In honor of the fact that I am taking my 12 year-old son and his friend to see Slayer, Exodus, and Suicidal Tendencies at The Forum in Los Angeles tomorrow night, this week’s Thrashback Thursday thrashes all the way back to where it started for me. I was about their age when I went down that heavy metal rabbit hole. Slayer and early Metallica were like a godsend for a hormonal teenage boy to headband his aggressions, frustrations, and angst out to. May the metal be as kind to the kids as it’s been to me all of these years.

With the opening track of their brilliant 1984 EP Haunting The Chapel here is the mighty Slayer with “Chemical Warfare.”

OK, so I’m cheating a bit by only thrashing back a bit over a year with this week’s edition of Thrashback Thursday, but this kick-ass tune has been running through my head all day.

Skeletonwitch are from Athens, Ohio and have been cranking out their breakneck brand of blackened thrash since 2003. Their fifth album, 2013’s Serpents Unleashed is a modern metal masterpiece that landed 2nd on my list of the top albums for last year (#1 was Killswitch Engage’s tour de force Disarm The Descent)

Here with the official video for “I Am of Death (Hell Has Arrived)” from Serpents Unleashed is Skeletonwitch.

“Bring the Noise” was originally done by Public Enemy and first appeared on the soundtrack to the 1987 film Less Than Zero. It was also the first single from the band’s 1988 album It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back.

After New York thrash band Anthrax displayed their appreciation for Public Enemy by wearing the group’s T-shirts onstage, Chuck D and Flor Flav agreed to appear on their cover of the song, thus creating the genre of rap-metal. The collaboration appeared on both Anthrax’s Attack of the Killer B’s and Public Enemy’s Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black.

Here with the official video for their collaborative cover are Anthrax and Public Enemy with “Bring The Noise.”

Sodom formed in 1981 and played a pivotal role in the rise of thrash metal. They are widely considered to be (along with Kreator, Tankard, and Destruction) to be one of the big four of German thrash. Through numerous lineup changes and stylistic experiments, Sodom have also had a vast influence on the genres of death metal and black metal.

They have returned to their thrash roots and despite the fact that bassist/lead vocalist Tom Angelripper is the only remaining original member, continue to issue bone-crushing new material. Sodom have released 14 studio albums, three live albums, two compilations, and on November 28th they will issue Their sixth EP titled Sacred Warpath.

Here they are with the official video for “City of God” from their excellent 2006 self-titled album Sodom.

Since we looked at Helix for this week’s Massive Metal Monday, I thought we would keep with the Canadian theme for Thrashback Thursday.

Exciter was one of the very first speed metal bands in the world and played a pivotal role in the establishment of the thrash genre. Formed in 1978 in Ottawa, Canada, the band has endured for over 35 years with only a small, but very rabid cult following.

Listen to Exciter here below.

Long Live the Loud was the third album by Exciter and was released in 1985. Here with “Beyond the Gates of Doom,” the fifth track from that classic album, are the fathers of Canadian thrash, Exciter.