Best Thrash Bassist

[cosmicpimp2]

Cliff Burton
Lemmy-(not thrash but he still gets on the list for awesomeness)

 

[txthrashking]

I'd say Dave Ellefson for the first two Megadeth albums alone. His playing on Killing is my Business and Peace Sells are unbelievable. Any Dave Ellefson bass track gives me more challenge than most stuff.

I also have to give love to Wayne Darley of Annihilator. (He played on Never Neverland and Set the World on Fire) and man can that guy play! The fact that he can match Jeff Waters guitar playing on bass is unreal!

Also someone I need to listen to more Greg Christian of Testament. He can play! He's amazing!

And because he's on of my favorite thrash bassists Cliff Burton or course. Also +1 on the guy from Coroner! Ron Broder.

I AGREE WITH ALL OF THIS
i LOVE Wayne Darley he is amazing the way he can be harmonic or heavy he is in the top ten for sure

 

[meatwad]

Although Steve DiGorgio is more known as an old school death metal player, I consider "Human" by Death more thrash than death metal. Fretless, fingerstyle, and fast as hell!

 

[I<34080]

I don't listen too much Thrash beyond the big four.

Personally I like Junior.

 

[Basshammer]

Hello, i've literally made an account on these forums just to post in this thread (been lurking for quite some time), so this is my first post

I have to add Doug Keyser, bassist from Watchtower. Great style, really impressive technique and i'm not sure if it's true, but i heard that when Metallica was looking for a bassist to replace Jason, he applied and was declined because he was too jazzy!

Give him a listen, if you like progressive stuff, you won't be dissapointed!

Doug Keyser is amazing. If Watchtower are considered thrash, then he's probably the top guy, technique-wise. If not, then Cliff Burton all the way, followed by Frank Bello.

 

[themacinator]

D.D Verni

+1 Without a doubt.

 

[Hellbastard]

JASON NEWSTED with Flotsam and Jetsam

 

[riotorgun]

ive always been a fan of Cronos from venom one of the very early thrash style bassists his dirty slide riddled style really inspired me and he's the frontman which is nice.

 

[vegas532]

Behold how easy he makes it look. It's a shame we lost Roger Patterson at a young age...he was a MONSTER!!

 

[Tituscrow]

^ah yes, Atheist. Great band...good shout Thom. Tony Choy never really did it for me, though.

 

[alkanetexe]

Cliff Burton
Frank Bello
Dave Ellefson
/thread

Basically this.

 

[Metal Mitch]

Coroner - Ron Royce (aka Broder). His finger work, speed and scales are simply peerless, without being Myung-ishly self indulgent.

Phil Dakin - Dead Brain Cells. A gem of a band from the late 80's. Awesomely good player.

Blacky - Voivod. Great tone, great chops and an integral part of the Voivod sound. Immediately recognisable.

Dan Lilker - Nuclear Assault. Game Over is a bona-fide classic.

Rob Yahn - Dark Angel. Played on Darkness Descends. A wonderfully nasty album.

Rob McKillop - Exodus. Played on all their best releases. Great live player.

Greg Christian - Testament. Great finger player when most 80's thrashers were picking. Triplet speed good enough to keep up with Skolnick.

Martin van Drunen - Pestilence. Before they became full on death metal, MvD nailed the bottom end for this vastly underrated Dutch band. Currently a travesty to the Pestilence name !

Paolo Jr - Sepultura. Matured greatly and peaked, IMO on Beneath The Remains and Arise.

Rob Fioretti - Kreator. One of the best of the European Noise Records bands. First four albums absolute classics.

There are many, many more, but these guys come to mind mainly because they still turn up when I hit shuffle!

Good post.

That's the problem with "who's the best" threads - even when you pick the cream of the crop there's still so many great players. Here's a few more.

Allan Johnson - Exciter
Casey Orr - Rigor Mortis
Deen Dell - Vio-Lence

 

[socialleper]

cliff burton
Frank Bello
Dave Ellefson

I'm going to go with this too. I always considered these more Speed Metal than Thrash, but according to Wikipedia I'm wrong. Honorable mention should go to Lilker for SOD and Venomous Concept. I never listened to his Anthrax or Nuclear Assult stuff.
Also Phil Rind of Sacred Reich

 

[Allmanfan456]

I AGREE WITH ALL OF THIS
i LOVE Wayne Darley he is amazing the way he can be harmonic or heavy he is in the top ten for sure

Yay another Wayne Darley fan!! I thought I was the only one! Yeah man he knows exactly what to do! His Stonewall bassline is amazing, Imperiled Eyes is amazing. And The Fun Palace just shows he can groove. Stuff like Phoenix Rising or Sounds Good to Me showcases what he can do melodically and it's utterly beautiful.

I wonder what happened to him. He dropped off the face of the earth after he left Annihilator because he couldn't go on their Japan tour after Set the World on Fire came out. He got offered to join again when Jeff Waters reunited the classic line up on Criteria for a Black Widow. I heard he denied because of health problems, I don't know. Can't find any information on him at all aside from some vague posts on wikipedia and other sites alike. It's a shame he's not in another band!

He should be recognized as one of the great bassists of thrash I think. Up there with Cliff, Ellefson in my opinion.

 

[ROFLMFAO]

while I don't find robert trujilo's work with metallica as impressive as cliff's (newsted shined brightest during the hard rock phase IMO), i think he's a great bassist. to be honest, i feel like he's being held back by metallica. his work with infectious grooves is awesome, and death magnetic's bass was weaker than his previous work, again opnion only. PS: metallica is my 2nd favorite band.

 

[leegreenman]

Another vote for Cliff here.

 

[Raptor0427]

Frank Bello, I am the Law! Got the Time, and Belly of the Beast. Great stuff and killer tone (He made Anthrax heavy!). I love Cliff's stuff but it kills me the way they TURNED DOWN the bass on Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets.

 

[Curmei]

Frank Bello, I am the Law! Got the Time, and Belly of the Beast. Great stuff and killer tone (He made Anthrax heavy!). I love Cliff's stuff but it kills me the way they TURNED DOWN the bass on Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets.

That's the tough part for me - when I think of those old metal albums, I rarely recall hearing much bass. Some bands seem to do a better job keeping it in the mix than others.

Not sure if they'd be thrash, but I also liked some of the bass riffs that the bass player from Anacrusis came up with. They usually did a good job keeping him up on the albums.

 

[ChrisDieci]

Doug Keyser is amazing. If Watchtower are considered thrash, then he's probably the top guy, technique-wise.

Yeah, pretty much this, and though they have a strong progressive element, I'd say they still count as thrash.

Atheist I'd say not. They are amazing and one of my favourite bands ever, though.

Behold how easy he makes it look. It's a shame we lost Roger Patterson at a young age...he was a MONSTER!!

Thanks for the link... *sheds a tear*

 

[Elbozo]

Love Roger Patterson, but i have to agree, calling Atheist a thrash metal band is a big stretch. Same case with Steve DiGiorgio. But, if we are to make big stretches, then i'll have to add Francois Mongraine from Martyr (another Progressive/Technical Death Thrash band ). Amaaaaaazing Player, give him a listen. If i recall correctly, he plays fretless bass with banjo metal finger picks for stronger attack. I think, it's a wacky combination so who knows if it's true.