Slayer

United States · 1980s

Intense Dark Epic Sentimental

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Description

Slayer is a micro-genre label used to describe the most ferocious, ultra-fast strain of thrash metal centered on the sound and aesthetic pioneered by the band Slayer.

It emphasizes blistering tempos, tightly palm-muted riffing, tremolo-picked lines, chaotic whammy-bar leads, and relentless double‑bass drumming. Lyrics and imagery lean toward horror, war, anti‑authoritarian themes, and occult or apocalyptic motifs. Compared to broader thrash, the "slayer" style is darker, faster, and more uncompromising, forming a template for much of extreme metal that followed.

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Influenced by

Heavy Metal

Heavy metal is a loud, guitar-driven style of rock defined by heavily distorted riffs, thunderous drums, and powerful vocals. Its musical language emphasizes minor modes, modal (Aeolian, Phrygian) riffing, and energy over groove, often featuring virtuosic guitar solos and dramatic dynamic contrasts. Emerging from late-1960s blues rock and psychedelic experimentation, heavy metal codified a darker, heavier sound with bands like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Led Zeppelin. The genre values weight, intensity, and grandeur—whether through plodding, doom-laden tempos or galloping, high-energy rhythms—paired with themes that range from personal struggle and social critique to fantasy, mythology, and the occult.

Speed Metal

Speed metal is a fast, precision-driven branch of heavy metal that crystallized at the turn of the 1980s. It emphasizes aggressive tempos, tightly synchronized riffing, and virtuosic lead guitar work, while generally retaining melodic, often clean or strident vocals. Compared with thrash metal, speed metal tends to be less percussive and more melodic, favoring galloping rhythms, twin-guitar harmonies, and classic verse–chorus structures. Drums often employ rapid double-time feels and double-bass patterns, while bass frequently mirrors the rhythm guitar to reinforce propulsion. Lyrical themes range from rebellion and street realism to fantasy, warfare, and sci‑fi.

Thrash Metal

Thrash metal is a fast, aggressive, and riff‑driven style of metal characterized by high-tempo, palm‑muted downpicking; tightly synchronized rhythm sections; and abrasive, shouted or barked vocals. Songs typically sit in the 180–220+ BPM range, with rapid alternate picking, chugging power‑chord riffs, and precise double‑bass drumming. Harmonically, thrash favors minor tonalities, chromatic movement, tritone tension, and modal flavors such as Phrygian and Aeolian. Structures are riff-centric and often feature brisk tempo changes, sharp stops/starts, and technically demanding solos that draw on pentatonic, natural/harmonic minor, and modal runs. Lyrically, thrash is frequently anti‑authoritarian and socio‑political, addressing war, corruption, media manipulation, and personal alienation. Compared to speed metal, thrash is more percussive, staccato, and palm‑mute heavy; compared to death metal, vocals are generally less guttural and the riffing slightly less dissonant, but the intensity and precision remain core to the style.

Hardcore Punk

Hardcore punk is a faster, louder, and more abrasive offshoot of late-1970s punk rock. Songs are typically short (often under two minutes), propelled by rapid tempos, aggressive down‑stroked guitar riffs, and shouted or barked vocals. The style prioritizes raw energy over technical ornamentation: power‑chord harmony, minimal guitar solos, and tightly locked rhythm sections dominate. Lyrically, hardcore punk is intensely direct—often political, anti‑authoritarian, and socially critical—reflecting a DIY ethic that values independent labels, self‑organized shows, and community‑run spaces. The genre coalesced in U.S. scenes such as Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., New York, and Boston, and soon spread internationally. Its velocity, attitude, and grassroots infrastructure profoundly shaped underground music and paved the way for numerous metal, punk, and alternative subgenres.

Nwobhm

NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) is a late-1970s British movement that revitalized heavy metal with faster tempos, twin‑lead guitar harmonies, and a gritty, working‑class intensity. It fused the muscular riffing of 1970s hard rock and early heavy metal with the urgency and DIY ethos of punk, producing anthemic choruses, memorable riffs, and high‑register vocals. The scene was propelled by independent labels, fanzines, and grassroots gig circuits, and it provided the template for much of 1980s metal worldwide.

Has influenced

Death Metal

Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal defined by heavily distorted, low‑tuned guitars, rapid and complex riffing, blast beat drumming, and harsh guttural vocals. Its harmonic language favors chromaticism, dissonance, and tremolo-picked lines that create an ominous, abrasive atmosphere. Lyrically, death metal often explores dark or transgressive themes—mortality, mythology, anti-religion, psychological horror, and the macabre—sometimes with philosophical or social commentary. Production ranges from raw and cavernous to hyper-precise and technical, reflecting the genre’s many regional scenes and substyles. From the mid‑1980s Florida scene (Tampa) and parallel developments in the US, UK, and Sweden, death metal evolved into numerous branches including brutal death metal, technical death metal, melodic death metal, and death‑doom, each emphasizing different aspects of speed, complexity, melody, or heaviness.

Black Metal

Black metal is a form of extreme metal defined by fast tempos, tremolo‑picked guitar lines, blast‑beat drumming, shrieked or rasped vocals, and a deliberately raw, icy production aesthetic. Harmonically, it favors minor and modal collections (especially Aeolian and Phrygian), open-string drones, parallel fifths and fourths, tritones, and sparse or suspended chord voicings over blues-derived harmony. Arrangements often employ layered guitars, long-form song structures, and enveloping reverb to create a bleak, otherworldly atmosphere. The genre’s visual and thematic language is equally distinctive: corpse paint, monochrome artwork, and lyrics exploring anti-dogma, nature, pagan myth, cosmic nihilism, and misanthropy. While some scenes have been associated with controversy and extremism, the musical identity centers on sound, atmosphere, and aesthetics rather than any single ideology.

Deathrash

Deathrash is a hybrid metal style that fuses the speed, palm‑muted riffing, and structural clarity of thrash metal with the harsher timbres, lower tunings, and vocal extremity of death metal. Guitars typically combine galloping, down‑picked thrash rhythms with death‑metal tremolo lines, while drums move from skank beats and double‑kick patterns into rapid fills and occasional blasts. Vocals range from savage thrash snarls to mid‑to‑low death growls. Themes often dwell on death, occultism, warfare, and apocalyptic imagery, delivered with a raw, high‑energy attack. The overall sound is tight, fast, and aggressive, emphasizing precise right‑hand picking, minor/chromatic harmony, and a gritty, unpolished production aesthetic that retains clarity at high tempos.

Blackened Death Metal

Blackened death metal fuses the ferocity, low‑tuned heft, and technical riffing of death metal with the icy tremolo lines, blast‑driven urgency, and occult atmosphere of black metal. The result is a dense, aggressive sound marked by relentless speed, layered guitars, and a stark, often ritualistic mood. Vocals typically alternate between cavernous death growls and rasping black‑metal shrieks. Drums emphasize blast beats, double‑kick barrages, and sudden tempo pivots, while guitars move between chromatic death‑metal riffing and long, minor‑key tremolo phrases. Lyrical themes commonly draw on Satanism, occultism, anti‑cosmic or apocalyptic narratives, and blasphemous or esoteric imagery. Production ranges from raw and abrasive to highly polished and symphonic, depending on the artistic intent.

Groove Metal

Groove metal is a heavy metal subgenre defined by mid‑tempo, syncopated, and riff‑centric songwriting that prioritizes head‑nodding "groove" over sheer speed. Guitars are typically down‑tuned and palm‑muted, locking tightly to a punchy, backbeat‑driven drum feel and muscular bass lines. Vocals are usually aggressive shouts or barks with occasional melodic or anthemic passages, while lead guitars favor pinched harmonics, blues‑tinged bends, and compact, percussive phrases rather than long neo‑classical runs. Production tends to be tight and weighty, emphasizing a thick, modern rhythm‑guitar tone and precise drum transients. Stylistically, groove metal grew out of late‑’80s thrash and hardcore but slowed and widened the rhythms, borrowing the feel of funk metal’s syncopation and, in some cases, southern rock’s swagger.

Metalcore

Metalcore is a fusion of hardcore punk’s urgency and ethos with heavy metal’s riff language and technicality. It is defined by tightly palm‑muted riffs, rapid double‑kick drumming, and frequent breakdowns—rhythmic, syncopated passages written to accentuate impact and crowd movement. Vocals typically alternate between harsh screams or growls and, in many bands, soaring clean choruses—a contrast that emphasizes both aggression and catharsis. Harmony and melody often borrow from melodic death metal, yielding minor‑key leads, harmonized guitars, and hook‑driven refrains. Modern production favors precise editing, dense guitar layering, and punchy drum sounds that keep complex rhythms clear at high intensity.

Thrashcore

Thrashcore is an ultra-fast, aggressive strain of hardcore punk characterized by extremely short songs, breakneck tempos, and tightly compressed arrangements. It amplifies hardcore’s intensity by trimming away ornamentation and accelerating everything: riffs, drums, and vocal phrasing. While sometimes conflated with crossover thrash, thrashcore remains firmly rooted in punk rather than metal. It favors raw, abrasive guitar tones, rapid down-picked power-chord riffs, and relentless drum patterns that often approach or include early blast beats. Vocals are usually shouted or barked, with lyrics that are political, confrontational, or socially critical. The style prioritizes immediacy and catharsis, thriving on DIY ethics, minimal production sheen, and high-energy performances that translate into frantic pits and stage-dives.

War Metal

War metal is an extremely aggressive fusion of black metal and death metal known for its chaotic, bestial sound. It emphasizes relentless speed, blast-beat drumming, heavily distorted low-tuned guitars, and raw, clipping production that borders on noise. Rather than melody or intricate harmony, war metal prioritizes density, abrasion, and overwhelming intensity. Vocals are guttural, barking, or cavernous roars, often layered or doubled to create a wall of sound. Lyrical themes center on war, desecration, blasphemy, and apocalyptic imagery, matching the music’s scorched‑earth aesthetics. Tracks are typically short, violent bursts with minimal dynamic relief, frequent tremolo-picked barrages, and chaotic solos. The overall aesthetic is primitive and deliberately unrefined, evoking the feel of a battlefield bombardment translated into sound.

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