Top 10 Thrash Metal Guitarists with the Best Technical Skills

The Top Ten
1 Dave Mustaine 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.
2 Marty Friedman 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.
3 Jeff Waters 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, bass player, engineer and producer. He has owned Watersound Studios Inc. since 1994. At a young age he took some classical and jazz guitar lessons. Notable songs include Alison Hell, Human Insecticide, The Trend, Ultra-Motion, Detonation.

Check out Annihilator - Schizos (Are Never Alone) Parts I & II

4 Tommy Baron (aka Tommy Vetterli)

Check out Coroner - Arc Lite, Nosferatu

5 Alex Skolnick 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.
6 Jeff Hanneman Jeffrey John "Jeff" Hanneman was an American musician, best known as a founding member of the American thrash metal band Slayer.
7 James Hetfield 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.
8 Kiko Loureiro Pedro Henrique "Kiko" Loureiro is a Brazilian Heavy metal guitarist, best known as a member of the bands Angra and Megadeth.
9 Andreas Kisser 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.

From Sepultura.

10 David DiSanto
The Contenders
11 Kerry King Kerry Ray King is an American musician, best known as a guitarist for the American thrash metal band Slayer.
12 Chris Broderick Christopher Alan Broderick is an American musician, best known as the former lead and rhythm guitarist of the American heavy metal band Megadeth.
13 Kirk Hammett 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.
14 Chris Poland
15 Gary Holt 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.
16 Dimebag Darrell 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.

Not thrash, guys

17 Glen Drover Glen Drover is a Canadian heavy metal musician from Missisauga, Ontario, Canada, where he currently resides.
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