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Who are the best speed metal bands?
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Which metal band has the fastest tempo?
- Motörhead. 536 votes. A powerhouse in the world of speed metal, Motörhead's relentless energy and raw, gritty sound have etched their name into the pantheon of legendary bands.
- Megadeth. 502 votes. Known for their incredible precision and technical prowess, Megadeth is a force to be reckoned with in the realm of speed metal. Founded by guitarist and vocalist Dave Mustaine after his time with Metallica, Megadeth pushed the boundaries of what was possible within the genre.
- Slayer. 404 votes. Hailing from the United States, Slayer is often seen as the epitome of speed metal brutality. Their frenetic pace, crushing riffs, and aggressive rhythms have captured the imagination of metalheads around the globe.
- Testament. 293 votes. Testament emerged from the San Francisco Bay Area thrash scene in the 1980s and quickly gained recognition for their tight musicianship and brooding lyrical themes.
- Chris Chantler
- Exciter - Heavy Metal Maniac (1983) More than one contemporary zine used the term “skull-crushing” to describe Exciter’s seminal debut, and although the raw, tinny production blunts some of the edge, you can still feel the ferocious intent of this bullish Ontario trio roaring out of the speakers after 40 years.
- Acid - Maniac (1983) As with those other first responders from the Belgian scene, Killer and Crossfire, Acid’s low-budget, high-velocity transport café metal possesses a sweet rickety charm that makes Maniac effortlessly playable.
- Helloween - Walls Of Jericho (1985) Germany was an early speed metal stronghold, producing many enduring exemplars: Running Wild, Grave Digger, Rage, Angel Dust, Holy Moses, and most importantly of all, much-loved Hamburg hellions Helloween.
- Agent Steel - Skeptics Apocalypse (1985) These LA loons are perhaps the greatest example of a band who simultaneously combined power, thrash and speed metal, and thus tend to fall unjustly down the cracks between subgenres.
Speed metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from NWOBHM and hardcore punk roots. It is described by AllMusic as "extremely fast, abrasive, and technically demanding" music. List of bands. 3 Inches of Blood [1] Abattoir [2] Acid [3] Acid Reign. Agent Steel [4] Agony. Aion. Aisenshi. Alltheniko [5] Almafuerte.
Best Speed Metal Bands - Toxic Holocaust, Angel Dust, Holy Moses, Agent Steel, ADX, Antidote, Outrage, Stone, Grinder, The Great Kat, Acid, Storm
RankBand / Formed / GenresAlbums1Helloween 1983, Germany Power Metal, ...Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II (1988) ...2Blind Guardian 1986, Germany Power Metal, ...Nightfall in Middle-Earth (1998) #164 ...3Megadeth 1983, United States Thrash ...Rust in Peace (1990) #1 Peace Sells...4Venom 1979, United Kingdom Heavy Metal, ...Welcome to Hell (1981) #2703 Black Metal ...- Slayer
- Kreator
- Dragonforce
- Fleshgod Apocalypse
- Cryptopsy
- Nile
- Origin
- Infant Annihilator
- Brain Drill
The evilest of the Big 4, Slayer prove time and again that they are capable of hanging there with any of the young bands. Since their inception in 1981, few bands could match and even fewer could top their speed and ferocity. Songs like Angel Of Death, War Ensemble or Dittohead would be a challenge even for veteran players in terms of picking speed...
Slayer’s German counterpart Kreator probably followed the rule “What Americans can do we can do better”, since that’s the only thing that can explain the insane speed of the band, especially at that time. Even now, 37 years after three school friends formed a metal band, Kreator still sounds brutal and lightning fast. The band also shows no signs o...
A British power metal band that is notorious for its speed and technique, DragonForce first appeared on everyone’s radar after the inclusion of their first hit song "Through Fire And Flames" in the Guitar Hero III game where the band’s track was absolutely the hardest one to play. People who became interested in the band after playing the game soon...
Another band that was brought to fame through countless reaction videos and cover attempts (‘attempts’ as in mostly unsuccessful ones) on one of their tracks. Violation has become an example of how fast can a band play, in big part thanks to Francesco Paoli, whose drumming and songwriting is beyond excellence. At tempos over 270 BPM at points, Fles...
You can not make a list of the fastest metal bands without mentioning Cryptopsy from Canada. Since 1988 this band created their very own type of technical death metal with their 1996 album None So Vile being considered a benchmark in the genre. Three decades later Cryptopsy is faster and more brutal than ever. You won’t hear many words like ‘sorry’...
When you have a living Greek god in your band you are bound to play accordingly. With George Kollias on drums, every Nile song is like a speeding bullet. And it’s not all zeroes too, all the parts are extremely technical and require a lot of practice even if you are a skilled guitar player. Songs like Sacrifice Unto Sebek or Kafir! Are nearly impos...
Sweep picking, constant blast beats, death growls and all above 200BPM tempos - that’s Origin for you. These Kansas based musicians have been blasting away for more than 20 years and still, a rare band can get to their level of brutality and pure speed. The only constant member songwriter Paul Rayan creates music that is bordering on noise at times...
From what is humanly possible we get to what is definitely humanly impossible. True, there are playthroughs of certain songs, but it’s a known fact that Infant Annihilator program some of their stuff, which is not taking anything away from the music itself in my opinion. It’s extreme metal pushed to the max. If you put more into the mix it will act...
A small project by guitarist/songwriter Dylan Ruskin that turned into one of the most intense metal bands there is. With a suitable name like Brain Drill the music these guys create is beyond extreme. There probably won’t be a faster band because there is really no good reason to go faster than the human ear allows us to perceive and Brain Drill is...
Banzai Records printed the Speed Metal Swirl on the cover of 18 of their releases. It was a marketing idea by label founder Michel Meese and put together by Gunther Woschank, likely made from an existing design which has been found on a 1976 Shediac, New Brunswick phone book, with the words Speed Metal added. See also. List of speed metal bands
This list includes not only pure speed metal bands but those that were somewhere in between speed / thrash, speed / power and NWOBHM / speed. There are also rare exceptions of speed / punk as well as other genres. Notable MUST HEAR albums are listed after band entry.
