Exmortus is a thrash/technical death metal crossover band from Whittier, California. The band formed in 2002 and have been building a rabid following ever since. To date they have released three demos, two EPs, and three full length albums. The two phenomenal guitarists are doing their part to revive the art of shredding and are a must see for aficionados of the form.

“Kneel Before The Steel” is an anthemic staple of Exmortus’s live show. The song appears on the band’s second full length album Beyond The Fall of Time. Check it out below.

Singer/guitarist Matt Heafy formed Trivium while still in high school and landed a record deal shortly after graduation. The Orlando, Florida band have released six albums to date and continue to be progressively more successful with each release. They recently wrapped up a co-headline tour with Volbeat in support of their most recent record, 2013s Vengeance Falls.

From the band’s second album, 2004s Ascendancy, here is the official video for “Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr.”

Toxic Holocaust are a blackened thrash band from Portland, Oregon that formed in 1999. To date they have issued five albums, four EPs, and too many demos, compilations, splits, and live albums to list here. Singer/guitarist Joel Grind also issued his first solo album, the excellent Yellowgoat Sessions in 2013.

Here, from the band’s third studio album An Overdose of Death is their anthem “Nuke The Cross.”

As we here in the States take today to spend time with loved ones and give thanks for all of our blessings, we here at Geeks of Doom want to take a moment to give thanks for metal’s greatest blessing: Mr. Lemmy Kilmister and his merry band of miscreants, Motorhead. While not technically a thrash band in the modern sense of the word, there can be no mistake that Lemmy’s propensity for amphetamines led him to almost singlehandedly create the genre of speed metal, which in turn birthed thrash. It is difficult to imagine what the landscape of modern metal would look like if not for the institution that is Motorhead.

So enjoy your thanksgiving, don’t eat TOO much, and crank up some Motorhead loud enough so that even your deaf Aunt Irene can enjoy.

Suicidal Tendencies was born out of Southern California’s thriving skateboard culture of the late ’70s/early ’80s. Leader and singer Mike Muir originally intended for the group to be a part-time party band on the Venice, CA, punk scene and skatepark circuit, but the Suicidal quickly evolved into one of the first punk/thrash crossover successes, gaining a following so rabid that they actually considered themselves a gang. The Suicidal Cycos, as they called themselves, had various local chapters in cites across Southern California and as far away as San Antonio, Texas. The band also gained infamy due to the culture of violence involving gang clashes at many of their early shows.