Best thrash metal band ever

No,Lilker did not not play as large a part in the development of thrash as Vanderhoof and Zazula.But,Lilker was a founding member of Anthrax and SOD(2 bands that are thrash legends,to me at least).He wrote or co-wrote most of the songs on Fistful of Metal and Spreading the Disease.I think the songs on Fistful of Metal were very good,but the sound suffered because of Neil Turbin's appalling vocals and bad production.I do agree that Nuclear Assault was a second tier thrash band,but a band that I really liked in my thrash crazy days.I think their albums Survive and Handle with Care are quite good.I just think Lilker played an important part in the early history of thrash metal.

I always liked Overkill.They were one of the few thrash bands that I thought had a great vocalist,Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth.Guitarist Bobby Gustafson was excellent.I was not crazy about their first album but the next three(Taking Over,Under the Influence,The Years of Decay)are excellent.They are,admittedly,another second tier thrash band,but also one of the better ones.If you have never heard The Years of Decay I strongly urge you to try to find it and give it a listen.

TheProgtologist wrote: Certif1ed wrote: TheProgtologist wrote: Slayer.I also really liked Anthrax and Megadeth when I was growing up. The omission of Stormtroopers of Death,Nuclear Assault and Overkill in a thrash poll is a crime Nah - S.O.D. were good, but Nuclear Asshole and Overkill were pants. Kreator and Testament were really good, though - and so were Tankard. Dan Lilker played a large role in the development of thrash. I happened to like Overkill because of Blitz's vocals,and they also kicked ass live. Testament was very good but came onto the scene a little late and weren't the same band after Skolnick left.

Can you elaborate on Dan Lilker's role in the development of thrash? Was it as great as say, Kurdt Vanderhoof or John Zazula?

I know he was the original bassist for Anthrax - but didn't he leave after they recorded the decidedly dodgy "Fistful of Metal"?

Metallica and Anthrax did a lot of gigs together in the early days - I saw them together in London several times, and man, those were awesome gigs - but that was after Dan's time. I liked the SOD stuff - but then that was 3/5 of Anthrax, and the quality spoke for itself, IMO.

I only bought the first Overkill album (I was thrash mad in the early 1980s - I bought anything if it sounded vaguely thrashy, including Guns 'N' Roses, Gang Green and a whole load of non-thrash stuff), and the Overkill album blew chunks IMO. It's a first UK press if you'd like to buy it off me...

There's no point doing any deep analysis on what is a very raw type of music, practically divorced from academia altogether, but Overkill, Nuclear Assault and Death Angel's early material (among many others, including the loathesome Flotsam and Jetsam) were second division, with simplistic riffs and had far less of a feel for invention than Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer.  Slayer apart, I didn't stick with bands who didn't impress me by the second album.

Maybe I missed out on the bands improving over time - but I know that's not the case with either Death or Voivod, neither of whom's recent material has impressed me at all.

Only Metallica advanced the genre significantly. Apart from Slayer, the others all seemed happy to play around in the thrash paddling pool until the genre sped off the face of the planet, only to be resurrected on the back of Nu-Metal - led largely by Metallica, it would seem.

As for Testament coming on the scene late - that doesn't really matter. It's the music that's important and, while it wasn't quite up to the standard or sheer invention of, say, Kreator, I thought it was an improvement over some bands and an interesting direction.

Whatever happened to Lawnmower Death?

• Death Angel - Act III
• Sanctuary - Into the Mirror Black
• Annihilator - Never, Neverland

Three very nice and quite unusual Thrash albums.

TheProgtologist wrote: Slayer.I also really liked Anthrax and Megadeth when I was growing up. The omission of Stormtroopers of Death,Nuclear Assault and Overkill in a thrash poll is a crime

Nah - S.O.D. were good, but Nuclear Asshole and Overkill were pants.

Kreator and Testament were really good, though - and so were Tankard.

Wolf Spider wrote: Kohllapse wrote: The Miracle wrote: I don't like trash at all, with the exception of Megadeth and first 5 Metallica albums have you heard any of the bands I mentioned?   Noone heard them!

Yes I'm afraid so

Slayer.I also really liked Anthrax and Megadeth when I was growing up.

The omission of Stormtroopers of Death,Nuclear Assault and Overkill in a thrash poll is a crime