded in 1984 by vocalist, guitarist, bassist, songwriter, engineer, producer, mixer and mastering engineer Jeff Waters and former vocalist John Bates.

Okay, Anthrax fills the big 4 mostly because the "Among The Living" masterpiece... so Annihilator with its "Alice in Hell" is almost that good as Anthrax...

Annihilator! Never mind being in the big 5, these guys should already be in the big four!

Without a doubt, in the Big-5. Awesome band with the best riffs.
Annihilator for the win, the most underrated band on this list.

Annihilator is already in the canadian big four. why you guys want to put annihilator in the american big five? it doesn't make any sense they are fine that they are the leaders of canadian thrash.

5 Kreator Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen. Their style of music is similar to that of their compatriots Destruction, Sodom and Tankard; along with those three bands, Kreator has been referred to as one of the "big four" of Teutonic thrash metal, and they are often credited with helping pioneer ...read more.

I think there should be a "big one" which is kreator... Better than Metallica slayer and anthrax

But their already apart of a just as good big four with Sodom, Destruction oand the anthrax of the big four Tankard

Kreator is the best Thrash metal band of 2000s. just listen to Hordes Of Chaos and Phantom Antichrist.

They are more like death metal though

6 Sepultura Sepultura is a Brazilian heavy metal band from Belo Horizonte. Their first album, Morbid Visions presented a proto-black metal sound with Wagner Lamounier of Sarcófago. Sepultura's sound varies by the album, from thrash metal, groove metal, and even death metal.

That guy who says Overkill sucks because of their vocals is a dork.

Imagine the irony of someone commenting that Overkill's vocals suck whilst endorsing Sepultura. what?!?

Morbid Visions and BEstial Devastation invented (along with Celtic Frost, Venom and Bathory) 2nd wave black metal

Horrible candidate for a "big five". Think about it. They stopped playing thrash in the 90's.

7 Death Angel Death Angel is an American thrash metal band from Daly City, California, initially active from 1982 to 1991 and again since 2001. Death Angel has released seven studio albums, two demo tapes, one box set and two live albums.

Wrong logo. This is Death Angel not Dark Angel.

Why don't they get much attention?!

8 Sodom Sodom is a German thrash metal band from Gelsenkirchen, formed in 1981. They have gone through many line-up changes, leaving bassist vocalist Tom Angelripper as the only constant member.

This is a really tough one but I'm gonna have to go with sodom, only need to listen to the songs napalm in the morning, marines, agent orange and among the weirdcong to see why

Already apart of a just as important big four

9 Metal Church Metal Church is an American heavy metal band. They originally formed in San Francisco, California in 1980 before relocating to Aberdeen, Washington the following year and briefly using the name Shrapnel.

Metal Church is one of the bands that deserves a place in "Big 5" because not only were they good friends with Metallica, but they were around a little earlier (having formed in 1980 and released their self-titled debut album in 1984) and were somewhat of a strong inspiration for the 80's and 90's power metal scene.

It's a mystery to me why Metal Church never gets the recognition they should have gotten long ago. They're way more eligible for the Big 4 or Big 5 rather than Megadeth or Anthrax.

I was a much bigger fan of Metal Church than Metallica (not saying I wasn't a huge Metallica fan) growing up. They never seemed to go 'mainstream' which I loved. Totally in the Big 5.

10 Coroner Coroner is a Swiss thrash metal band from Zürich, formed in the early 80s. They have been called "the Rush of thrash metal" for their increasingly complex style of progressive rock-infused thrash. They garnered relatively little attention outside Europe .
The Contenders
11 Destruction Destruction is a German thrash metal band. They are considered one of the "The Big Four" of the German thrash metal scene, the others being Kreator, Sodom and Tankard.
12 Dark Angel Dark Angel is an American thrash metal band from Los Angeles, California formed in 1981. Their over-the-top style (extremely fast, heavy and lengthy songs with lots of tempo changes, lyrics and extended instrumental parts) earned them the nickname "the L.A. Caffeine Machine". Although Dark Angel had never achieved a mainstream breakthrough in their initial career, their 1986 album Darkness Descends is widely regarded as a landmark in the thrash metal genre.

Gene Hoglan is one of the greatest thrash metal drummers ever!

Underrated band!

13 Flotsam and Jetsam Flotsam and Jetsam is a thrash metal band that formed in Phoenix, Arizona in 1981. The band currently consists of vocalist Eric A.
14 Nuclear Assault Nuclear Assault is an American thrash metal band from New York City, formed after bassist Dan Lilker left Anthrax in 1984. After releasing five full-length albums and touring relentlessly throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Nuclear Assault split up in 1995. They briefly reunited in 1997 and again in 2002, and split up for good in 2022.

The fact that this band features Danny Lilker (from S.O.D. and the original bassist for Anthrax) isn't their only claim to fame. Along with bands like D.R.I. and Suicidal Tendencies, Nuclear Assault was part of the emerging crossover thrash scene of the 80's.

15 Venom Venom are an English extreme metal band formed in 1979 in Newcastle upon Tyne. Coming to prominence towards the end of the new wave of British heavy metal, Venom's first two albums—Welcome to Hell and Black Metal—are considered a major influence on thrash metal and extreme metal in general.

Venom has never been a thrash metal band even though they influenced all the Big Four bands.

Pioneers but they suck so...

16 Havok Havok is an American thrash metal band from Denver, Colorado. Formed in 2004, their members currently consist of David Sanchez, Nick Schendzielos, Pete Webber, and Reece Scruggs.
17 Savatage Savatage is an American heavy metal band founded by the brothers Jon and Criss Oliva in 1978 at Astro Skate in Tarpon Springs, Florida.

Correct me if I am wrong but they are not thrash metal

Why is Savatage on this list? They're not thrash metal, they're power metal.

To my best knowledge, the only connections Savatage has to thrash metal are the facts that Alex Skolnick from Testament played on their 1994 album "Handful Of Rain" and Al Pitrelli (who played on Savatage's last three albums) played on Megadeth's 2001 album "The World Needs A Hero".

Power metal is not thrash metal, so I wouldn't put Savatage in a so called "Big 5" or "Big 6" or whatever.

18 Municipal Waste Municipal Waste is a crossover thrash band from Richmond, Virginia. They performed at the UK's Download Festival on June 15, 2008. They also joined At the Gates on their "Suicidal Final Tour" along with Darkest Hour, Toxic Holocaust and Repulsion.
19 Pantera Pantera was an American heavy metal band formed in 1981 by guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul. The band started out as a glam metal act in the 1980s with little success. After discarding their original lead vocalist and enlisting Phil Anselmo, the band signed a major record deal with Warner Music Group via Atco Records. Around this time, Pantera underwent a major change in their musical... read more

Pantera is not thrash metal. Why are they even on this list, and why are they ahead of bands like Nuclear Assault, Dark Angel or Forbidden? I can't understand that.

Not thrash metal. But bands that came outbefore them were copying them when they were around. Reinventing the steel is their best record. People need to give it another listen.

Since Groove Metal is a slower kind of Thrash, Pantera's last 5 albums make them worthy to be on this list. I wouldn't vote for them though

20 Voivod Voivod is a Canadian heavy metal band from Jonquière, Québec. Their musical style has changed several times since the band's origin in the early 1980s. The band's current line-up consists of Denis "Snake" Bélanger, Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain, Dominique "Rocky" Laroche and Michel "Away" Langevin.

One of Canada's finest, along with Annihilator, Sacrifice and Razor.

They should be above bands who are not completely thrash metal like Motörhead, Pantera and Venom.

21 Heathen Heathen is an American thrash metal band originating from the San Francisco Bay Area , founded in 1984 by guitarist Lee Altus and drummer Carl Sacco.
22 Razor Razor is a Canadian thrash metal band formed in 1984 at Guelph, Ontario. The group shot music videos for songs such as "Evil Invaders", "Shotgun Justice", "American Luck", and "Sucker for Punishment".
23 Machine Head Machine Head is an American heavy metal band from Oakland, California. Formed on October 12, 1991, the group was founded by vocalist and guitarist Robb Flynn and bassist Adam Duce. They have received great critical success especially for their album "The Blackening" which is considered a modern metal masterpiece.

Better even than all the members in the big four (of course in my opinion), it has not as recognition as them but it doesn't mean anything, their songs are just masterpieces and joining with the big four would be what they need to be as famous as they deserve to.
Vote up, come on!

Sooo underrated. The Blackening is my favourite album ever, however I feel like they wouldn't fit in with the big four. They're much newer than them and their music was groove metal (and the tragic nu metal phase) until the 21st century and by then it's kind of too late.

24 Suicidal Tendencies Suicidal Tendencies is an American crossover thrash band founded in 1980 in Venice, California by vocalist Mike Muir, who is the only remaining original member of the band. The band is often credited as one of "the fathers of crossover thrash".

Suicidal is somewhat Big 5-worthy because they not only helped pioneer the genre crossover thrash (which influenced and inspired bands such as Slayer, Anthrax, Sepultura, Nuclear Assault, Municipal Waste and many others), but they've sold over half a million records, with "Controlled By Hatred/Feel Like S*** ...Deja Vu" and "Lights...Camera...Revolution! " going gold in the U.S.

25 Onslaught Onslaught are an English thrash metal band from Bristol, England. Initially active from 1983 to 1991, they reformed in 2004. The band initially drew influence from second wave hardcore punk bands such as Discharge and The Exploited, and then adopted a straight forward thrash metal sound.
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