"Proto" Extreme Music - The Middlemen of Metal

Metal as a genre has reached various milestones through the releases of the most prominent bands; the doom metal sound was defined by Black Sabbath while Morbid Angel refined the death metal sound, and so on. However, these radical groups did not simply produce pure innovation not derivative of any others. Kill 'Em All, Under the Sign of the Black Mark, or Altars of Madness all had their fair share of influences. In most cases, there existed specific releases that bridged the gap between the NWoBHM and thrash and between thrash and the even more extreme varieties of heavy metal. The purpose of this post is to pay tribute to some of these early and more primal benchmarks.

Diamond Head - "Am I Evil?" (1980)

With this track, Diamond Head were some of the first to hint at the imminent thrash metal scene with their chugging proto-thrash riffcraft.

Venom - "Witching Hour" (1981)

Picking up the speed from where Diamond Head left off, Venom produced a true thrasher here while mixing in their newly discovered extreme metal aesthetic.

Discharge - Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing (1982)

While technically not a metal band, hardcore punk masters Discharge were massively influential to extreme metal, producing thrashy tunes rooted in simplistic riffcraft.

Hellhammer - Satanic Rites (1983)

You can read more on Hellhammer in my review on this blog, but they essentially introduced to metal an atmosphere oozing with morbidity and a new style of riffing that allowed acts like Winter and Therion to rise to power.

Sodom - In The Sign Of Evil (1984)

With In The Sign Of Evil, Sodom crafted some primitive thrash-driven black metal, driven more by thrash than Venom worship as opposed to Bathory's self-titled effort.

Destruction - Sentence Of Death (1984)

While their efforts may not have been as extreme as their cohorts Sodom and Kreator, there is little doubt that Destruction crafted better songs structurally and would inspire the thrash scene as much as their comrades.

Sepultura - Bestial Devastation (1985)

While other innovators of their time were leaning towards a black metal inspired sound, Sepultura embraced the newfound soundscapes of death metal.

Death Strike - Fuckin' Death (1985)

Death Strike (as well as Master) combined the musical stylings of Discharge with the morbidity of Hellhammer and a guitar tone that vastly influenced particular future death metal scenes, especially the Swedish scene.

Possessed - Seven Churches (1985)

While Possessed are widely considered one of the founding fathers of death metal, and Seven Churches one of its major milestones, I feel that this still belongs in this post due to the ever-present dichotomy between death and thrash here.

Watchtower - Energetic Disassembly (1985)

While Morbid Angel, Incantation, or Dismember might draw more influence from Death Strike or Possessed amongst bands on this list, you may wonder where bands like Cynic and Atheist find their sound. Their chief influence is here, in Watchtower's progressive variety of thrash.

Sadus - Death To Posers (1986)

There is little to say about these highly influential proto-death metal bands after Possessed has been mentioned, but, nevertheless, this is proto-death of the highest quality.

Kreator - Pleasure To Kill (1986)

While this is technically thrash, there is quite a bit of debate here and there as it can function as a death metal record. The music is highly violent and utilizes tremolo riffage at times. Makes me think Exodus had some inspiration for their song "A Lesson In Violence".