 | | Over the course of more than a decade and seven increasingly accomplished albums, Chuck Schuldiner, the architect behind the ubiquitous Death, became a bona fide heavy metal icon. |
 | | Groups like Venom, Mercyful Fate, and Slayer may have founded death metal in the early '80s, but it wasn't until such disciples as Morbid Angel came along at the close of the decade that the genre was pushed to its most extreme level, both musically and lyrically. |
 | | Often considered one of grindcore's founding fathers, Carcass were among the first bands of the extreme metal genre to try a different lyrical approach -- one that reflected a fascination with surgical gadgets and peculiar words straight out of a med student's textbook. |
 | | The fathers of grindcore, Napalm Death pushed the envelope of metal to new extremes of ear-splitting intensity, rejecting all notions of melody, subtlety, and good taste to forge a brand of sonic assault almost frightening in its merciless brutality. |
 | | One of Britain's most consistent and enduring death metal bands, Birmingham's Bolt Thrower has weathered the best and worst of times in the extreme genre's history without ever giving in to commercial temptations, or hardly even altering its sound. |
 | | Possessed and Death may have brought death metal to life, but Obituary brought it to fruition. After releasing some demos as Xecutioner as far back as 1986, the five-man band debuted as Obituary on Roadrunner Records in 1989 with Slowly We Rot, and in a word, the album was landmark. |
 | | Arguably the most influential and successful European thrash metal band ever, Germany's Kreator is also by far the most enduring. |
 | | "If vomit were a movie, this would be the soundtrack," wrote one critic of Cannibal Corpse's music, some of the most extreme, violent death metal sounds and subject matter ever committed to tape. |
 | | Like the extreme music they created, San Francisco's Possessed seemed cursed by dark and evil forces throughout their troubled career. |
 | | Scandinavian metal legends Entombed were at the forefront of the death metal uprising, releasing their influential debut, Left Hand Path, in 1990, just as the movement was beginning to proliferate internationally. |
 | | The hard-drinking British death metal band Benediction formed during the late 1980s; originally comprised of vocalist Barney Greenaway, guitarists Peter Rewinski and Darren Brookes, bassist Paul Adams and drummer Ian Treacy, they made their LP debut in 1990 with Subconscious Terror. |
 | | San Francisco's Death Angel was a product of the bustling Bay Area thrash metal scene of the 1980s. Combining serious guitar crunch and speed with a fair amount of technical expertise, they created complex thrash metal filled with time changes and tricky arrangements that, although generally loved by critics, usually failed to translate beyond a very specialized buying public. |
 | | Holland's Pestilence is generally regarded as one of the leaders of the late-'80s/early-'90s death metal scene, following closely behind Death as innovators in the genre. |
 | | Celtic Frost's impact on the evolution of European heavy metal cannot be overstated. Along with power metal kings Helloween (and to a lesser degree, the sometimes cartoonish Mercyful Fate), Frost's enduring influence on Europe's heavy metal landscape is arguably comparable to Metallica's standing in America. |
 | | One of the crucial links in the musical chain linking hardcore punk with speed metal, the Stormtroopers of Death -- known more commonly as S. |
 | | The original speedcore merchants, Cryptic Slaughter dealt a West Coast hand into the late-‘80s crossover movement, a movement that saw the normally warring armies of punk rock and thrash metal finally come together into a unified front bent on exposing social injustice and political hypocrisy. |
 | | Larger than life metal bassist/singer Pete Steele got his start as the frontman for Brooklyn's hardcore metal trio Carnivore (which also included members Louie Beateaux on drums, and two different guitarists -- first Keith Alexander, then Marc Piovanetti) in the mid-'80s. |
 | | Vader formed in 1986, toiling around the European death and thrash circuit while releasing demos into the metal tape-trading circuit. |
 | | Slayer were one of the most distinctive, influential, and extreme thrash metal bands of the 1980s. Their graphic lyrics dealt with everything from death and dismemberment to war and the horrors of hell. |
 | | This German black metal band's early lineup consisted of Tom Angelripper (bass/vocals), Aggressor (guitar/vocals), and Chris "Witchhunter" Dudek (drums). |
 | | Death metal band Suffocation was formed in New York in the early '90s, comprising vocalist Frank Mullen, guitarists Doug Cerrito and Terrance Hobbs, bassist Chris Richards, and drummer Mike Smith. |
 | | Arising from the death metal hotbed of Florida in the early '90s (but originally from Buffalo, NY), Malevolent Creation tend to be somewhat overlooked in discussions of groups who helped define the sound and style of American death metal. |
 | | The death metal band Immolation formed in New York in 1986; originally dubbed Rigor Mortis, the group first comprised singer/bassist Ross Dolan, guitarists Robert Vignaud and Thomas Wilkinson, and drummer Craig Smilowski. |
 | | Together with their countrymen Kreator and Sodom, Germany's Destruction constituted the dominating triumvirate of Teutonic thrash metal during the 1980s. |
 | | This long-lived Chicago trio became a cult favorite among death metal fans with their perverse themes that inspire just about as much boyish giggling as they do shock. |
 | | Controversy has plagued Florida-based quartet Deicide. During their first tour in 1992, the band was severely criticized for their statements in favor of animal sacrifices. |
 | | From their modest beginnings as roadies for avant-garde Swiss metal legends Celtic Frost, the members of Coroner carved out one of the most unique careers in the European thrash metal scene. |
 | | Once the kings of the Bay Area metal scene -- the birthplace of thrash -- Exodus were unceremoniously demoted from their post with the arrival of Los Angeles' Metallica in 1982. |
 | | Longtime proponents of the grinding, powerful sound of no-frills Swedish death metal, Dismember was originally formed in Stockholm in 1988 as a power trio featuring vocalist/bassist Robert Sennebäck, guitarist David Blomqvist, and drummer Fred Estby. |
 | | Arguably the ultimate progressive metal band of their day, Atheist's impossibly Byzantine death-jazz proved too advanced even for committed metalheads to stomach. |
 | | San Francisco's Exhumed play gore-obsessed death metal with a tongue-in-cheek flair and an overall musical approach often reminiscent of Carcass, a band that they have frequently acknowledged as a primary influence. |
 | | Germany's self-proclaimed "Kings of Beer," Tankard are one of the few thrash metal bands that never took themselves too seriously, pouring a lengthy discography down listeners' gullets over the years, filled with furious moshing and a barrel of laughs. |
 | | From their humble beginnings in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Sepultura went on to become the most successful Brazilian heavy metal band in history. |
 | | English band formed in 1986, with Martin Walkyier (vocals), Andy Sneap (guitar), Frazer Craske (bass), and Simon Negus (drums). |
 | | In a musical realm where scale of influence has little to do with commercial success, few originators of the extreme metal arts evoke as deep a sense of mystery, or incite such hushed, reverential tones of admiration, as Sweden's Bathory. |
 | | Though forever doomed, commercially speaking, by their controversial name, Maryland's Dying Fetus has endured beyond most observers' wildest expectations, and to do so, they've weathered a slew of hardships that would have felled (and did fell) most other bands. |
 | | Nasum, a Swedish grindcore band formed in 1992 by Necrony members Anders Jakobson(guitar) and Rickard Alriksson(drums and vocals), would develop into one of that country's premier metal acts, but would be felled tragically by the events of the December 2004 tsunami that brought mass destruction to Thailand, ending the life of (eventual) vocalist and beloved member Mieszko Talarczyk. |
 | | A seminal influence on the evolution of thrash and black metal, Venom formed during the late '70s in Newcastle, England. |
 | | Testament were the biggest thrash metal band never to reach the platinum plateau. In fact, the San Francisco quintet seemed on the verge of challenging Metallica (their most obvious influence) in the melodic thrash sweepstakes, but their run toward the top was eventually derailed by inconsistency, bad business decisions, and the genre's dwindling appeal. |
 | | Voivod (singer Denis "Snake" Belanger, guitarist Denis "Piggy" d'Amour, drummer Michel "Away" Langevin, and bassist Jean-Yves "Blacky" Theriault) were one of the first thrash bands from Canada to gain popularity outside of their home country. |
 | | Nearly as much as Metallica or Megadeth, Anthrax were responsible for the emergence of speed and thrash metal. |
 | | A grindcore-influenced death-metal duo from Yonkers, NY, Mortician is made up of vocalist/bassist Will Rahmer and guitarist/drum machine programmer Roger Beaujard. |
 | | |
 | | New York thrash quartet Overkill were formed in 1984 by vocalist Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth and guitarist Bobby Gustafson, and also included bassist D. |
 | | From choosing a name that makes them sound like some sort of urban public works department, to their music itself, Richmond, VA's Municipal Waste openly bow down to the memory of '80s thrash metal and crossover -- twenty years after, and a few hundred miles away from the original movement's heyday in New York City. |
 | | Death metallists Vital Remains formed during 1989, and hail from Providence, Rhode Island - influenced by the likes of Venom, Celtic Frost, Bathory, Mercyful Fate, Sodom, and Destruction. |
 | | Combining the extreme speed and nihilism of modern death metal with the ancient styling of Middle Eastern music, Nile formed in their hometown of Greenville, SC, in 1993. |
 | | Dark Angel became known in thrash metal circles for their ability to deliver some of the genre's most challenging and articulate albums without ever losing touch with its core attributes of pure speed and primal aggression. |
 | | Danish band featuring vocalist King Diamond, guitarists Hank Shermann and Michael Denner, bassist Timi Hansen, and drummer Kim Ruzz. |
 | | Formed Seattle in 1982, Metal Church consisted of vocalist David Wayne, guitarists Kurdt Vanderhoof and Craig Wells, bassist Duke Erickson, and drummer Kirk Arrington. |
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