Crossover thrash

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This does not cite its references or sources.
You can help Wikipedia by introducing appropriate citations. This article has been tagged since June 2006.

Crossover thrash, usually called crossover by fans and known as punk metal in some circles, was a term used in the 1980s to describe the first wave of bands that mixed hardcore punk and thrash metal.

Many consider Suicidal Tendencies to be one of the first bands to mix hardcore punk and metal. Their debut album, released in 1983, blurred the line between the two genres. Some of the earliest bands to have worked in this style are D.R.I. (with their albums Dealing With It and Crossover), Corrosion of Conformity (Animosity), and Stormtroopers of Death (Speak English or Die). Several other prominent bands went on to adopt the style in the late 1980s, such as Cryptic Slaughter, The Accused, Wehrmacht, Attitude Adjustment, Crumbsuckers, Ludichrist, Nuclear Assault, and Hirax. With Suicidal Tendencies' second album, Join the Army, the metal influence in their sound had increased, and their third album, How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today, almost fully transformed the band into a thrash metal outfit. Suicidal would go on to even greater commercial success with full-fledged metal albums like Lights...Camera...Revoultion! and Art of Rebellion in the 90's, but left behind their punk roots and, as a result, most of their original fanbase.

By the 1990s, several of the pioneering bands had broken up, Corrosion of Conformity had drastically changed their style, and D.R.I. had not released any new material since 1995. In recent years, though, there has been something of a comeback in the style, with bands such as The Cooters, Toxic Holocaust, Municipal Waste, Holier Than Thou?, Destruction's End, What Happens Next?, DFA, Bones Brigade, and the now defunct Crucial Unit coming to prominence. Recent years have also seen the reformation of The Accused, Hirax, and Nuclear Assault.