Anthrax

Nearly as much as Metallica or Megadeth, Anthrax was responsible for the emergence of speed and thrash metal; combining the speed and fury of hardcore punk with the prominent guitars and vocals of heavy metal, they helped create a new subgenre of heavy metal on their early albums. Original guitarists Scott Ian and Dan Spitz were a formidable pair, spitting out lightning-fast riffs and solos that never seemed masturbatory. (Unlike Metallica or Megadeth, they had the good sense to temper their often serious music with a healthy dose of humor and realism.) After their first album, Fistful of Metal, singer Joey Belladonna joined the lineup; he helped take the band further away from conventional metal clichés, and over the next five albums, Anthrax became the leaders of speed metal.