The birth of thrash metal can be pinpointed to three specific bands — Motörhead, Venom, and Mercyful Fate — with the latter two outfits single-handedly creating the darker "black metal" genre. Fronted by vocal acrobat King Diamond (a chap who had a soft spot for Alice Cooper, as evidenced by his use of makeup and on-stage theatrics), the Danish group combined the speed of Judas Priest with the doom of Black Sabbath, and helped influence a legion of subsequent metal bands — everyone from Metallica to Dimmu Borgir.

1     Doomed By The Living Dead    [Explicit]
2     A Corpse Without Soul
3     Nuns Have No Fun
4     Evil
5     Curse Of The Pharaohs (BBC Radio 1 Session)
6     Into The Coven
7     Black Funeral
8     Satan's Fall
9     A Dangerous Meeting
10    Desecration Of Souls
11    Gypsy
12    Come To The Sabbath
13    Burning The Cross
14    Return Of The Vampire