Your way in
Bay Area thrash 1983
The original epicentre: technical riffing, clearer production and a little more melody.
- Heaviness
- 8
- Speed
- 9
- Melody
- 7
- Where from
- San Francisco, USA
- Tempo
- 180-240 bpm
- Song length
- 4-7 min
- Written about
- Nuclear war, Corruption, Violence, frequently comic, The scene itself
- Vocals
- Shouted
Why this one
| You said | Bay Area thrash | Match | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| As heavy as it gets How much weight do you want behind it? | 8 out of 10 | 80% | ×2 |
| The seventies and eighties Does it matter when it was made? | 1983 | 100% | ×1 |
| Anger at something real What should the words be about? | Nuclear war, Corruption, Violence, frequently comic, The scene itself | 100% | ×1 |
| Long. Let it go somewhere. How long should a song be? | up to 7 min | 42% | ×1 |
| Weighted mean | 80% | ||
Ranked over all 150 genres in the encyclopedia, on the 4 answers you gave, weighted heaviness 2, era 1, about 1, length 1 out of 5. Bay Area thrash leads the next by 1 point. Where two genres score the same the broader one wins, because a genre with subgenres under it is somewhere to carry on from and a leaf is a full stop.
Five records, in this order
- 1Start one step outside
Slayer, Reign in Blood 1986
Slayer - Reign in Blood. Twenty-nine minutes that redefined the word extreme.
- 2The one to put on first
Exodus, Bonded by Blood 1985
Exodus - Bonded by Blood. Recorded in 1984, released late, and it held up anyway.
- 3Then
- 4Then
- 5Then
The first is the entry point for Thrash metal, one step outside, so the second record has something to be heard against. After it come Bay Area thrash's essential records in the order the encyclopedia lists them. Every one of these has a page here with links out to somewhere it can be played.
If that is not it
-
Funeral doom 78%
The slowest metal in existence: under 40 bpm, organ, guttural vocals and fifteen-minute songs. Music for a single chord.
4 steps from Bay Area thrash, meeting it only at Heavy metal.
The way into Funeral doom -
Old school death metal 77%
The sound of the first wave: either the Swedish HM-2 buzzsaw or the cavernous American murk, with no showy technicality.
4 steps from Bay Area thrash, meeting it only at Heavy metal.
The way into Old school death metal
Not simply the second and third of the ranking: those are almost always near neighbours of the first, which is three names for one suggestion. An alternate has to sit at least 4 steps through the tree from the headline and from the other alternate, which is the same floor the "sounds like this, but isn't" panel uses.
What your answers ruled out
- As heavy as it gets put 13 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Rock and roll, Folk rock, Country rock. Worth 2 of 5.
- The seventies and eighties put 4 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Kawaii metal, New nu metal, Progressive metalcore. Worth 1 of 5.
- Anger at something real put 108 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Alternative rock, Black metal, Blues rock. Worth 1 of 5.
- Long. Let it go somewhere. put 40 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Punk rock, Hardcore punk, Rock and roll. Worth 1 of 5.
Counted as genres scoring 20% or less on that answer alone. A recommendation that only shows what it chose is hiding half of what it did.