Top 55 Thrash metal albums of 21th century
Some picks may be controversial but the list is pretty personal, so if you disagree argue like an human being and not like a fucking coelenterate. |
| 55 |  | Helstar
The King of Hell
Starts pretty well but goes down pretty fast, first 3 tracks are great though |
| 54 |  | Lost society
Fast Loud Death
Fun album full of fun riffs |
| 53 |  | Toxic Holocaust
Conjure and Command
Never understood the hype around this, a fine album for sure, nothing more and nothing less |
| 52 |  | Vita imana
Bosa
Tribal groove that mixes Pantera like riffle with ill nino drumming style |
| 51 |  | Vindicator
United We Fall
A nice tribute to the 80s |
| 50 |  | Frightmare
Bringing Back The Bloodshed
If you are a fan of horror stuff you can't miss this grind/death/thrash work |
| 49 |  | Tankard
Beast of Bourbon
No originality, deep lyrics or innovation. But who the Fuck searches this kind of stuff while listening to tankard?
Just old school thrash about sex, beer and party. That cock sparred cover is pretty good too |
| 48 |  | Power trip
Nightmare Logic
What Sepultura should sound nowadays. A nice aggressive album with the only purpose of ripping old school thrash fan's head off. |
| 47 |  | Holy Moses
Redefined Mayhem
Sadly forgotten band. While the song formula is pretty basic is still effective. Raspy female vocals, gang choruses, melodic guitars and heavy riffs. |
| 46 |  | Mekong Delta
Lurking Fear
A good comeback from neoclassical thrash pioneers. While the musicianship is outstanding it often falls in the wankery overshadowing songwriting. Some tracks are truly well made though and the guitar work is just good as the older Mekong album used to be |
| 45 |  | Crisix
The Menace
Extremely fun lp with fast riffs, high pitched Screams and lots of humor. They call me Cuban Pete. |
| 44 |  | Laaz Rockit
Left For Dead
One of the most obscure thrash bands from the 80s returns after 15 years of silence. No innovations, just pure straightforward thrash with catchy choruses and great guitar skills. |
| 43 |  | Forbidden
Omega Wave
Forbidden managed to take the original sound of their first albums without falling into the recycling trap. Not good as the aforementioned but still a well received comeback. |
| 42 |  | Metallica
Death Magnetic
There are objective flaws here. Recycled song structures, poor drumming, needlessly long tracks etc. Still it works. The opener, ttdnc, all nightmare long, Judas kiss.... Almost all tracks are somehow effective and memorable. |
| 41 |  | Paradox
Tales of the Weird
Another sadly forgotten band, paradox disappeared from fame after their awesome heresy. This power/thrash effort needs some love. |
| 40 |  | Warbringer
Woe to the Vanquished
Bellic thrash metal with war themed lyrics and an awesome impending doom atmosphere |
| 39 |  | Hexen
State of Insurgency
Outstanding guitar work, great musicianship, frantic riffs alternated with epic melodies. The lyrics are pretty good too. If the vocals weren't so generic this would be higher. |
| 38 |  | Onslaught
Killing Peace
I have to say it. Thsis beats their 80s album. A cynical evil sounding work with some Hella menacing vocals. Again, nothing too original, but damn, they nailed it. |
| 37 |  | Mr. Bungle
The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny
The less bunglesque album of the band, the fact they re-recorded their first demo which isn't so experimental is avant-garde itself! Ian and Lombardi in the line up caught my attention, Habla espanol o muere is pure genius. Patton sounds unrecognizable. |
| 36 |  | Deceased
As the Weird Travel On
Deceased is a horror themed thrash/death band which recycles the same formula in every album. But damn, they are good at it. Nice melodies alternated with dirty riffs, their best since undead machines. |
| 35 |  | Mokoma
Kuoleman laulukunnaat
Unusual tongue for thrash. Mokoma are a Finnish band that plays a thrash/groove/hardcore hybrid with a nice clean/growl singing formula. |
| 34 |  | Skeletonwitch
Beyond the Permafrost
Blackened thrash with epic guitar melodies |
| 33 |  | Flotsam and Jetsam
The Cold
After years of disappointing albums, the cold is a pleasant surprise. While heavily influenced by never more, the album manages to stay pretty original. The program and symphonic elements fits surprisingly good to the thrashy riffs, the vocals are the best the band has delivered since their first 2 albums. Some lyrics are good and others....well, just listen. |
| 32 |  | Prong
Carved Into Stone
Maybe their thrashiest effort. Industrial, groove, thrash and alternative molded together in one of their best works. The drums sound amazing. Put myself to sleep is maybe one of the best tracks they released |
| 31 |  | Gargoyle
誑 ~Taburakashi~
Completely unknown in the Occidental world, this guy's are talented musician with some creative power/prog/thrash to deliver. Just don't watch their videos. |
| 30 |  | Suicidal tendencies
13
I don't get why this comeback doesn't get the love it deserves. The funkiest album from crossover pioneers delivers some of the catches songs they recorded such as shake it out, smash it and til my last breath. Bruner isn't Trujillo but offered one hell of a performance. |
| 29 |  | Havok
Time Is Up
One of the best young thrash bands, paying homage to the 80s and still manage to have their own identity. |
| 28 |  | Powermad
Infinite
This one really flew under the radar.what a shame. While they completely changed their sound I'm still happy to rediscover this guy's after more than 20 years of silence. Downtuned djenty guitars and high pitched clean vocals are a nice addition, the drumming... Well it's Dirk Verbeuten |
| 27 |  | Destruction
The Antichrist
While not reinventing the wheel, destruction delivered one hell of a comeback after 2 disappointing albums. Schmier's shrieks are among the best thrash has to offer and nailed to the cross is one of my favorite thrash songs of the 21th |
| 26 |  | Heathen
The Evolution of Chaos
Well, this is what I expected from them. Technical skills,variety, good songwriting and above all, originality. |
| 25 |  | Voivod
The Wake
Psychedelic, atmospheric, eclectic. I really missed this voivod. Target Earth was great but this one nailed what really made this band unique. |
| 24 |  | Death Angel
The Dream Calls for Blood
RR contains some of the best songs from modern death angel, this one is more consistent. Every single track is at least memorable. Tons of iconic riffs and solos. |
| 23 |  | Megadeth
Dystopia
While I'm a fan of the system has failed, it would be out of place here since there are maybe 3 thrash songs in there. Endgame was great but a little bit overrated. This one reallygot me. Dave never shined as a vocalist but he's one hell of a songwriter. The atmosphere is the darkest the band has ever delivered, Kiko Loureiro is a monster and there's lot of variety through the songs. |
| 22 |  | Revocation
Chaos of Forms
Technical thrash/death with even some avant-garde elements (funky pieces, experimentation). The title track outdo delivers virtuosity all over |
| 21 |  | Prototype
Continuum
Melodic uplifting progressive thrash with ethereal atmospheres |
| 20 |  | Artillery
When Death Comes
After BACK, which I despise i never taught they could be so great again. I was wrong. They abandoned the technical sonorities of by inheritance embracing a more straightforward approach. The new singer is great and the melodic pieces are highlights. |
| 19 |  | Municipal Waste
Hazardous Mutation
The best modern crossover album. Less than 30 minutes of pure mindless fun. |
| 18 |  | Soulfly
Dark ages
Never got into this band until this.Gloomy primal atmosphere, awesome breakdowns, Tribal elements in one of the best groove albums ever. |
| 17 |  | Slayer
God Hates Us All
Maybe a controversial pick but I always loved this.Araya never sounded so passed off, disciple is one of their best works. You can find groovy pieces such as the domination inspired breakdown from exile, eerie slower tracks such as bloodline and deviance and some of the most angry Thrashers in modern metal like payback |
| 16 |  | Sylosis
Conclusion of an Age
A well balanced blending of melodeath and thrash,. Apocalyptic vibes delivered by epic melodies and melancholic cleans alternated do Raspy vocals. |
| 15 |  | Tourniquet
Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm
One of the most original and weird thrash releases of the last years. This Christian guys always changed sound for almost every album, just listen to the opener and let me know. |
| 14 |  | Rage
Unity
Rage are another band that changed sound lots of time through their prolific career. Unity matches the virtuosity of neoclassical, the epic vibes of power metal (without the cheese) and the aggressive sound of thrash. Peavy's characteristic vocals sounds awesome here. |
| 13 |  | Persuader
Evolution Purgatory
Another thrashy power album. Basically the thrash version of blind guardian but with less fantasy stuff. Every single song uis great, Carlsson vocals switch to high pitched notes to lower cleans and even some growls. While officially labeled as power the aggressive approach contains lots of thrash influences |
| 12 |  | Testament
Dark Roots of Earth
Testament is maybe the most consistent thrash band ever (I even like demonic). With Droe they made a step forward and combined eerie atmospheres with relentless thrash energy. True American hate and native blood may be some of the best songs the band ever released. Oh and there's Gene Hoglan. |
| 11 |  | Exodus
Tempo of the Damned
A devastating return to form. Exodus never been so heavy before, the lyrics are cynical, political and controversial. Souza sounds like Donald Duck on crack and it's totally fine. Holt's guitar work is masterful as always. The second half of the album is slightly less good than the first |
| 10 |  | Kreator
Enemy of God
It was an hard choice between this and phantom antichrist but the grim atmospheres of this albums beats the triumphant epic news of PA. The Gothenburgesque melodies fits surprisingly well the aggressive teutonic thrash style. |
| 9 |  | Kenn Nardi
Dancing With the Past
Two and half an hour of beautiful symphonic and progressive thrash by Anacrusis Front man. Sadly this album flew under the radar, I recommend it both to newcomers and Anacrusis fans. Kenn's unique vocals and songwriting aged perfectly through the decades |
| 8 |  | Anthrax
Worship Music
The less popular of the big 4 gets the higher spot. While I respect Bush's era (sown and wcfya are pretty good tbh) Joey's return was the best thing happened to anthrax in years, he delivered an awesome performance with even emotional moments such as in the end. Caghiamo is a great lead guitarist and Benante is on spot as always. Fight em til you can't is my favorite anthrax song after caught in a mosh |
| 7 |  | Overkill
Ironbound
Overkill's best work along with horrorscope and you. A total return to form with a perfect production and overwhelming songwriting matching their groovest work with some dynamic thrash and lots of 80s influence. Ironbound is the prove that thrash never died. |
| 6 |  | Strapping Young Lad
Alien
Dev's heaviest work. Hoglan is godlike and fear factory's Byron fits perfectly the industrial sound of the album. An unique experience matching industrial, thrash, progressive and Devin unique style. Mechanical, transcendent and absolutely crazy |
| 5 |  | Sodom
M-16
The apocalypse now of thrash. M-16 is gritty, dirty, heavy and will make you hate human genre. A concept about Vietnam war that perfectly shows the depths of humanity. |
| 4 |  | Annihilator
Schizo Deluxe
One of the most underrated albums in Thrash. Sure the heaviest annihilator work with the most evil guitar sound Jeff has ever delivered. Padden fits perfectly the schizoid atmosphere of the album switching from intimidating growls (like the 20 seconds scream in warbird) to gloomy clean vocals such as in the dark ballad Clare. There is lots of style throughout the songs, fast Thrashers, menacing mid tempos and groovy stuff. |
| 3 |  | Vektor
Black Future
Vektor's sci-fi prog thrash is one of the best things happened to modern thrash.The heavy and complex structures surrounded by cosmic narration and space atmosphere will satisfy everyone who loves sci-fi and metal. |
| 2 |  | Nevermore
This Godless Endeavor
Imo the pinnacle of modern progressive thrash. TGE is a disillusioned social parabola that leaves no hopes to the listener, surrounded by some of the best songwriting in Thrash and technical supremacy. |
| 1 |  | Machine Head
The Blackening
Nowadays has become trendy to hate on this band. Maybe for their last painful album or maybe for Flynn's midlife crisis attitude. So hate me but I love this album. Since the very first notes of the opening track I felt overwhelmed by the Apocalyptic vibes of the album. The guitar work is sublime and the songs, particularly the long ones works in every way. I don't know how Mr. Flynn political songwriting switched from stuff like '' a farewell to arms'' to the cringe worthy '' bastards''. I doubt this band will ever be this great again but I can still hope. |
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