Meanstreak was an all-female thrash band from Westchester, New York, that was active from 1985-1994. They were playing at legendary New York metal club L’Amour when Mercenary Records asked them to contribute the song “Lost Stranger” to their compilation album L’Amour Rocks. The favorable reaction that the track generated lead to Mercenary issuing Mean Streak’s one and only full-length album RoadKill.

Meanstreak is notable for several reasons; not only were they one of very few all-female acts in the world of thrash, but three of the ladies went on to marry members of progressive metal titans Dream Theater. Perhaps the band’s greatest contribution to metal though was their drummer Yael. She would go on to become a metal legend and one of the most respected female drummers in the world.

German thrashers Destruction have been doling out their brand of brutality with an astounding consistency for over 33 years. Such is their reputation as to be considered (along with Kreator and Sodom) one of the “Big 3” of German thrash metal. The band was pivotal not only in the creation of the thrash genre, but in the development of death metal and blackened thrash. To date, Destruction has released 13 studio albums and more EPs, Live albums, and splits to keep track of.

Check out Destruction performing “Nailed to the Cross” from their 2001 album The Antichrist here below. And be sure to check them out on tour supporting Sepultura on their 30th anniversary trek this Spring.

Today’s Thrashback Thursday is a two-for-one deal. Metallica‘s Lars Ulrich and King Diamond (aka Kim Bendix Peterson) are Danish countrymen. The two have been close friends for some time. Metallica even recorded their breakthrough second album, 1984’s Ride The Lightning in the studio owned by King Diamond and his band Mercyful Fate.

So strong is Metallica’s reverence for Mercyful Fate that they have, for many years, been performing a medley consisting of several of the band’s songs (“Satan’s Fall,” “Curse of the Pharaohs,” “A Corpse Without Soul,” “Into the Coven,” and “Evil”) which they simply call “Mercyful Fate.” A recorded version of the tribute appeared on Metallica’s Garage Inc.

When Metallica made a stop in King Diamond’s adopted hometown of Dallas Texas in 2008, they invited the King himself to join them onstage to lend his iconic lead vocals to the medley. Check out the footage of that performance here below.

Diamond Head may not be the same sort of household name that their contemporaries such as Judas Priest and Iron Maiden became during the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, but their influence is every bit as strong, if not more so. Diamond Head were among the first bands to experiment with marrying the raw power and speed of punk to heavy metal. The resulting sound would provide the building blocks of the thrash movement that lay just a few years away with Mercyful Fate, Metallica, and Slayer. Such was the influence of Diamond Head on this fledgling scene that Metallica would cover Diamond Head’s classic “Am I Evil?” on their very first album.

Check out this promo clip for Diamond Head’s original version of “Am I Evil?” from their landmark 1980 debut album Lightning to the Nations.

Today’s Thrashback Thursday theme is: great band, cool song, terrible record. Megadeth‘s anthemic track “Crush ‘Em” was just about the only redeeming factor of their otherwise abysmal 1999 album Risk. The record’s title reflects Megadeth leader Dave Mustaine’s belief that the band was ready to take a risk and step outside of their comfort zone. The problem was that the step they took was toward pop metal and the risk that they took alienated many fans. The album would be the last to feature legendary guitarist Marty Friedman, who left the fold a year later.

“Crush ‘Em” was also used as the theme song for the equally terrible Jean Claude Van Damme and Bill Goldberg movie Universal Soldier: The Return and the song’s official video features both actors.