While punk-metal may sound like thrash metal to uninformed listeners, it was spawned from a radically different attitude. Both camps rely on lightning-fast speeds, but punk-metal is focused on political injustice rather than technical proficiency. The two founding fathers of the genre were almost exact opposites: Chicano skate punks Suicidal Tendencies railed against the racism of their hometown of Venice, California with their self-titled 1983 debut album, while New York-based Stormtroopers of Death, or S.O.D. (a side project of thrash outfit Anthrax), delivered the race-baiting 1985 album Speak English or Die, which demostrated the close relationship between punk and thrash metal. By the late '80s, hardcore punk bands like Corrosion of Conformity, Agnostic Front, and Ludichrist were peppering their songs with thrash metal guitar solos. As punk grew more mainstream in the '90s, classic punk influences like The Misfits became as respectable as pioneering metal sources like Iron Maiden, furthering the fusion of punk and metal. In the new millennium, bands like Papa Roach, Avenged Sevenfold, and the bad boys of the nu metal scene continued mining punk's credibility while simultaneously copping riffs from late-era Ozzy Osbourne.

Notable Artists: Suicidal Tendencies, Corrosion of Conformity, Cro-Mags, D.R.I., The Adolescents