Top 10 Best Thrash Metal Guitarists
Thrash metal is just an awesome metal genre, and, along with neo-classical metal, it has the best solos in metal. There are lots of great guitarists in thrash, who is the best?
David Scott "Dave" Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, actor and author. Mustaine is best known as a pioneer in Thrash Metal, being the former lead guitarist of Metallica before his dismissal in 1983, leading to finding and becoming the front man of his own... read more Dave not only overcame a severe nerve injury to his left arm and hand but also worked hard to regain his playing ability. To me, that takes a tremendous amount of willpower and fortitude. His determination to overcome any hurdles thrown his way makes him amazing. As many people have already said here, Dave Mustaine is an excellent thrash guitarist, playing both lead and rhythm guitar. He is one of the few who can play riffs, sing, and handle other rhythm-related parts simultaneously. Even now, at 62 years old, the man plays incredibly fast. He has mastered the guitar through sheer determination, and you have to respect him for that.
Martin Adam "Marty" Friedman is an American guitarist, known for his tenure as the lead guitarist for heavy metal band Megadeth which spanned nearly the full decade of the 1990s, as well as Cacophony alongside Jason Becker until 1989. Friedman has resided in Tokyo, Japan since 2003, where he has hosted... read more He is one of the greatest guitarists ever, but he is at number four because he is not a complete thrash guitarist. He made awesome solos on Megadeth's Rust in Peace, Countdown to Extinction, Youthanasia, Cryptic Writings, and Risk. However, he also has a solo career that isn't focused on thrash and collaborated in Cacophony, a neo-classical metal guitar duo.
He has a ton more speed than Hammett and other thrash guitarists. He is definitely the most flexible of all thrash guitarists. Look at songs like "Tornado of Souls" or "Hangar 18." This is where you'll really see Marty shine.
Alexander Nathan Skolnick is an American metal and jazz guitarist who is the lead guitarist of the Bay Area thrash metal band Testament, and heads the jazz band Alex Skolnick Trio. His style of playing is very jazzy and bluesy, which is something absent from a lot of players. This makes his sound unique when paired with a strict metal partner like Eric Peterson.
I think he is an underrated guitarist because he deserves more fame! He has made awesome solos like "Over the Wall," "Perilous Nation," "Sins of Omission," and many others.
The Perilous Nation solos are just unreal. The sounds he makes are so wild, and there's so much feeling there. Love, love, love it.
Jeffrey John "Jeff" Hanneman was an American musician, best known as a founding member of the American thrash metal band Slayer. He is the best at riffs. But when people say, Solo! I'm gonna go mad! His solos aren't solos... my little son could play them!
He is the most underrated member of Slayer, and he plays crazy, twisted, and awesome solos in their songs!
R.I.P. (Rock in Peace) Jeff Hanneman. If you were a true Slayer fan, you'd want him to be number 1.
Jeff Waters (born February 13, 1966) is a Canadian metal musician and founder of the metal band Annihilator. He's best known as the guitarist for Annihilator, appreciated for his fast riffs and solos. Waters is also the primary songwriter in the band. Very often he has taken on the role of lead singer,... read more Legendary thrash metal guitarist. His riffs and solos are among the greatest in thrash. Very intense, technical, and varied guitar playing.
Along with Dave Mustaine, he is one of the Thrash Gods. Great musician and a great person, too.
He is incredible - fast, technical, melodic. A riff and solo master.
James Alan Hetfield was born on August 3, 1963. He is an American musician, singer and songwriter known for being the co-founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and main songwriter for the American heavy metal band Metallica. His speed and precision are unbelievable. Not only is his down-picking impeccable, but the number of great riffs he hammers out is astonishing. Watching Lars and him write songs together is one of the most pleasant things to witness.
Simply the creator of many patterns used by thrash metal.
Greatest rhythm guitarist of all time.
Gary Wayne Holt is an American guitarist from the San Francisco Bay Area. He is a guitarist, the bandleader, and the main songwriter for the American thrash metal band Exodus and is also a guitarist for the American thrash metal band Slayer. He writes all the music for the best thrash band out there. He plays rhythm live like a beast, has incredible solos, and he's in Slayer. Enough said!
I'm not an Exodus fan, but Gary is a beast!
Andreas Rudolf Kisser is a Brazilian musician, songwriter and producer. He is most known for being the lead guitarist for the metal band Sepultura. He has been featured on every Sepultura release since their second album, Schizophrenia. You should hear some solos like "Mass Hypnosis," "Sarcastic Existence," "Arise," and "Territory."
Kirk Lee Hammett is the lead guitarist and songwriter for the heavy metal band Metallica and has been a member of the band since 1983. Before joining Metallica he formed and named the band Exodus. Kirk Hammett is a better guitarist than Dave. Enough said. Listen to his solos and style. He deserves 1st place.
I think Hammett deserves 1st place. I'm a Metallica fan, and I am not against Megadeth, but Kirk is better and faster than Dave. The song Dyers Eve is proof that Kirk Hammett is one of the top 5 fastest players of all time.
Kerry Ray King is an American musician, best known as a guitarist for the American thrash metal band Slayer. Kerry has some killer riffs! Even though his solos can be sloppy, they still kick ass. I still vote Dave as #1, and Kirk sucks.
An underrated guitarist. He plays his axe like nobody else!
Darrell Lance Abbott, also known as Diamond Darrell and Dimebag Darrell, was an American guitarist and songwriter best known as a founding member of two bands, Pantera and Damageplan, alongside his brother, Vinnie Paul. Abbott died in 2004 after he was shot by a mentally unstable fan. Dimebag Darrell exceeds many of them. Look at his diversity.
He is absolutely amazing. It's so sad that not many people have heard of him. Do yourself a favor and check out these instrumentals: Coroner - Arc Lite, Nosferatu.
Why are Coroner songs the hardest to cover? Because of this insanely talented, technical jazz-thrash freak of nature, T. Tommy Baron. He should be Number 1.
Should be number 1. Great guitar player.
Miland "Mille" Petrozza is a German metal guitarist and singer of Italian descent, who has been the lead vocalist and guitarist for the German thrash metal band Kreator since 1984. One of the best thrash rhythm guitarists. Great riffs and solos - every album is great, in my opinion. That's why my favorite thrash band is Kreator!
Christopher Alan Broderick is an American musician, best known as the former lead and rhythm guitarist of the American heavy metal band Megadeth. This guy is pretty godly. His riff hand technique is insane, and his ability to take over Marty's old spot in Megadeth is impressive. Although he may not create music as well as Friedman, he can certainly play the older albums well.
In guitar-playing techniques, he's the best.
He was on the first two albums of Megadeth - really sick! He even did some solos for Rust in Peace and The System Has Failed. He's a really underrated guitarist.
Scott Ian is an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist, backing and additional lead vocalist, and the only remaining original founding member of the thrash metal band Anthrax. He also writes the lyrics on all their albums.
Some of his solos on Think This were amazing.
Tourniquet is an underrated band, primarily because they are Christian. If they weren't, I'm sure they would be more famous. I recommend checking out solos like "A Dog's Breakfast," "Ark of Suffering," and "Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance."
I can't agree with you more. The only exposure they've gotten is from when Ark of Suffering was aired on MTV, then yanked for the animal abuse footage.
Pedro Henrique "Kiko" Loureiro is a Brazilian Heavy metal guitarist, best known as a member of the bands Angra and Megadeth.A thrash guitar genius! If you listen to Rocky's work with Suicidal, like "How Will I Laugh Tomorrow" or Lights...Camera...Revolution!, you can't say he doesn't belong in the top 3 or top 5.
Everything he did was a melodic solo. He never gets enough credit.
Lee Altus, the guitarist from Heathen who later joined Exodus, is known for his thrashier and more melodic guitar playing. He is one of the most melodic guitar players that thrash metal has to offer, alongside Marty Friedman, who combines speed, emotion, and melody in his playing with Megadeth. Every solo he plays never disappoints, and his creativity is strong in both Exodus and Heathen, where he thrashes in two old-school thrash metal bands. If you know Marty Friedman and Alex Skolnick, you should know Lee Altus. He is another melodic guitar player in a popular thrash metal band.
To not even mention this man is seriously a slap in the face to thrash in general. Granted, you can say it had some speed metal elements, but this guy was one of the all-time greats on guitar.