Feature: When Thrash and Death Metal Collide – Eight Albums To Check Out

Some thrash bands were simply too heavy, too nasty to simply languish alongside the others. For every Metallica, there’s a Slayer, and thrash has always had that two-sided nature to it. 

In the secular metal world, bands like Slayer became iconic for their much darker and more violent take on the style (which would definitely prove to be fertile ground for death metal to grow out of), but it was bands like Kreator, Morbid Saint, Dark Angel, Sepultura, and Possessed (who vie with Death for releasing the first proper death metal album) that took things to an altogether nastier level. 

But to me, when Christians started playing thrash, many seemed to skip more traditional thrash metal altogether, and went straight for the heaviest sound they could concoct right away; case in point: Vengeance Rising with Human Sacrifice and Opprobrium (Incubus) with Serpent Temptation. Sure, more traditional bands like Deliverance came about too, along with eclectic (and heavy in their own right) prog-thrash acts like Believer, but it can’t be denied that Christian thrash got off on a very extreme footing. Vengeance Rising’s debut Human Sacrifice was the musical equivalent of an atom bomb in terms of its ferocity and overall heavy tone. Roger Martinez’s histrionic snarling is something I can’t see the average Metallica fan stomaching too well; it’s just way too extreme for a thrash metal vocalist to sound without pushing into death metal territory. Bands like Sacrament and Mortification would soon follow, with some later opting for a more thrash-centred style, and some later diving right into death metal pure. 

With that in mind (and after all that hairsplitting of genres, as I am apt to do), I present to you eight records that I think are particularly noteworthy when it comes to a thrash metal sound dabbling in death metal influences and taking the genre to its limits.

Opprobrium (originally known as Incubus) – Serpent Temptation

Several albums can actually vie for being the first Christian death metal release ever done that aren’t Mortification’s self-titled 1991 debut. One of those that predates it by three years was released by a band formerly known as Incubus, now known as Opprobrium, entitled Serpent Temptation. This is a prime example of early death metal finding its own identity beyond its thrash roots. Snarled vocals, blastbeats, and chaotic solo work are all part of this symphony of dire spiritual warnings. I have no doubt that this one’s a bit of a controversial work in some respects when it comes to its lyrical content (which is pretty explicit for a Christian band, especially for this time period), but I think this band was focused more on speaking to secular fans of the darker sides of thrash and death metal than a Christian one. Time shows it worked, at least to some degree, as the band managed to gain a certain degree of cult popularity in the secular metal underground. Fans of Kreator, Destruction, and even Tormentor will love this one. 

Sacrament – Testimony of Apocalypse

Still the sonic equivalent of a bulldozer going through an antique shop, Sacrament’s brawny wall-of-sound approach to thrash metal took the genre to its absolute limits, and from some points of view, is another contender for the Christian metal scene’s first death metal album. My take? It’s not death metal, but its ultra-heavy guitars and throaty roars of vocalist Mike Torone push the songs occasionally into death metal territory. It’s as heavy as thrash metal gets.

Final Prophecy – Re-Awakening: The Demos 1990-1992

Finding stuff by an obscure band like Final Prophecy would be virtually impossible if it weren’t for the treasure hunters over at Thrashback Records. All we’re left with is a handful of demo material from this death/thrash act, but what’s left is an awesome example of what a band can do when combining the two styles. 

Vengeance Rising – Released Upon the Earth

Frankly, any Vengeance Rising album could be on this list, but Released Upon the Earth is the one album of the four that pushes their already terrifying sound the furthest into death metal stylings. It’s a controversial release at a time when the band was essentially down to being a solo project of Roger Martinez, and some fans seem to lose interest with Vengeance Rising after their second album, Once Dead. I’d like to say – give this one a chance. No, it’s not as unhinged as the first two records, but it’s hybrid sound of raw thrash augmented by death metal growls is undeniably cool.

Crimson Thorn – Plagued

Wait, Crimson Thorn? They’re full-on death metal aren’t they? You bet, and one of the best death metal bands going. But their first demo was a different story. Imagine if Living Sacrifice’s debut was given a death metal injection, and you’ll have an idea of the sound on here. Its fast pace mixed with heavy grooves definitely rings of Living Sacrifice circa 1991, but Luke Renno’s occasional forays into what would become his legendary, bowel-shaking guttural vocals also make some appearances on here, separating Crimson Thorn from the more traditional thrash metal pack.

Possession – Eternally Haunt

Anybody who’s into extreme metal at all probably knows about unblack metal icons Frost Like Ashes. But before that band began rocking the black metal boat, several of its members (most notably Nyk Edinger, aka Azahel) were in a death/thrash act called Possession. Their sole full-length album, Eternally Haunt, is a crazy mix of Merciful Fate-like theatrics combined with echoes of the sound they would later explore with Frost Like Ashes, all supported by a death metal-style base.

Tourniquet – Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance

This one might raise a few eyebrows, but hear me out. Eclectic thrash icons Tourniquet’s flirted way too much with death metal elements on this one for me to ignore it, and though it’s not the kind of brutal thrash you’re going to get from some of the bands on this list, I can’t ignore what I’m hearing. Check out the title track and you’ll hear blastbeats and death metal riffs; listen to “The Skeezix Dilemma” and it’s death metal roars you’re going to hear. While most of the album remains firmly rooted in progressive thrash territory, this one’s just a little too death metal adjacent for comfort.

Mortification – Break the Curse

Mortification’s first demo (unless you count it as a Lightforce release; either way) doesn’t yet bear the terrifying roars that Steve Rowe would later bestow upon the listener, but his rabid snarl still gave Mortification the nasty edge required to push them into death/thrash territory. Fans of Kreator and Sodom will definitely enjoy this one’s primitive aggression.

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