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Heavy Metal Thunder Teutonic Thrash

Genres Heavy Metal Speed Metal Thrash Metal Teutonic Thrash

Teutonic Thrash

German thrash with no daylight in it. Darker and filthier than the American version, and already halfway to death metal.

Peak years
1985 – 2000
Origin
Germany
Family
Thrash Metal
Bands here
13

Before you press play

Explicit content

Graphic lyrics and artwork are a defining feature of this genre rather than an occasional accident — which of violence, gore or sex depends on the band. Worth knowing before you put it on in a room with other people in it.

Start here

Four records in order of how easy they are to get into — which is not the same as best first.

  1. Agent Orange Sodom, 1989

    Start here rather than with the German scene's earlier records, because this is the first one that was properly recorded. War as subject matter, treated seriously, over riffs that march instead of sprint.

    Listen to Agent Orange

  2. Coma of Souls Kreator, 1990

    Kreator at their most precise. Mille Petrozza is the best riff writer Germany produced and this is the record where the production finally lets you hear what he is doing.

    Listen to Coma of Souls

  3. Eternal Devastation Destruction, 1986

    The technical one. Odd, angular riffing and a vocalist who sounds permanently affronted — closer to a hardcore record than to the Bay Area.

    Listen to Eternal Devastation

  4. Pleasure to Kill Kreator, 1986 The landmark

    The deep end, and placed last for good reason. The most violent record of 1986 by a wide margin, recorded so murkily that the riffs arrive as a single mass — which is either the flaw or the entire appeal.

    Listen to Pleasure to Kill

What it sounds like

Rougher, filthier and considerably less cheerful. German thrash keeps the speed but drops the polish: guitar tone is harsher and more mid-range, vocals are barked or rasped rather than shouted, and the riffs favour dissonance over melody. Solos, where they exist, tend towards noise. Where the Bay Area bands sound like they rehearsed, this sounds like it was captured in one take and improved by that. It is the strand of thrash that leads most directly to death metal — put Kreator next to early Morbid Angel and the distance is much shorter than the four years between them suggests.

  • Heaviness 4 out of 5
  • Speed 5 out of 5
  • Aggression 5 out of 5
  • Technicality 3 out of 5
  • Darkness 4 out of 5
  • Melody 2 out of 5

Where the name came from

'Teutonic' derives from the Teutones, an ancient Germanic tribe, broadly used to mean 'German.' Applied by journalists and fans to distinguish the darker, rawer German thrash scene (Kreator, Sodom, Destruction) from the more melodic Bay Area approach.

The bands

Hear these first

  • Kreator Germany
  • Sodom Germany
  • Destruction Germany
  • Tankard Germany
  • Assassin Germany

And 8 more

  • Pyracanda Germany
  • Vendetta Germany
  • Darkness Germany
  • Deathrow Germany
  • Holy Moses Germany
  • Living Death Germany
  • Iron Angel Germany
  • Violent Force Germany

Where it happened

Counting this genre and everything descended from it.

If you liked this

Closest in sound outside this family, leaning towards the similar or the gentler rather than straight into the deep end.