Crossover thrash, from the outside in. Each step is a genre and the single record this encyclopedia would put on first. Play them in this order and the last one should sound like a next step rather than a wall.
- 1 The way in
Rock 1954
The whole family: guitar, bass, drums and a beat borrowed from blues and rhythm and blues. Every branch below grows out of this trunk, metal included.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
The Beatles - Revolver, if you want to understand why everything branched so fast.
The Beatles, Revolver (1966) - 2 Then
Punk rock 1974
Three chords, two minutes and zero patience for solos. A full reset of rock, and the second major source of extreme metal.
Shouted. Barked or chanted, and you can still make out the words.
Put on
Ramones - Ramones. Fourteen songs in twenty-nine minutes, not a wasted note.
Ramones, Ramones (1976) - 3 Then
Hardcore punk 1980
Punk accelerated to 200 bpm, songs of one minute and shouted vocals. Without it there is no thrash, no grindcore, no metalcore.
Shouted. Barked or chanted, and you can still make out the words.
Put on
Bad Brains - Bad Brains (the ROIR cassette). The fastest band of the decade.
Bad Brains, Bad Brains (1982) - 4 What you asked about
Crossover thrash 1984
The exact point where hardcore and thrash metal merge: metal riffs, skate-park attitude, mandatory circle pit.
Shouted. Barked or chanted, and you can still make out the words.
Put on
Suicidal Tendencies - Institutionalized. The best song ever written about parents not listening.
Suicidal Tendencies, Suicidal Tendencies (1983) - 5 Where to go next
Technical thrash 1988
Thrash with dissonant chords, odd meters and bass up front. The bridge between thrash and progressive metal.
Shouted. Barked or chanted, and you can still make out the words.
Put on
Voivod - Nothingface. It includes a Pink Floyd cover that makes perfect sense.
Voivod, Nothingface (1989)
Assembled from the tree: every genre Crossover thrash descends from, in order. Crossover thrash has no subgenres, so the last step is the genre that rates closest to it by sound.