Metal Reviews

What's the difference? Speed Metal seems either to be very fast Thrash, or Thrash + Power Metal like early Helloween... is that right?

That is what I would gather, but I call it melodic speed metal... damn genre crappy poo.

I'd have just called it Power Metal myself... how can you tell the difference between that and 'proper' Thrash?

I think there are two different speed metal genres. One is the speed/thrash (Metallica, Megadeth etc.) and the other is speed/power metal (Helloween, Blind Guardian, Gamma Ray etc.).

The differences are IMO the lyrics, the vocals, and the drumming. Thrash/Speed has normally evil or politic or "normal" lyrics, while Power/Speed has fantasy and such kind of stuff. The thrash/speed vocals are mostly not sung but more screamed and barked, while the power/speed vocals are normally very melodic singing. I mean, what I am writing...just listen to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcXN7DfGfew and on the other side this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuO3hHwQ-Sc - and if the differences are not obvious I don't know. (But it's IMO both some kind of speed metal. Just different directions.)

It's a pretty poorly defined genre as far as I can tell. There's a difference in the riffing style in that speed metal tends to have a lot of quick arrangements of individual notes instead of power chords and less emphasis on rhythm. But most bands I'd classify as speed metal I wouldn't say aren't also thrash. Agent Steel is kind of the best example of that to me - they're not NOT thrash, but they're definitely speed metal.

Agent Steel I would describe as US Power Metal. It sounds a little bit like Iced Earth, but not like the 0815 european power metal.

I don't really know... I find stuff like Hibria to be speed metal.

thrash has more groove than speed metal... speed metal sounds European (no punk influence whatsoever) while thrash has the punk/hardcore influence bringing the groovy/moshy parts.

I never use the term Speed Metal, because I don't know what quantifies Sped Metal, or what differentiates Speed from Power Metal or Thrash Metal. A lot of what could be described as Speed Metal can just as easily be called Power Metal, so I don't see the point of using the term.

In the early 80s, speed metal used to be the term defining music that was basically heavy metal played faster and rawer... I agree that it doesn't mean anything anymore as this kind of music barely exists as of today.

That sounds like the best answer.

Have you ever heard Skeptics Apocalypse?because it sounds nothing like Iced Earth;neither does Unstopable Force;Agent Steel were definitely Speed Metal;for example,Jag Panzer's Ample Destruction is US Power Metal.

That's wht I was gonna say. I don't hear much groove in speed metal either. I don't hear much melody in it for that matter.

Thrash Metal has different lyrical themes, different sounding riffs and solos, and it conveys somewhat of a different message to the listener. I prefer thrash only because of the violence level in the music...

This.

Speed Metal = Agent Steel, Helloween, etc

Thrash Metal = Kreator, Overkill, etc

Speed metal has more melody in it and , at least to me, has more neo classical leanings.

Thrash is on the whole more aggressive and has elements of early punk chaos in it. Actually it would also be fair to say that thrash is a mixture of NWOBHM and crossover punk bands. At the bare minimum , thrash is more violent and chaotic than speed metal, which is more structured and melodic.

Good examples would probably be ADX v. Kreator.

SDI vs. Darkness?

I see Speed Metal as a stepping stone to Thrash Metal, so anything in between Iron Maiden and Slayer. I also see some Motörhead songs as Speed Metal. But I also never use the term, anything Speed Metal, I would just call Thrash Power or Heavy Metal.

Yeah. I was listening to some old Agent Steel earlier and it's pretty much Thrash Metal. Speed Metal seems to be a redundant term, really.