No genre ever truly disappears. There were thrash lifers dropping ace records all throughout the ’90s and even into the early ’00s, and the genre was in the midst of a massive revival by the time 2010 rolled around, nearly 30 years after its ascent. Young headbangers—most of whom were mere babes when thrash’s Big Four stormed out of the Reagan years—were introducing new generations of metal fans to the genre’s trademark innovations: shredding guitar solos, sadistically flailing beats, and vocals that, whether screamed or grunted, sound as if they’re chewing through steel. Even genre offshoots such as crossover thrash (a late-’80s hybridization boasting massive injections of hardcore punk) were brought back to life by bands like Municipal Waste and Power Trip, the latter achieving mainstream success with their second album, 2017’s instant classic Nightmare Logic. But the revival wasn’t just a youth movement. A growing list of veteran outfits like Anthrax and Overkill began circling back around to their thrash-or-die roots, producing records so energetic and dialed in to the movement’s unquenchable thirst for violent sonic mayhem, you’d swear it was the ’80s all over again.