Thrash & Speed Metal

Annihilator is a Canadian thrash metal band founded in 1984 by guitarist Jeff Waters and vocalist John Bates.

Metallica is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California. Metallica was formed in 1981 when vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield responded to an advertisement posted by drummer Lars Ulrich in a local newspaper. The band's current line-up comprises founding members Hetfield and Ulrich, longtime lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo. Lead guitarist Dave Mustaine and bassists Ron McGovney, Cliff Burton and Jason Newsted are former members of the band. Metallica collaborated over a long period with producer Bob Rock, who produced all of the band's albums from 1990 to 2003 and served as a temporary bassist between the departure of Newsted and the hiring of Trujillo. The band's fast tempos, instrumentals, and aggressive musicianship placed them as one of the founding "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer. The band earned a growing fan base in the underground music community and won critical acclaim with its first four albums; the third album Master of Puppets (1986) was described as one of the most influential and heaviest thrash metal albums. Metallica achieved substantial commercial success with its eponymous fifth album—also known as The Black Album—which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. With this release the band expanded its musical direction, resulting in an album that appealed to a more mainstream audience. In 2000, Metallica was among a number of artists who filed a lawsuit against Napster for sharing the band's copyright-protected material for free without consent from any band member. A settlement was reached and Napster became a pay-to-use service. Despite reaching number one on the Billboard 200, the release of St. Anger (2003) alienated many fans with the exclusion of guitar solos and the "steel-sounding" snare drum. A film titled Some Kind of Monster documented the recording of St. Anger and the tensions within the band during that time. In 2009, Metallica was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Metallica has released nine studio albums, four live albums, five extended plays, 26 music videos, and 37 singles. The band has won eight Grammy Awards and five of its albums have consecutively debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The band's eponymous 1991 album has sold over 16 million copies in the United States, making it the best-selling album of the SoundScan Era. Metallica ranks as one of the most commercially successful bands of all time, having sold over 110 million records worldwide. Metallica has been listed as one of the greatest artists of all time by many magazines, including Rolling Stone, which ranked them 61st on its list of The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. As of December 2012, Metallica is the third best-selling music artist since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991, selling a total of 54.26 million albums in the United States. In 2012, Metallica formed the independent record label Blackened Recordings and took full ownership of its albums and videos. The band is currently in production of its tenth studio album, slated for a 2015 release.

Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by founding members Jeff Hanneman, Dave Lombardo and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with its 1986 release Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal bands, along with Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax, as well as a pioneer of the thrash metal subgenre of heavy metal music. Between 1991 and 2004, the band sold more than 3.5 million albums in the United States. Slayer's musical style involves fast tremolo picking, double bass drumming, riffs in irregular scales and shouted vocals. In the original line-up, King, Hanneman, and lead vocalist/bassist Tom Araya contributed to the band's lyrics, and most of the band's music was written by King and Hanneman, with additional help from Araya and drummer Dave Lombardo. The band's lyrics and album art, which cover topics such as serial killers, necrophilia, Satanism, religion, anti-religion, Nazism, and warfare, have generated album bans, delays, lawsuits, and criticism from religious groups and the public. However, their music has been highly influential, often being cited by many bands as an influence musically, visually, and lyrically. Since its debut album in 1983, the band has released eleven studio albums, two live albums, a box set, six music videos, two extended plays and a cover album. Four of the band's studio albums have received gold certification in the United States. The band has received five Grammy nominations, winning one in 2007 for the song Eyes of the Insane, and one in 2008 for the song "Final Six" (both from 2006's Christ Illusion). Slayer has also played at several music festivals worldwide, including Unholy Alliance, Download and Ozzfest.

Megadeth is an American thrash metal band from Los Angeles, California. The group was formed in 1983 by guitarist Dave Mustaine and bassist David Ellefson, shortly after Mustaine's dismissal from Metallica. A pioneer of the American thrash metal scene, the band is credited as one of the genre's "big four" with Anthrax, Metallica and Slayer, responsible for thrash metal's development and popularization. Megadeth plays in a technical style, featuring fast rhythm sections and complex arrangements; themes of death, war, politics and religion are prominent in the group's lyrics. In 1985, the band released its debut album on the independent label Combat Records. The album's moderate commercial success caught the attention of bigger labels, which led to Megadeth signing with Capitol Records. Their first major-label album, Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?, was released in 1986 and influenced the underground metal scene. Despite its prominence in thrash metal, frequent disputes between its members and substance abuse issues brought Megadeth negative publicity during this period. After the lineup stabilized, the band released a number of platinum-selling albums, including Rust in Peace (1990) and Countdown to Extinction (1992). These albums, along with touring worldwide, helped bring public recognition to Megadeth. The band temporarily disbanded in 2002 when Mustaine suffered an arm injury and re-established in 2004 without bassist Ellefson, who had taken legal action against Mustaine. Ellefson settled with Mustaine out of court and rejoined the group in 2010. Megadeth has hosted its own music festival, Gigantour, several times since mid-2005. As of 2014, Megadeth has sold 50 million records worldwide, earned platinum certification in the United States for five of its fourteen studio albums, and received eleven Grammy nominations. The band's mascot, Vic Rattlehead, regularly appears on album artwork and, since 2010, in live shows. The group has experienced controversy over its musical approach and lyrics, including canceled concerts and album bans. MTV has refused to play two of the band's videos that the network considered to condone suicide.

Anthrax is an acute disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Most forms of the disease are lethal, and it affects mostly animals. It is not contagious but can be transmitted through contact or consumption of infected meat. Effective vaccines against anthrax are available, and some forms of the disease respond well to antibiotic treatment. Like many other members of the genus Bacillus, B. anthracis can form dormant endospores (often referred to as "spores" for short, but not to be confused with fungal spores) that are able to survive in harsh conditions for decades or even centuries. Such spores can be found on all continents, even Antarctica. When spores are inhaled, ingested, or come into contact with a skin lesion on a host, they may become reactivated and multiply rapidly. Anthrax commonly infects wild and domesticated herbivorous mammals that ingest or inhale the spores while grazing. Ingestion is thought to be the most common route by which herbivores contract anthrax. Carnivores living in the same environment may become infected by consuming infected animals. Diseased animals can spread anthrax to humans, either by direct contact (e.g., inoculation of infected blood to broken skin) or by consumption of a diseased animal's flesh. Anthrax does not spread directly from one infected animal or person to another; rather, it is spread by spores. These spores can be transported by clothing or shoes. The body of an animal that had active anthrax at the time of death can also be a source of anthrax spores. Owing to the hardiness of anthrax spores, and their ease of production in vitro, they are extraordinarily well suited to use (in powdered and aerosol form) as biological weapons. Such weaponization has been accomplished in the past by at least five state bioweapons programs — those of the United Kingdom, Japan, the United States, Russia, and Iraq — and has been attempted by several others. Until the 20th century, anthrax infections killed hundreds of thousands of animals and people worldwide each year. French scientist Louis Pasteur developed the first effective vaccine for anthrax in 1881. Anthrax is especially rare in dogs and cats, as is evidenced by a single reported case in the United States in 2001. Anthrax outbreaks occur in some wild animal populations with some regularity. The disease is more common in countries without widespread veterinary or human public health programs. In the 21st century, anthrax is still a problem in less developed countries. An outbreak of anthrax in humans who had eaten meat from a dead carabao was reported in Cagayan Province in the Philippines in early 2010, with over 400 cases of illness and at least two fatalities. B. anthracis bacterial spores are soil-borne. Because of their long lifespan, spores are present globally and remain at the burial sites of animals killed by anthrax for many decades. Disturbed grave sites of infected animals have caused reinfection over 70 years after the animal's interment.

Exodus is an American thrash metal band formed in 1980 in Richmond, California. Spanning a career of 35 years, Exodus has gone through numerous lineup changes, two extended hiatuses, and the deaths of two former band members. Their current lineup consists of vocalist Steve Souza, guitarists Gary Holt and Lee Altus, bassist Jack Gibson and drummer Tom Hunting. Hunting is one of the original members, and departed from Exodus twice, in 1989 and 2004, but rejoined in 2007. Holt joined the band shortly after its formation, and is the only member of Exodus to appear on all their releases. Since its formation, Exodus has released ten studio albums, two live albums and two compilations. Along with Testament, Death Angel, Vio-Lence, Forbidden, Lääz Rockit and Metallica, whose longtime lead guitarist Kirk Hammett was an original member of Exodus, they are often credited as pioneers of the Bay Area thrash metal scene, and have sold over 5 million albums worldwide as of 2013. Exodus had particular success in the mid-to-late 1980s with their first three studio albums―Bonded by Blood, Pleasures of the Flesh and Fabulous Disaster. The critical praise given to Fabulous Disaster garnered attention from major labels, including Capitol Records, with whom Exodus would eventually sign in 1989. Exodus released two more studio albums (Impact Is Imminent and Force of Habit) before disbanding in 1993. After a temporary reunion in 1997-1998, Exodus reformed once again in 2001, and since then, they have released five more studio albums, the most recent being 2014's Blood In, Blood Out.

Sodom is a German thrash metal band from Gelsenkirchen, formed in 1981. Along with the bands Kreator, Destruction and Tankard, Sodom is considered one of the "The Big Teutonic Four" of Teutonic thrash metal. While three bands except Tankard created a sound that would influence death metal, Sodom's early music style would greatly influence many late-1980s and early-1990s black metal bands, among others. To date, Sodom has released fourteen studio albums, three live albums, two compilation albums and six EPs. They achieved their first commercial success with their third studio album Agent Orange (1989), which was the first thrash metal album to enter the German album charts, where it reached number 36. Sodom remains one of the best-selling thrash metal acts of all time, having sold over one million records.

Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen. Their style of music is similar to their compatriots Destruction, Sodom and Tankard, the other three big German thrash metal bands. All three bands except Tankard are often credited with helping pioneer death metal, by containing several elements of what was to become the genre. They originally performed a speed metal style with Venom influences. Kreator's work began in the vein of thrash metal but ventured into Industrial metal and Gothic metal from 1992 to 1999, before eventually returning to their classic thrash sound to date. Kreator has released thirteen studio albums, two EPs, one live album and three compilation albums. The band released its debut album Endless Pain in 1985. Although many of their previous albums, including Pleasure to Kill (1986), were quite popular in the United States, Kreator did not experience major American commercial success until the 2009 release of their twelfth studio album, Hordes of Chaos, which peaked at number 165 on the Billboard 200 and debuted at No. 16 on the Media Control Charts, the band's highest ever chart position in Germany. In June 2012, Kreator released their thirteenth studio album, Phantom Antichrist, which has been well received.

Destruction is a German thrash metal band. They are considered one of the "The Big Three" of the German thrash metal scene, the others being Kreator and Sodom. All three bands are often credited with helping pioneer death metal, by containing several elements of what was to become the genre. Destruction were originally named Knight of Demon, but changed their name in 1984. For most of the 1990s, Destruction were not signed to a record label and were forced to self-produce their albums until they signed a contract with Nuclear Blast in the 2000s.

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. Verni remaining from the original lineup. Along with Anthrax, whose one-time lead guitarist Dan Spitz was also an early member of Overkill, the band is one of the most successful East Coast thrash metal bands. The band has a notable mascot named "Chaly", a skeletal bat with a skull-like face, horns, bony wings, and green eyes. Chaly has appeared on most of their album covers. To date, Overkill has released eighteen studio albums (including an album of cover songs), three EPs and three live albums. They were one of the early thrash metal bands to sign to a major label (Atlantic Records, in 1986), but would not achieve commercial success until the popularization of the genre in the late 1980s, with their contemporaries Anthrax, Exodus, Kreator, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Testament. The band's most successful records are Under the Influence (1988), The Years of Decay (1989), I Hear Black (1993), The Electric Age (2012), and White Devil Armory (2014), which debuted at No. 142, No. 155, No. 122, No. 77, and No. 31 respectively on the Billboard 200 chart. As of 2006, Overkill has sold over 625,000 albums in the U.S. since the beginning of the SoundScan era and over 16 million records worldwide as of 2012.