The 9 Best Thrash Metal Songs Over 9 Minutes Long

The following list of the nine best thrash metal songs over nine minutes long proves that the genre had way more going for it than brevity and untamed aggression.

Of course, ever since Metallica released Kill 'Em All in 1983, thrash metal has been noted for its "full speed or nothing" approach. But even then, for every "Hit the Lights" and "Whiplash," there was a "Seek & Destroy" or "The Four Horsemen" that hinted at greater ambitions for the burgeoning subgenre.

Metallica would realize these ambitions on future albums, as would thrash metal contemporaries such as Death Angel, Exodus, Megadeth, Overkill and more. Other groups would push the genre into even more experimental and long-form territory in the 2000s, using the work of these technical thrash forebears as their springboard.

We're celebrating all of them below. Read on to see the nine best thrash metal songs over nine minutes long.

READ MORE: Every 'Big 4' Thrash Metal Album Ranked From Worst to Best

Dark Angel, "An Ancient Inherited Shame" (Time Does Not Heal, 1991)

When Dark Angel released their fourth album, Time Does Not Heal, they included a sticker that boasted "9 songs, 67 minutes, 246 riffs!" A large portion of those riffs come from "An Ancient Inherited Shame," the longest song and focal point of the progressive thrash masterpiece. Clocking in at nine minutes and 15 seconds, "An Ancient Inherited Shame" is a shapeshifting epic combining breakneck riffs, muscular grooves and drummer Gene Hoglan's signature double-bass explosions.

Death Angel, "The Ultra-Violence" (The Ultra-Violence, 1987)

The members of Death Angel were all in their teens when they recorded their debut album The Ultra-Violence. But they showed a wisdom beyond their years throughout the classic LP — particularly on the instrumental title track, which crams an album's worth of melodic guitar leads, furious riffs and dime-stop tempo changes into its 10-and-a-half-minute runtime.

Exodus, "The Atrocity Exhibition" (The Atrocity Exhibition ... Exhibit A, 2007)

Exodus had previously delved into long-form territory with "Architect of Pain" off 1992's divisive Force of Habit. But for our money, the title track off 2007's The Atrocity Exhibition ... Exhibit A is their hardest-hitting epic. Across 10 and a half minutes, Exodus go from knotty, high-speed thrash riffs to monstrous grooves and back again, with explosive production ensuring a relentlessly pulverizing listen.

Flotsam and Jetsam, "Doomsday for the Deceiver" (Doomsday for the Deceiver, 1986)

Flotsam and Jetsam never reached the same commercial heights as some of their thrash metal brethren, but their debut album Doomsday for the Deceiver nonetheless became an early classic of the nascent subgenre. The whole band gets room to shine on the album's nine-plus-minute title track, full of galloping drums, operatic vocals and a melodic guitar intro that's more than a little similar to Motley Crue's "God Bless the Children of the Beast."

Hearing the ambitious compositions on Doomsday for the Deceiver, it's no surprise bassist and lyricist Jason Newsted left Flotsam and Jetsam shortly after the album's release to join Metallica.

READ MORE: 10 Best Thrash Albums NOT Released by the Big 4

Heathen, 'Heathen's Song" (Victims of Deception, 1991)

Heathen spent two years making their sophomore album Victims of Deception, beset by lineup changes and financial struggles. The end result was worth the struggle though. Victims of Deception is a pivotal entry in the technical thrash subgenre, and its centerpiece, the nine-and-a-half-minute "Heathen's Song," alternates deftly between majestic clean guitars, epic harmonized solos and high-speed thrash tumult without wasting a single second.

Machine Head, "Clenching the Fists of Dissent" (The Blackening, 2007)

After spending several albums in nu-metal purgatory, Machine Head began finding their way back to their thrash and groove metal roots on 2003's Through the Ashes of Empires. They perfected the form on their next effort, The Blackening, a dynamic and unflinchingly heavy masterwork of 21st-century metal.

The album gets off to a pulverizing start with "Clenching the Fists of Dissent," taking listeners on a 10-and-a-half-minute journey through haunting acoustic guitars, whiplash-inducing thrash passages and pummeling breakdowns. It's crisp, catchy and powerful as hell, and it cemented Machine Head as one of the worthiest heirs to Metallica's thrash metal throne.

Metallica, "... And Justice for All" (... And Justice for All, 1988)

Ah, speaking of which: No conversation about long-form thrash epics is complete without mention of the genre's biggest band, Metallica. Following the back-to-back and increasingly sophisticated classics Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets, the Bay Area quartet reached the apex of its technical thrash era with ... And Justice for All.

The album's title track is also its most ambitious composition. Approaching nearly 10 minutes, "... And Justice for All" is jam-packed with whiplash-inducing stops and starts, blazing solos and scathing political commentary. Not even the maddening lack of bass across ... And Justice for All can dull the title track's mighty roar.

Overkill, "Playing With Spiders / Skullkrusher" (The Years of Decay, 1989)

The longest song from New Jersey's beloved thrash metal street urchins Overkill is hardly a thrash song at all. "Playing With Spiders / Skullkrusher" lands directly in the middle of The Years of Decay, punctuating the otherwise high-speed album with a doomy, 10-plus-minute dirge.

The first half of the song is slow-burning sludge, bolstered by Bobby Blitz's menacing growl. Even when "Playing With Spiders / Skullkrusher" picks up speed in its second half, it retains a sinister energy that contrasts effectively with Overkill's typical gutter-punk irreverence.

Vektor, "Recharging the Void" (Terminal Redux, 2016)

Tempe, Arizona thrashers Vektor just keep getting brainer and brawnier with each album. The band's third full-length, Terminal Redux, a wildly ambitious concept album about an astronaut who finds the key to immortality, exploiting it for personal gain and later suffering an existential crisis.

Vektor express these conflicting feelings of elation and dread on Terminal Redux's Herculean closing track "Recharging the Void." Clocking in at 13 and a half minutes, it's a blistering tour de force of blackened progressive thrash, full of maddeningly catchy riffs, scorched-earth vocals and cosmic horrors. It's a breathtaking end to one of the most ambitious thrash albums in recent memory.