Editing Thrash metal (section)

====Birth and underground expansion (1980–1983)====
Critics argue over who can be thought of as the first thrash metal band to exist. Most credit either British band [[Venom (band)|Venom]] or the genre's so-called "Big Four": [[Metallica]], [[Slayer]], [[Anthrax (American band)|Anthrax]], and [[Megadeth]], with commentators crediting Venom as the first thrash metal band and others tending to favor the "Big Four", though many give equal credit to all those five bands.<ref name="MusicRadar"/><ref name="thrashpioneers"/><ref>{{cite web|last=Lelievre|first=Benoit|url=https://www.deadendfollies.com/blog/metal-outsiders-journey-thrash-metal-and-the-true-birth-of-evil|title=A Subjective History of Thrash Metal|website=deadendfollies.com|access-date=May 14, 2025}}</ref><ref name="tidal">{{cite web|last=Christe|first=Ian|url=https://tidal.com/magazine/article/thrash-metal-year-zero/1-90573|title=1983: Thrash Year's Zero|website=tidal.com|access-date=May 14, 2025}}</ref> The origins of thrash metal have also been traced to [[San Francisco Bay Area]] band [[Exodus (band)|Exodus]], who formed in 1979 and is the fifth band in what is sometimes considered the "Big Five".<ref name="tidal"/> The band released its first demo in 1982, simply titled ''Demo 1982'', which was widely circulated in the tape trading community and is credited for paving the way for the 1980s [[Bay Area thrash metal]] scene.<ref name="tidal"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-story-behind-exodus-bonded-by-blood|title=The story behind Exodus' Bonded By Blood|website=loudersound.com|access-date=May 14, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://lambgoat.com/news/11024/exodus-re-records-bonded-by-blood/|title=Exodus Re-re-records 'Bonded By Blood'|website=lambgoat.com|access-date=May 14, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Blum|first=Jordan|url=https://loudwire.com/charlie-benante-best-thrash-record/|title=Charlie Benante Names 'Best Thrash Record' and It's Surprising|website=loudwire.com|access-date=May 14, 2025}}</ref>  A few commentators argue for other bands, including [[Overkill (band)|Overkill]] and [[Metal Church]] (both of whom formed in 1980), as the earliest bands to play thrash metal before releasing albums.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-complete-history-of-overkill|title=The complete history of Overkill|website=loudersound.com|access-date=May 14, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite mag|url=https://screamermagazine.com/tag/metal-church/|title=Metal Church Archives|magazine=[[Screamer Magazine]]|access-date=May 14, 2025}}</ref>

In 1981, [[Los Angeles]] band [[Leather Charm]] wrote a song entitled "Hit the Lights". Leather Charm soon disbanded and the band's primary songwriter, vocalist/rhythm guitarist [[James Hetfield]], met drummer [[Lars Ulrich]] through a classified advertisement. Together, Hetfield and Ulrich formed Metallica, one of the "Big Four" thrash bands, with lead guitarist [[Dave Mustaine]], who would later form Megadeth, another of the "Big Four" originators of thrash, and bassist [[Ron McGovney]]. McGovney would be replaced by Cliff Burton (formerly of [[Trauma (American band)|Trauma]]), and Mustaine was later replaced by [[Kirk Hammett]] of the then-unsigned Exodus, and at Burton's insistence, the band relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area. Before Metallica had even settled on a definitive lineup, Metal Blade Records executive [[Brian Slagel]] asked Hetfield and Ulrich (credited as "Mettallica") to record "Hit the Lights" for the first edition of his ''[[Metal Massacre]]'' compilation in 1982. A re-recorded version of "Hit the Lights" would later open their first studio album, ''[[Kill 'Em All]]'', released in July 1983.<ref>{{cite web|last=Heller|first=Jason|title=An introduction to the snarling, belligerent rebelliousness of thrash|url=https://www.avclub.com/an-introduction-to-the-snarling-belligerent-rebellious-1798237220|work=[[The A.V. Club]]|date=28 March 2013|access-date=13 July 2013|archive-date=1 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801160542/http://www.avclub.com/articles/an-introduction-to-the-snarling-belligerent-rebell,95715/|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Kill 'Em All'' is widely regarded as the first thrash metal album, and one of the album's tracks "[[Whiplash (Metallica song)|Whiplash]]" has been referred to as one of the first songs of the genre.<ref>{{cite web|first=Paul |last=Elliott |title=The 10 best Metallica songs from the 1980s |website=loudersound.com |date=September 20, 2022 |access-date=October 31, 2024 |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-10-best-metallica-songs-from-the-1980s}}</ref>

Another "Big Four" thrash band formed in Los Angeles in 1981, when guitarists [[Jeff Hanneman]] and [[Kerry King]] met while auditioning for the same band and subsequently decided to form a band of their own. Hanneman and King recruited vocalist/bassist [[Tom Araya]] and drummer [[Dave Lombardo]], and [[Slayer]] was formed. Slayer was discovered by Metal Blade Records executive Brian Slagel; the band's live performance of [[Iron Maiden]]'s "Phantom of the Opera" so impressed him that he promptly signed them to his label. In December 1983, five months after the release of Metallica's debut ''Kill 'Em All'', Slayer released their debut album, ''[[Show No Mercy (Slayer album)|Show No Mercy]]''.

To the north, Canada produced influential thrash and [[speed metal]] bands such as [[Annihilator (band)|Annihilator]], [[Anvil (band)|Anvil]], [[Exciter (band)|Exciter]], [[Razor (band)|Razor]], [[Sacrifice (band)|Sacrifice]], and [[Voivod (band)|Voivod]].