Speed Metal is, according to some Metalheads, the forerunner of what are now known as Thrash Metal, Groove Metal, Death Metal, Grindcore, Power Metal and Black Metal. In short, it's what happens when you take traditional Heavy Metal and use some Hardcore Punk influences to speed it up; perhaps not as fast as its more extreme succesors, but certainly fast enough to serve as inspiration. To word it as succinctly and unambiguously as possible, it's metal that is too thrashy to be trad but not thrashy enough to actually be full-on thrash, usually also with more of an overtly punkish feel than is typical for thrash. Modern acts are quite likely to have some overlap with black metal, likely due to the popularity of Midnight.
The first band generally considered to have played Speed Metalnote is Motörhead, as exemplified with hits such as Ace Of Spades and "Overkill". Many bands in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM), particularly Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Raven, and Diamond Head, played in this genre and served as inspiration to many a young Thrash Metal act. A more notorious Speed Metal band would be Venom, whose blatantly satanic themes and Darker and Edgier atmosphere inspired the First Wave of Black Metal (aka, Early Extreme Metal), which laid the foundations for the heavier, less-melodic side of Thrash Metal, Death Metal, and of course, Black Metal as a genre, while various young bands from Ontario (primarily Anvil, Exciter, and Razor) also proved influential. Later came Helloween and Blind Guardian, whose more melodic approaches gave rise to European Power Metal, while the very Helloween-esque Viper helped do the same for South American power metal.
Although many tend to equate Speed Metal to the more aggressive Thrash Metal, there are a number of distinct differences between them. In his book Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal, Ian Christe states that "...thrash metal relies more on long, wrenching rhythmic breaks, while speed metal... is a cleaner and more musically intricate subcategory, still loyal to the dueling melodies of classic metal."
Some bands usually included in the genre:
- Accept (Trope Codifier)
- Acid (female-fronted Belgian band sometimes considered an influence on many Thrash Metal bands)
- Agent Steel
- Anthrax (Turned into Thrash Metal by their third album)
- Armored Saint (early material)
- Axel Rudi Pell (Their heavier material falls under this)
- Anvil
- AvengedSevenfold (third album only)
- City of Evil (2005)
- Bastard Cross
- Bat
- Bewitcher (first two albums, some first-wave black metal elements; Cursed Be Thy Kingdom is closer to traditional heavy metal and black & roll)
- Blind Guardian (Early albums, later turned into Power Metal)
- Body Count
- Body Count (1992)
- Budgie (Ur-Example)
- Bulldozer (also First Wave Black Metal)
- Coroner (early material)
- Cruel Force
- Deathrow (early material)
- Destruction (added elements of Thrash Metal on Eternal Devastation and fully switched genres with Release From Agony)
- Diamond Head (often cited by Thrash Metal bands, especially Metallica as an influence)
- Dio (enter this territory fairly often, generally combined with Traditional Heavy Metal)
- Enforcer (first album)
- Evil Invaders
- Exciter
- Grave Digger (Also becomes Power Metal)
- Hellish
- Helloween (Eventually became Trope Maker of European Power Metal, though they later regained some elements of the genre with Better Than Raw)
- Hellripper
- Iron Angel
- Iron Maiden
- 1980 - Iron Maiden
- 1981 - Killers
- 1982 - The Number of the Beast
- Judas Priest (Trope Maker alongside Motörhead)
- 1980 - British Steel
- 1982 - Screaming for Vengeance
- 1990 - Painkiller
- Leathurbitch
- Living Death
- Megadeth (mixed with Thrash on their first two albums)
- Mekong Delta (self-titled)
- Mercyful Fate (often regarded as an influence on Thrash Metal and Black Metal, but they don't quite belong to either genre themselves)
- Metallica (mixed with Thrash Metal on Kill 'Em All)
- 1983 - Kill 'Em All
- 1984 - Ride the Lightning
- 1986 - Master of Puppets
- 1988 - ...And Justice for All (1988)
- 1991 - Metallica (Album)
- 1998 - Garage Inc.
- Metalucifer (Before you get the wrong idea, they're Japanese.)
- Midnight (with influence from First Wave Black Metal)
- Motörhead (Trope Maker alongside Judas Priest)
- 1980 - Ace Of Spades
- 1991 - 1916
- Mustasch
- Overkill (up until Under the Influence)
- Rage (early material, started turning into power metal circa Perfect Man)
- Raven
- Razor (first two albums)
- Running Wild
- Seax
- Sins of the Damned
- Slayer (Show No Mercy)
- Sodom (Mixed with First-Wave Black Metal on their earliest material)
- Speedwolf
- Sword
- Tank
- Tokyo Yankees
- Tremonti (Mixed with Alternative Metal)
- Turbo
- V8
- Venom (Later formed part of the first wave of Black Metal)
- Viper (Soldiers of Sunrise)
- Voivod (first two albums)
- Vulture
- Warrant (German band, not the glam act)
- Witchtrap
- Wraith
- X Japan
