Sure, its easy to think of thrash as a metal genre that dallies with hardcore, but thats actually (literally) only the half of it. On the hardcore side of the fence, bands began incorporating more of a metal tinge in their speed and sonics, too, resulting in a sound that "crossed over" into the thrash zone. So yeah, theres more to the subgenre known as "crossover" than just a clever name, one that D.R.I.—absolute legends of the form—reinforced with album and song titles (you know, aside from the mic-dropping sound that became crossovers blueprint).This fusion was controversial at the time, as these two worlds did not peacefully coexist. Metalheads werent exactly welcome at hardcore shows and vice-versa; your hair length (or lack thereof) was enough to incur violence on sight. But as this clash of preferences peaked, these two heavy-music scenes found a kindred spirit in each other and something began to shift—i.e., the speed and guitars.Bands like Leeway, Gang Green, and Nuclear Assault took hardcore tempos, made them faster, kept the shouted punk vocals, and worked in wailing solos. Perhaps the biggest band to come from the crossover scene, Suicidal Tendencies, even made the sound commercially viable. The spirit of crossover still thrives today in bad-ass revivalists like Iron Reagan, who take the sawing hardcore breakdown structure and add in thrashing speed and vitriolic vocals to continue the tradition.This feature is part of our Thrash 101 online course that was produced in partnership with the good rocking folks at GimmeRadio, a free 24/7 metal radio station hosted by heavy-music experts like Megadeths Dave Mustaine and Lamb of Gods Randy Blythe. Check them out here and sign up for the Thrash 101 course here.
