Show No Mercy

The first Slayer album is often deemed not a "true" slayer album, or being somewhat diet-thrash, because most of the record is speed metal and heavily inspired by NWOBHM. This isn't their heaviest output or even the most iconic, with a half of its tracklist unknown to your average teenager screaming slayer. However, this is my favourite Slayer album because it combines the sheer speed of later records, with unique melody that Slayer abruptly dropped with the following EP. Now, the production is raw, but like Mercyful Fate's Melissa, I disagree that this is proto-black metal, because it's nowhere near as rough or intense as Venom or Bathory, and it clearly sticks to more traditional speed metal. Anyway, this is my favourite Slayer album for more than just the influence of Iron Maiden or Mercyful Fate.

Now, the tracklist here is perfect. Kicking off is Evil Has No Boundaries, with an instantly recognisable riff and the signature Tom Araya scream. Deeper into the album the music becomes even better, although there's a simple verse-chorus structure to most of the tracks, the exception to this rule is Face The Slayer, which is my favourite Slayer song because the way the epic opening riffs transition into the most evil riff this band ever recorded, with an amazing middle section that breathes new life into the record, and foreshadows the progressive side of Slayer that would come to fruition with Hell Awaits. Now, while this song stands out clearly among the rest, Show No Mercy is very consistent with very little sections that slow down.

What's the most shocking about this album is how tight and cohesive the band sounds. Hell, the guitars are more sloppy in Reign In Blood (listen to Reborn and Altar of Sacrifice for examples) and granted, this pales in comparison with the blistering speed of that record, but the band really does sound fresh here, and how well the band plays probably determines why they had the same lineup for a decade. These songs aren't even that primitive, with something like the chorus riff in Fight Till Death which was way ahead of its time, and is technical enough for even a band like Voivod, in their early years at least. The production is grim here, with most of the songs you can hear the guitars being gripped at the start. Also the drums are pretty rough with an echo that sounds almost live, but everything comes through clearly and Tom's vocals are especially strong. The guitars aren't as bottom-heavy as they would become, but I like how they're still audible despite the rawness.

Where this album shines is when the band takes a break from the open E riffs to become more creative and focus on the atmosphere, such as Tormentor and Crionics, the latter of which has an amazing ending riff that's simple but works so effectively. It doesn't even sound evil, just melancholy but powerful at the same time, and that's the best part about the charm of this record. It's easy to see why bands like Darkthrone mention Crionics specifically when they talk about Slayer as an influence. Now, this is the ultimate Slayer listen that I would recommend anyone somehow new to the band to start off with, not just because it's their debut, but it shows how the band is developing the style that would make them huge. Easily the strongest set of Slayer songs you can fnid compacted on one release.

Is there any band with more influence to extreme metal’s aesthetics and source material than Slayer? You can trace even the most brutal, filthy death metal and its disgusting themes back to Slayer with their aura of evil. For many, this is the true beginning of extreme metal. Venom could be apart of this conversation as well due to their satanic lyrics but to combine that with the extremity and aggression of thrash metal which was quickly bubbling past the surface of the underground—no one did that quite like Slayer. Metallica might have been six months or so ahead in leading the thrash metal charge, but Slayer made it all the more twisted and grotesque.

For as dark of a turn that Slayer takes compared to Metallica, it’s surprising how much of Show No Mercy is rooted in the NWOBHM scene. The traces of UK-inspired riffs are all over this record. Yeah, these riffs are faster and more sinister sounding but they still have that “galloping” sound to them that carries the songs at an almost upbeat pace, which is a huge contrast with the ominous vibes that are created by the quartet. ‘Metal Storm / Face the Slayer’ is a great example; that intro feels much more in line with the chord progressions of NWOBHM. In fact, a lot of the record feels like this, only most of the riffs are much more sped up. Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King have never been considered the most technically proficient guitarists but they display a lot of nuanced guitar work on this debut, which is especially impressive for kids so young.

While the guitars are abrasive and hefty, Tom Araya’s bass is a bit hidden behind them. Some of my favorite parts of Show No Mercy are the sense of foreboding that Araya’s bass gives, especially in the introductions to the songs. ‘Black Magic’ in particular does this well, but generally the bass takes a backseat. Araya’s vocals on the other hand are incredible; he sounds absolutely possessed from beginning to end of this record. If it’s not a sharp bark issuing from him, it’s a high pitched howl that the devil himself would be proud of. Araya is dynamic as a singer and helps fully immerse the listener into Slayer’s first draft of what hell should sound like. Shout out to the drumming from Dave Lombardo as well; he’s working at more of a rhythm pace than on later Slayer efforts, but all of the little nuances and fills he adds goes a long way to keep these relatively straightforward tracks from getting stale. He’s a bit more of a show-off later in Slayer’s career (as he should be) but he provides what is necessary without adding too much extra flair on this debut.

Now the performances here are great and the atmosphere has been nailed, but ultimately what elevates Show No Mercy above the vast majority of Slayer’s catalogue is the fact that it is full of genuinely amazing songs. Yes, I called them relatively straightforward but Slayer didn’t need to go over-the-top with complex arrangements, even though they’re great at that too (see Hell Awaits). Every single song features a strong, memorable lead riff and Slayer nails the minor touches to keep everything cohesive. ‘Evil Has No Boundaries’, ‘The Final Command’, and the title track are all examples of speedy, energetic riffing that remains trapped in the listener’s brain on repeat long after the album has ended. To impress and satisfy us listeners further, there’s even some pretty awesome hooks present. ‘The Antichrist’ and ‘Fight till Death’ are catchy not just for the riffs, but for the ease at which one can follow along with the lyrics. Sometimes less is more. Even the songs that are in my opinion a little more “generic” sounding like ‘Die by the Sword’ (mostly the verses) or ‘Crionics’ (by default probably the least memorable main riff) would be standouts on a lesser album because on their own they’re inherently very catchy. It’s hard to pick a favorite among this stacked track-list but ‘Black Magic’ is absolutely menacing, both for that hellish intro and downright haunting mid-paced main riff. Possibly peak Slayer right there.

As I stated before, Show No Mercy is a prime example of less being more. It’s a simple album: there’s ten well written tracks all ranging from two and a half to five minutes, all boasting at least one killer riff and complemented by unhinged lead guitar work. Slayer always gets flack for the messiness of their leads, but when a band is looking to convey unrelenting chaos like this, I think the tangle of notes all bundled together makes for a truly supreme experience. And Slayer provides just that.

In the early '80s, the world stood on the brink of a turning point in extreme music. Bands like Judas Priest, Venom, and Iron Maiden had firmly established themselves in the NWOBHM scene that emerged in the UK during the '70s. In the US, a new genre emerged, fusing the NWOBHM sound with the speed and intensity of early punk/hardcore bands such as Misfits, Discharge, and Ramones. In 1983, Metallica released their debut album 'Kill 'Em All,' an undisputed pioneer in thrash metal. A few months later, Slayer set new standards for thrash metal with their breakthrough debut album 'Show No Mercy,' an album of unprecedented extremity for its time.

Despite musical similarities, notable differences between 'Kill 'Em All' and 'Show No Mercy' lie in the lyrical themes that distinguish the two bands. Slayer's themes are provocatively satanic and anti-Christian, similar to Venom's in 'Welcome to Hell' and 'Black Metal,' cultivating a darker and more evil feeling. This would ultimately lead to the development of more extreme genres in the following years. 'Show No Mercy' is a milestone not only for thrash metal but for metal as a whole, influencing bands in thrash, death, black metal, and beyond.

Tom Araya, on vocals, delivers a sound unlike anything heard before, bearing similarities to Venom's Cronos, but more brutal, featuring deeper growls and a flatter tonality for a more aggressive and direct feel. Occasional high-pitched screaming, as heard in the opening track, further contributes to the album's distinctive atmosphere. The production's subtle reverb enhances this eerie aesthetic. Interestingly, Araya claims that he didn't even know what heavy metal was when he joined the band, yet his delivery was the most extreme and evil-sounding at the time.

The guitar work by the killer duo, Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, is exceptional. The riffs are fast and heavy, and though the solos may not be technically flawless, they introduce a twisted sense of harmony that seamlessly integrates with the album's malevolent atmosphere.

Dave Lombardo on drums is arguably the main reason why this album sounds amazing. A phenomenal drummer, widely considered one of the greatest, Lombardo's contribution to metal is undisputed. Although his signature double-bass drumming technique is absent in this album, his talent and creativity are undeniably impressive, even at the young age of 18. 'Black Magic' serves as the perfect example, a relentless, non-stop, 4-minute onslaught that clearly showcased what we were about to witness in subsequent releases.

In conclusion, Slayer's contribution to metal is undeniably essential, and 'Show No Mercy' stands as a timeless masterpiece that ignited a revolution and defined extreme metal. 'Show No Mercy' is a mandatory addition for every metal enthusiast—a perfect 10/10.

If Metallica was the American firstborn offspring of the NWOBHM cult, Slayer was the second child, a slightly younger but infinitely more malevolent sibling, born at midnight under the unholy sign of the goat, somewhere near Los Diablos… I mean, Los Angeles. Instead of a high ingest of Diamond Head riffs and melodies, this demonic embryo was nurtured by a high dosage of Venom and a necromancer’s handpicked selection of Judas Priest’s faster and heavier riffs, partaking with ‘tallica in the acceleration of Motörhead rhythms, all dialed up to 11. Like the famous San Francisco quartet’s own debut, Show No Mercy is a crosspollination between the British influence, the still quite young speed metal aesthetic, and the underground hardcore punk scene, all of which yielded something new, even more menacing, challenging and aggressive; the not yet fully fledged and at that time unnamed thrash metal.

Slayer’s debut sounds simple and quite melodic when pitted against their subsequent works, but at the time it came out, it was without a doubt, the heaviest and most evil form of metal music ever released. They embraced the occult, Satanic imagery that made Venom such a notorious act, but Slayer possessed the technical chops the Cronos-lead power trio lacked and for which they were largely criticized and belittled by the press, other bands, and music fans alike. The stupendous musicianship positively certified Slayer’s status as a serious band and contributed to the great impact Show No Mercy had in the metal and music in general world; the most violent music coupled with the darker themes in metal at the time, made by musicians with legit musical credentials and an unfuckwithable attitude.

So, there are three types of songs here: fast (“The Antichrist”, “Tormentor”, “Crionics”), very fast (“Evil Has No Boundaries”, “Fight till Death”, “The Final Command”, “Show No Mercy”), and mid-paced but still faster than your average classic heavy metal band, with occasional vertebrae-crushing breakdowns thrown in (“Die by the Sword”, “Metal Storm / Face the Slayer”). Yet, since the early days, Slayer were masters of combining breakneck pace and pummeling rhythms with eerie, evil riffs and dark atmosphere, as easily noticeable on one of my favorite tracks in all their discography, “Black Magic”, side-B opener. They remained unparalleled in this formula for most of the 80s and proved to be enormously influential for bands and decades to come.

When it comes to their guitar attack, the axe team of Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King were stellar in most fields, and even the sporadic melodic tendencies displayed in this one are spot on. They always kept their solos short and neat, brief but explosive bursts of energy, that discarded much of the virtuosity so in vogue during the 80s in favor of… noisy warpig squeals, tortured sounds from the bowels of hell. Their extremely fast picked riffs were also something else. And the rhythmic unit of Latin American blood, Tomás Enrique Araya on bass guitar, and Dave Lombardo on the drums, is frenzied and unrelenting right from the start, as their legendary status implies. Araya’s iconic and unique voice, the finishing blow in this sonic onslaught, was also more vicious than most metal singers at the time, blending Cronos’ dark intonation, sporadic ear-piercing high screams, and hardcore-influenced belligerent barks. The production, with a slight 80s reverb, suits the music and vocals perfectly.

Show No Mercy, the first step in what was one of the most legendary careers in metal history, was also the starting gun fire for the race towards metal’s utmost extremes. After this, every hardened metal maniac, speed freak, devil-worshipper, and lover of the countercultural with the intent in forming a band, had this record in mind as their starting point and tried to outdo it. While some failed, some succeeded, including Slayer themselves. While thrash metal was truly born and witnessed for the first time in all its magnificence in 1984, both Kill ‘Em All and Show No Mercy, unique in sound and character in their respective creators legendary outputs, constitute the two major pillars on which the whole genre stands, and despite their (arguably very few) imperfections, they remain delightful and impactful slabs of timeless metal.

There are albums, usually the first from a particular artist, that capture their signature sound only just beginning to take shape. They occupy a unique moment in time, being less certain of their identity and direction. While this makes them appear less essential for fans who are already accustomed to the artist’s most defining works, they also continue to stand apart as a reminder of their stylistic beginnings, perhaps foreshadowing the direction they were to head in. Slayer’s debut album Show No Mercy is one of the most recognisable examples of this within metal as a whole, and for good reason. While the standard-tuned guitars, melodic solos and riffs, and upbeat but not extreme tempos situate the album firmly within the speed and thrash metal styles rapidly gaining prominence in 1983, beneath its sound is a dark, distinctly Satanic-themed underbelly that hints at the band’s ultimate aspirations.

Guitar duo and songwriters Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, rather than completely deconstructing the melodicisms of NWOBHM as they would do later, instead play off of them in subversive ways. This is most evident in their solos, which allow some atonality to creep in without being haphazard or excessive. These continuously form an ominous backdrop to the action, sometimes accompanying vocal sections, such as in the bridge of ‘Die by the Sword’. When Iron Maiden-style harmonies do appear, they take on an epic and foreboding quality that fits the apocalyptic mood being conveyed, especially in the outro of ‘Crionics’. Elsewhere, Tom Araya makes his vocal presence known immediately with the scream that kicks off ‘Evil Has No Boundaries’, a tactic he uses frequently to great effect. While his Venom-style amelodic shouts might imply a lack of vocal ability, in practice it demonstrates the opposite as a violent passion is infused into each line that easily rivals any of his later efforts behind the mic. However, familiar territory is not entirely abandoned, as the more melodic vocals on ‘Crionics’ capture the transition his vocal technique was still undergoing.

The aforementioned guitar work and vocals evoke an atmosphere that feels as though it is being corrupted by evil - not yet omnipresent, but the cracks are showing, with its impending triumph on the horizon. This overarching theme is positively brimming within the album’s lyrics, chronicling the futility of mankind’s struggle against the overwhelming forces of Hell, linking each song within a conceptual continuity. It would also be remiss not to emphasise the contributions of Dave Lombardo. At this stage, his drumming seems almost restrained here with the lack of blistering double kick barrages, but he was still well ahead of the pack in 1983; listen for those subtle extra kick and snare hits adding flavour to otherwise basic thrash beats (most obvious in the bridge of the title track). But the most admirable aspect of his performance is how, even with the demonstration of his chops at the start of the title track, he opts to serve the songs by keeping a continuous beat during the fastest moments, especially in ‘Fight Till Death’ and ‘The Final Command’. This both sustains their relentless energy and gives space for the guitars to dictate changes in rhythm.

There is a sense of reckless youthful abandon to the songwriting at times, but in a way that is purposeful to the overall narrative of each song. For example, the abrupt but brief switch to a major key in the middle of ‘Black Magic’ (“Fighting the curse…”) creates a contrast that paves the way for the bridge, and the 6/8 section in ‘Die by the Sword’ ends one beat early to enhance the impact of the following solo, while returning to the verse tempo to smoothly transition back to the chorus. These moments of unpredictability set the album further apart from the standard verse-chorus fare. ‘Metal Storm/Face the Slayer’ is the track most emblematic of the band’s aspiration to convey musical narrative, beginning with an intro containing a harmonised arpeggio in 9/8. The way it alternates between sections to build towards a climax could be compared to the stages of a video game boss fight. The lyrics, revolving around an encounter with a superior foe (presumably the one on the album cover), enhance the immersion in this regard.

However, all these dashes of complexity never drag the album’s replay value down, as it is still packed with memorable choruses to provide shots of fist-pumping adrenaline, a highlight being the one in ‘Tormentor’. Likewise, the band knows when to ease off the turbo pedal to create hard-hitting dynamic contrasts, such as with the switch to a half-time groove in ‘The Antichrist’. Furthermore, despite the speed factor not being as prominent as in many of Slayer’s later works, paradoxically Show No Mercy feels more consistently urgent even at its slowest moments. Perhaps that was the effect of recording it in just one week on a tight budget, as well as the naivety of a band lacking studio experience, with little thought for embellishments or delivering performances to perfection. Despite this, the resulting rawness works with rather than against the attitude of this record, with no weak or throwaway tracks across its 35-minute length.

Overall, Show No Mercy may not possess all the trademarks of the Slayer sound, or be the most representative of the band’s abilities. Neither is it their most ambitious or complex effort, which would be awaited on their second hellish outing. Nevertheless, it occupies an indispensable place in the band’s catalogue as the album where they began to coalesce their influences into a sound that pushed the barriers of extremity. But while it certainly set a benchmark for thrash and speed metal, a less appreciated aspect of its legacy lies in its contribution to death metal. Whereas Metallica synthesised hardcore punk and NWOBHM to create a manifesto to the power of metal on Kill ‘Em All, Slayer did so to address a reality beyond individual perception, where chaos reigns and “only death is real”. Even on this album, Slayer sounded diabolical in a way that few other speed metal bands did at the time. Their sound may still have had a way to go before inspiring death metal, but the raging nihilistic spirit underneath it was firmly established from the outset.

Out of left field, is that Show No Mercy, Slayer's often-forgotten debut record, in contention for the greatest slab of music Slayer ever put to tape? Well, if the merciless trio of "Evil Has No Boundaries," "The Antichrist," and "Die by the Sword" isn't enough to convince you that this record at least has an argument for the title, then look no further than the other seven tracks- all of which are masterfully written, hauntingly evil, and unhinged pieces of devilry.

The demonic imagery eventually became more of an image and an act for Slayer than it did an identity, but the relentless riffing assault from Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King on tracks like "Fight Till Death" from this album showcase that the band started out as a spawn from Hell itself. Towering solos juxtaposed with a young and hungry Tom Araya, whose vocals would never again sound so possessed, is the perfect recipe for one of the most timeless albums in thrash history, despite it often being overshadowed by Slayer's very own Hell Awaits, Reign In Blood, and the like. The "Metal Storm" intro to the "Face the Slayer" track is a grandiose epic for 1983's thrash standards, and a testament to the level of creativity and talent that Slayer had even as up-and-comers. This album is filled with fast riffs, intricate instrumental passages, and complex lead guitar work exactly like "Metal Storm," except with dozens of variations to ensure it never doubles back.

This album does not stop with just a few highlights on the A-side either, with the brutal riffing attack of "Black Magic" kicking off the B side (or the 66 side) in typical Slayer fashion- thrilling bass work and a thunderous guitar tone that complements Tom Araya's vocals perfectly. What does fly under the radar of Show No Mercy, however, is Araya's bass work, as the mix is a bit muddied and buries the bass behind the thick guitars. His notes manage to poke through the haze here and there, but it feels more like a prodding of a few punchy bass notes as opposed to the conductor of the rhythm section. For most of the tracks here, the band is playing so fast that Hanneman's guitar work takes care of the pace-keeping and the lack of bass is hardly felt, but a song like "Tormentor" could have definitely benefited from someone giving the mix a once-over (although it still manages to be a solid cut).

While Slayer never often stayed stagnant with their sound, they hadn't left themselves much room for improvement with the formula they spat out in 1983. The solos are concise and ferocious, the guitar riffs are all excellent and there are plenty of them stuffed into each track, and Tom Araya sounds the most evil he ever would. But despite that, this was only the beginning of Slayer's journey, and they'd manage to outdo themselves (for good and for bad) over the next three decades without straying too far from their roots. If you're looking for raw, untamed, and youthful thrash metal, Show No Mercy is about as perfect of a choice as you're going to find.

Slayer has been a favorite band for hundreds and thousands, if not tens of millions of people worldwide. There is a great reason for that, no band in the history of metal has been able to capture the suffering of the human soul, the torturous pain that it goes through during difficult stages of life. However, when you read that previous sentence, you do not think "Oh, yes, I agree. Show No Mercy does just that.". You think Hell Awaits, Reign in Blood, South of Heaven, perhaps Seasons in the Abyss do that, if you are a die-hard Slayer fan, like me. If to you, Slayer is just "another" band that you like, you may be only thinking Reign in Blood. This record, in terms of style and sounding, is completely disconnected from Slayer's later discography, but it is not a problem at all. It is a different type of Slayer that is just as memorable and amazing as the later, hatred-based Slayer.

The band with this album started out playing speed metal with some occasional thrash metal-like elements. Back in 1983, the style was not yet completely defined. It's highly controversial who "created" the genre, so it's not worth talking about it, because there really is no right or wrong answer. Nobody "created" any genre, they all evolved. If you are aware of the origins of the genre, you can not deny (unless you are stupid) that this album played a major role in the evolvement of thrash metal music. The signs of thrash metal, the fast pace, the destructive riffing, the continuously crushing, loud hi-hat, the barking vocals appeared on this record, for one of the first times in the history of music.

Having the importance and significance of the record out of the way, let's talk about the musicianship. The first actual, LP-appearance of the legendary quartet, Tom Araya, Jeff Hanneman, Kerry King, and Dave Lombardo. The guitar work, if you look at it from a reasonable, objective point of view, is the best guitar work in all of Slayer's history. The riffs are the most sophisticated and most melodic out of all of Slayer's records. Some of the catchiest Slayer songs can be found on this record, including but not limited to "Fight Till Death", "Black Magic", "Tormentor". The riffs are very well thought out, well-articulated and they work magnificently with the theme and atmosphere of the record. Oh, and let's not forget the lead work. Here, the two guys actually put some real meaning, some sense behind those solos. Listen to the solos of "Tormentor", and/or "The Final Command". They are actually really well-written, advanced solos.

Besides the excellent, melodic, clever guitar work, the rest of the band is not bad either. Dave Lombardo was an outstanding drummer even back in this time. Though the style of the music did not allow him to go above and beyond what was expected like later (insane filling and brutal double-bass sections with some ultra-high BPM just don't go well with melodic speed metal, not that I know of) you can tell that he really knew what he was doing. His understanding of what would and would not work when the riffs change, and when the tempo changes is very high. Tom Araya's bass is very audible, which is one sentence you will not often read. Besides his well-fitting bass lines, his vocals are excellent as well. It is true that his vocals have been the same for decades, but I freaking love his vocals, so to me, it is no problem. Everyone on the record is putting on a show.

The lyrics don't really need to be mentioned, because there is not a lot of meaning behind them. Darkness, evil, Satan, blah blah blah. Lyrics are really not the reason why this record is amazing. The production to me is perfectly acceptable, moreover, very good for the year it was released in. The audio quality is perfect. Each instrument is perfectly balanced, along with the vocals.

Let's conclude this masterpiece. Is this album the most virtuoso, most technically advanced thrash metal record of all time? Not by a damn long shot. Is this the fastest? No. Is it the one with the most meaningful, deepest message? Absolutely not. Then why the hell does it get 100%!? Because it is FUN! The catchiness, the melodies, the badass riffs, the beautiful solos, the "cool", not yet frightening appearance of evil, everything creates a picture that I just love. I put this album on, and I'll start to headbang along in 5 seconds, all the way until the end. I keep coming back to this record from time to time to listen to it again, and it only gets better with every listen. I know every move by now, but it just never gets old. It is a dose of true, honest, authentic (it really doesn't get more OG than this), original metal, that will never be surpassed.

Show No Mercy has a lot of things going for it--the songs are well written, well rehearsed, and considering the previous Slayer material it's clear that the band had a strong ethos of quality over quantity and what kind of songs needed to be written. It's situated perfectly between the plethora of heavy metal and hard rock influences to pull from and right on the cusp of the extreme metal blowout that Slayer would have a massive hand in bringing up. In addition, it's got enough speed to that even though it's retroactive we may finally use the descriptor "speed metal" to describe the metal contained within. For the occultic, Satanic freaks--it's finally the heavy metal album that actually FEELS like Satan worship this side of Venom. You thought Link Wray and Little Richard were selling Satan to children, Mr. Preacher?...it's time to face the Slayer.

One hallmark of a famed heavy metal album--and one as powerful as Show No Mercy--is that when brought up in crowds, and asked what the favorite song is, there's a plethora of answers. Some people prefer the gang-shouted ritual worship of "Evil Has No Boundaries," others prefer the mid-paced breakdown of "Die by the Sword," some prefer the catchy night stalker vibe of "Tormentor," and even some love the mid-paced, fist-pumping "Crionics," I settled on 100%--and probably the only album I'll ever call 100%--because I looked at every track and new that in some way each one held its purpose, each one deserved its place on the album, and even ones like "The Final Command" that seem out of place for the first twenty all of a sudden stamp out the tempo and riffs in a way still not yet demonstrated by the album. By the time the album is over--Slayer has never last place, showing something new on every track.

Show No Mercy is pure power, a resident of its time, and a template for apprentices that wish to worship at the altar of metal. The best part of it--there's so much meat to take, it's fair enough to say that some of the potential of Show No Mercy is still untapped to this day. It can't be imitated, because it was already made so.

"Show No Mercy" presents quite a different Slayer than would eventually come to be. Displaying their NWOBHM influences quite prominently, this album presents Slayer at their hungriest, eager to stake out a claim in the metal world.

Even in their earliest stages, Slayer had a kind of aggression that very few could match. On the blazingly fast opener "Evil Has No Boundaries," the band channels their love of Venom and turns it into something altogether darker and more sinister. There is none of Venom's sleazy charm present as Tom Araya spews forth tales of violence and the occult over Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King's speedy, chugging riffs. This brand of brutality is elsewhere displayed on the pandemonium of the title track, where Araya can barely get his words out fast enough as Dave Lombardo's supercharged, precise drumming pounds the listener.

But "Show No Mercy" is not all Venom worship and 0-0-0-0-0-0 riffs. The band displays their obvious love of the more melodically inclined Iron Maiden and Judas Priest on tracks like "Crionics", with it's harmonized bridge and galloping triplet riffs. Other tunes like "Die By The Sword" and the ominous, foreboding "Tormentor" display the melodic, chunky riffage commonly found in NWOBHM songs, while Araya's vocals range from the high pitched Halfordian shrieks to Cronos' low, sneering growl. The guitar solos aren't the whammy bar abuse commonly found in later Slayer albums, and they are much more "conventional," having more in common with the pentatonic shred of their contemporaries in Metallica.

The production is fairly raw, but not significantly worse than the average early '80s metal band on an independent label. The bass is pleasantly audible, and a thick layer of reverb hangs over the whole affair. Don't go into this album expecting it to sound very similar to "Reign in Blood," but it's absolutely deserving of the praise it gets as a landmark of early thrash.

SSSLLLAAYYYERRR!!!

That is all you need to hear, and you know exactly what one is talking about. Slayer are one of thrash metal's most iconic acts, with a career spanning almost 40 years! As you all may have heard however, Slayer have announced a farewell tour, so I thought this would be the time to review some Slayer. Slayer's debut, "Show No Mercy" is quite possibly their most primitive record. Recorded and released all the way back in good old 1983, this record showcases thrash in it's early days. The band's love for Venom and Iron Maiden can clearly be heard, with some fast and vicious guitar riffs courtesy of guitar duo Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, demonic vocals from Tom Araya, and fast drumming from Dave Lombardo. Slayer's debut is one of the pioneering thrash records, and would go on to become the best-selling debut album released by any Metal Blade act in history.

The production is very good for 1983 standards, it has that unhinged, evil, sinister sound to it. Tom Araya funded the album's recording using his earnings from being a respiratory therapist, and Kerry King also helped fund the recording by borrowing money from his father. Brian Slagel did a great job producing the record, this type of production certainly helped make this a one-of-kind Slayer album.

The opening track "Evil Has No Boundaries" has some great riffs, and the gang shouts of "EVIL!" include none other than the "Atomic Clock" Gene Hoglan. This is a great opener. The following track "The Antichrist" is easily in my top ten favorite Slayer songs. The main riff is truly evil sounding, and the solo is kickass! The way Araya shrieks "ROT!!!" is blood-curdling. "Die By The Sword" is another one of my favorite Slayer tracks. Araya's vocal performance on this particular track is the best vocal performance of the album. "Black Magic" is the best song on the whole record, the riffs are superb, Jeff Hanneman is a genius (R.I.P.). This track in particular never gets old, no matter how many times I've heard it before. Lastly, I'd like to mention "Crionics" which is personally in my opinion, the most underrated track on the record. The melodic section in the middle is in stark contrast to most of Slayer's riffs that appear throughout their later works. I love the solos that overlay over the main harmony, it sounds excellent. Overall, there are no filler, just all killer!

Slayer's debut is quite underrated when you compare it to their other records which seem to gather more praise such as "Reign In Blood" and "Seasons In The Abyss". Their earlier material is all that I like by them. When Lombardo left, they started to go downhill. To me, Hanneman's passing marked the end of Slayer as we knew them. I think most Slayer fans can agree, no Hanneman, no Slayer. Anyways, they have proved themselves as legends with this record, "Hell Awaits" and "Reign In Blood". I recommend this to fans of Venom, Iron Maiden, Mercyful Fate, and Judas Priest.

Highlights: "The Antichrist", "Die By The Sword", "Black Magic" and "Crionics"

Show No Mercy is what Iron Maiden would sound like if they chose after Killers to keep Paul Di’anno, ditch Martin Birch, and choose to exploit the Satanism for the almighty dollar ala Venom. The Iron Maiden comparison is made even more apt because for one brief moment, Jeff and Kerry were actually above average soloists. Show No Mercy's guitar solos that followed a path, carried melody and demonstrated exquisite technique! Just check out the fantastic lead work on the album’s best song, Crionics. In the words of Ultraboris, it really is like something out of the Stained Class sessions. The twisting power-metal epic(!) Metal Storm/Face The Slayer also shows not only great lead work, but just brilliant songwriting sensibility that showcased from the beginning that the band were more than just about speed.

But of course, speed is why most people remembered Slayer, and even as early as this album it’s not hard to see why. Songs like Evil Has No Boundaries, Fight Til Death and live favorite Black Magic display why even in 1983 Slayer were ahead of Metallica in terms of pure fast thrash. Show No Mercy is the most fascinating Slayer release simply because of its songwriting variety. It's the closest to "heavy metal" they ever were in the glory days (I loathe to refer to NWOBHM as a genre). Don't fret with that assessment, this is still very much a heavy slab of blackened speed/thrash. Nothing here really approaches doom, the slowest sections probably being the thrash break of Die By The Sword and the second half of Crionics, which packs the best riff of the entire album around 2:20. Even then it's about as slow as You've Got Another Thing Comin, which is still relatively driving.

Some people will say that reverb soaked production hurts the album. I will agree insofar as getting Rick Rubin from the beginning to tell them "you guys just aren't that black metal" would have helped raise their sonic profile considerably. Lo-fi production or not, this album is alot like the self-titled Iron Maiden album in that the songwriting is so good it cuts through any supposed heaviness deficiency there might be. Anyone who writes these songs off for lo-fi quality is an absolute idiot who is more brainwashed by the retarded loudness wars than anything else. The reverb does make the album sound grim and hellish, but this sound lends itself much more to Hell Awaits than it does here, as by Hell Awaits Slayer had truly started to figure out the deep-black morbidity of their brand of thrash.

Another thing to note is that this is the only Slayer album to feature standard tuning. Yup, if you have Live Undead handy, listen to those versions of Die By The Sword, Antichrist, Show No Mercy, etc. and see for yourself. This particularly makes album seem like NWOBHM on steroids. Speaking of NWOBHM, check out Tom's screams! Anybody who's introduction to the band was Angel of Death is in for quite the shock when they hear this. Those fans must have thought it took every ounce of Tom's energy to nail that one particular moment, but here he just throws those around like party favors. Nothing wrong with that at all, high pitched screams are metal. We also have a few moments where Tom actually sings such as the choruses of Tormentor and Final Command as well as all of Crionics. It's kind of sad that most people think that in order to become more extreme and brutal, all semblance of tonality and melody must be shed. People think Slayer were expanding their palette on South of Heaven and Show No Mercy, but really they were subconsciously bringing Show No Mercy's ideas back into the fold. I really wish they would've take more songwriting cues from this album, ESPECIALLY nowadays. It seems like whenever they don't feel like playing fast (which in and of itself has gotten sadly generic), they seem to be stuck in a prison of what's supposed to be "dark" and "evil" and "Hot Topic." Tis a damn shame.

Essential Slayer. Arguably the very best debut in all of thrash. Run out and buy, put on your stereo and prepare to turn your fine dining room into a sludgy basement wasteland. SLAAAAAYYYYER!!!

Recommended tracks:
Crionics
MetalStorm/Face The Slayer
Die By The Sword
Show No Mercy

So I'll be straight forward with this, of Slayer's 80s discography I feel this album is the most overlooked and under praised. I'd even go so far as to say the fan favorite Reign in Blood is overly praised. It's pretty simple, I like thrash metal for its riffs and guitar work and while Reign in Blood certainly achieves a fast and aggressive sound it is put to shame by the riffs displayed here.

From the get go you can tell Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman mean business. As soon as the album starts with Evil Has No Boundaries we're greeted by the roaring shriek of Tom Araya and a vicious bit of soloing before launching into the rest of the song's thrashing assault. The song has at least 3 shredding lead sections that could easily be seen as solos as well as a riff filled with attitude. Now sadly the rest of the album doesn't follow suit with such liberal use of shredding as each other song only has one solo, but each of these solos is just as good and each shows that the respective performers are skilled at their craft. While the riffs aren't as breakneck as they could be there is a plethora of them. Riff wise the album really emphasises the NWoBHM influence on thrash with a few gallop like sections and being relatively light on tremolo picking in favor of more melodic sections. See Metal Storm/Face the Slayer and Crionics for examples. Now it doesn't have the muscle of later releases thanks to a softer guitar tone, but the aggression, attitude and speed is still there.

From another perspective this is probably the best album for Tom Araya, his bass is pretty much drowned out but this is his most dynamic vocal delivery as he easily and fluidly goes back and forth between clean melodic singing, his harsher yelled style and his high shrieks. He does each well and times them well, the singing helps create catchy moments that act as ear worms and the yells work with the riffs to make an aggressive release.

The final piece of the puzzle here is the drumming. Lombardo delivers a steady and precise delivery regardless of what he's doing whether it's the sped up AC/DC style bass and snare or the barrages of double pedal. He's not as fast and relentless as he is on other records but his consistency has a charm all of its own and his fills hit like a sledgehammer.

As far as production goes I think it's pretty solid, the only thing I have to criticize is how low the bass is for most of the album, a more prevalent bass sound as well as a thicker tone would've made this album quite heavy and without detracting from any of its other qualities.

All in all, a fine classic thrash record.

Key tracks include The Antichrist, Crionics, Metal Storm/Face the Slayer and Evil Has No Boudaries.

Back in May or June 1984, I accidentally discovered the Metal Hammer magazine. It goes without saying that I bought it immediately. After ordering the previous issues quickly, I studied all articles very carefully. I got the feeling that I opened gigantic gates to a new world. In particular, I must admit that I was deeply impressed by a bloody-minded black and white image of a band that leaned over an abused female victim. Shame on me. But to my relief, I have to say that I was not fascinated by the image itself. It just made me extremely curious and I hoped that the strange guys on the picture were able to extend the spectrum of my record collection.

All my hopes were fulfilled as soon as the needle got in contact with the vinyl and "Evil Has No Boundaries" broke loose. To my own surprise, I did not listen to pure noise. The shrill cry of Araya and the brief guitar solo before the first verse attacked my nerves in a previously unknown manner. But it was a fantastic experience at the same time. Slayer was raging like rabid dogs but they did not neglect the necessary amount of melodies (I dare to use this word while begging for forgiveness at the same time). Additionally, the opener as well as the following tunes were clearly structured and easily accessible. To equip the songs with a comprehensible formula was not the only good idea of the composers Hanneman (R.I.P.) and King. They were also able to deliver an appropriate level of diversification. For example "Evil Has No Boundaries" was based on sheer franticness, but the subsequent "The Antichrist" thrived on its overwhelming main riff.

The first four songs of the here presented prototype were (and still are) a thrash metal monument for eternity. Just dive into the dark and homicidal middle part of "Die by the Sword" or the gripping chorus of "Fight till Death". And do not forget to listen very closely to the highly interesting main riff of the latter. And, of course, you must pay special attention to its kamikaze-like solo parts after the second chorus. A sonic brainwash par excellence. And I beg you to... I guess it is better to stop here. I am definitely at risk to lose the last bit of objectivity.

Despite the slightly hysterical aura of the album, the band kept control at all times. This was not least because of Araya´s superior vocals that did not tolerate any kind of contradiction. He sounded like a warlord that commanded his troops to battle. This comparison is not randomly chosen. Slayer proved its capability to generate a deep black atmosphere (for instance during the long instrumental part at the beginning of the fifth track) so that "Show No Mercy" can be seen as the belligerent mother of all black thrash albums. And of course, a song like "Black Magic" also indicated the more or less strongly distinct interest of the group in relation to occult themes.

"Show No Mercy" followed a strict guideline without losing its tension. Of course, its explosiveness was constituted on the basis of the very homogeneous song material. Nevertheless, each and every song had its own character. We were talking about the differences between the first two songs and, to give you a further example, the last two tracks showed the same image. The subliminally vicious "Crionics" scored with its evil aura and the howling guitars during the solo sections, while the title track ran stubbornly straight without looking left or right. What the songs had in common was the dense and impure appearance. In objective terms, Slayer´s debut failed to deliver an optimal production. But it possessed exactly the sound that the first work of these musical revolutionists needed. After more than 31 years, I am unable to consider the sound and the songs separately. I worship this album with all its strengths and its very few weaknesses and I do not want to be confronted with a new version of this masterpiece. Just think of the horrible second recording of "Bonded by Blood". To sum up, "Show No Mercy" was (part of) the Big Bang of extreme metal. I bet that every thrasher still reminds the moment when he heard this album for the first time. A daring thesis? However, this work deserves our lifelong respect.

“Show No Mercy” truly is a legendary album. Not only because it was the first such extreme and fast metal record ever spawned with the Devil’s blessing, but also because it was one of my first extreme metal albums, which I have ever heard in my life, so I can say that its lethal riffing and screaming vocals has infected my blood and thus changed my life. It was in the end of 1991, when I have heard it for the first time, so it wasn’t new anymore and there were more brutal bands and albums around, but back then I was still enjoying my Metallica, AC/DC, G’N’R or Maiden cassettes, when came this! Ha, many years later I can say one thing - it is not my favourite Slayer album, but for sure one of my favourites in their long discography. Maybe the problem with “Show No Mercy” is that if you look at the tracklist then you realize that along with some truly classic and excellent songs, the album contains also some better or worse fillers, with couple of songs, which just don’t match the quality of the best Slayer material. Of course they are an integral part of one of the first extreme metal albums, so they have part in the history, but did such “The Final Command” survive the time? I don’t think so.

This album has a start like a dream and I bet that side A of my vinyl has songs, for which most metal musicians would sell their souls to the Devil, just to have the credit for writing them. “Evil Has No Boundaries” – maybe one of my three most favourite Slayer songs ever! Damn, I just love that opening riff and also that chorus part – it is a classic metal song! And then we have “Antichrist” and “Die by the Sword” and tell me if these are also aren’t just perfect, utterly amazing thrash metal songs? For me they are. “Antichrist” was at the time probably one of the fastest and most aggressive songs known to the mankind and “Die by the Sword” has such a catchy, killer riffing and generally it sounds so damn awesome and memorable than sometimes I can hardly believe that already in 1983 someone was able to compose something like this, such an eternal classic it is. So yeah, you can see now what I meant when I wrote that side A of my vinyl is just perfect, right? And I say that also because songs from side B are not quite as good as those from side A, at least in my opinion. I don’t want to say that “Fight till Death” or “Metal Storm / Face the Slayer” are bad, because they are very, very cool and I like them, but you know… would you include them on your list of mandatory metal classics? Hmm, no. I think they’re just like such Maiden’s “22 Acacia Avenue” or Metallica’s “Trapped Under Ice” – you know, good songs, which are an integral part of important classic metal albums, but just not as good and memorable as „Run to the Hills” or „For Whom the Bell Tolls”, right? “Metal Storm / Face the Slayer” is a song, which I think is more than just solid, I truly like some of the riffs in it and that memorable playing and singing. I know it may sound funny, but for me this song sounds almost like Metallica, with that great influence from NWOBHM, but obviously everything has been played so aggressively and furiously like nothing before! Awesome! Ha, I am lucky that my copy of “Show No Mercy” has couple of bonus tracks and first one of them appears on side B... and it is "Aggressive Perfector"! Damn, another classic song from Slayer!

Side C meanwhile is opened by one of my truly favourite Slayer songs ever and I really mean it. Of course songs from side A were so fuckin amazing, but “Black Magic” is “Black Magic” – this is utterly killer song, with some of the best riffs, best vocals and best feeling ever. LOVE IT! But then there are two songs, which I am not so fond of. First is “Tormentor”, which is just decent. It has quite simple, almost punk riffing, very simple structure, but it just isn’t as aggressive as “Black Magic” or some other songs on the album and is also just not quite as good. Then we have “The Final Command”, which again has a strong punk feeling and NWOBHM inspired riffing, but for me it is just the weakest song from the entire album, a real filler, if you ask me, and I wouldn’t really cry if it has never been recorded. I guess the main problem is that if you have such aggressive songs as “Black Magic” or “Die by the Sword” then such song just doesn’t fit here. It is OK, but I can again use my comparison to such “22 Acacia Avenue”… You know, you probably will never really like this song so much, but since it appears on such classic album then you just must live with it. Finally we have side D and “Crionics” opens it. Well, this is quite weird song, Araya tries to sing more melodiously here, what is a little bit bizarre, but the song is quite catchy, it again has some riffs, which are so much like Iron Maiden on adrenaline for example that it is amazing how aggressive some other songs on “Show No Mercy” are. That mid to end part of “Crionics” sounds for me almost like “Transylvania” or “Phantom of the Opera”, but I honestly like it a lot. But you can hear great difference between this song and the title track, which is next, and which is again an aggressive thrash metal attack and is the fastest and most vicious song with some razor sharp riffs and really unstoppable tempo. Thrash metal was born! Side D has also the second bonus track, which is “Chemical Warfare” and this is yet another classic song on this vinyl; fast, aggressive, violent. Killer.

Right, I guess I would probably have to also write something about the performance of each of Slayer members? But is it really necessary? Everyone knows how awesome guitarists King and Hanneman are, how well they cooperate together, how tight and precise is their playing, especially those leads… Sure, this was only their debut release, so the best was yet to come from these two gentlemen, but they already sounded damn impressive and most importantly, they came up here with a collection of truly memorable songs and classic riffs. Lombardo is the drumming master and if I can sometimes moan about Ulrich or whoever, then Dave has never been playing bad, he invented the extreme metal drumming, so hails to the master! And Araya… well, I can sometimes moan on his high pitched vocals, because I don’t like them so much, but some of his other vocals sound really evil and vicious. His bass playing is sometimes hardly audible, but I can live with his performance and all in all some of his vocals on “Show No Mercy” are just good, some are maybe not quite as good, but it is OK. Artwork? Well, first thing, which you notice is that great huge pentagram with Slayer logo written in sharp letters, with sword inside the circle. Isn’t it one of the best logos ever made? Artwork for “Show No Mercy” is nothing special maybe, but I can put it next to “In the Sign of Evil” or “Morbid Visions”, if you know what I mean.
Standout tracks: “Evil Has No Boundaries”, “Die by the Sword”, “Black Magic”, “Crionics”
Final rate: 85/100

"Show No Mercy" is not Slayer's greatest work. As a whole, the band gelled more and became more ferocious with each release after, and in time would become one of, if not the, greatest metal bands of all time. With this release, they paid homage to their idols in a not so discreet form, all while changing the face of heavy metal while doing so. Not too shabby for a bunch of teenagers.


Musically, as I said, there is a lot of aping and praising going on here. At worst, the riffs are second-rate Venom rip offs, but that's few and far between. There are some truly iconic riffs on this album, such as "Black Magic", "The Antichrist", and the seething opener "Evil Has No Boundaries". These riffs are often emulated by extreme metal bands today, thus completing, or rather extending, the circle of metal life. These riffs were based off the bands they were worshiping at the time, such as Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and of course Venom. Now, bands worship Slayer and rip the rip off riffs off. It really is a strange idea to think, but that's how music works.

The real standout points here are the drumming and the lyricism. Dave Lombardo is and will always be one of the greatest thrash metal drummers to ever walk this planet, and if you need any further proof, listen to this album. At the time of recording, he was 18 years old, playing double bass at speeds never before heard. The intro to the closing track "Show No Mercy" is as difficult as it is iconic, and proof that Lombardo's drumming was far ahead of his years at that time.

Lyrically, the album is incessant in Satanic and evil themes. Far ahead of their time at this point, the band did what Venom did and, in my opinion, did it much better. From the album cover to the back, with Jeff Hanneman playing his guitar with an inverted cross, the imagery and lyrics were insane for the time. In 1983, most bands were still writing NWOBHM style songs, which never exclusively spoke of Satan and death, but rather other less controversial topics. Slayer took the imagery and the themes and put it to some truly violent music, and created a stew of Satan and evil. Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman were the main lyricists, and the job they did may be seen as cliched now, but at the time it was both influential and controversial.


In closing, "Show No Mercy" is one of those albums you know is just a stepping stone to greater things, but it still is incredible in its own right. From the scathing riffage of "Evil Has No Boundaries" to the closing mayhem of "Show No Mercy", Slayer wrote and created an album way ahead of its years, and it still holds up to this day. That's the sign of an incredible album.

When Show No Mercy came out in 1983, I bet it scared the shit out of everyone. This is one of the most influential and remarkable albums to ever see the light of day. This may not be the first thrash metal album, for I think that would be Welcome to Hell, but I prefer this to any thrash release before or after it. This is a fucking masterpiece. Leather, bullet belts, pentagrams, upturned crosses, and fucking thrash. This album should be the one every new metalhead should start with. No bullshit, just blasphemous thrash metal. Lombardo’s drumming is, along with the riffs, the album's highlight. He has control over his drumming and while it may not be as fast as his contemporaries in hardcore or punk, it sticks to his objective, which is to blend in with the music. The vocals of Araya cannot be left out. His is one of the most unique voices in metal and is perfect for Slayer. He has always been a great vocalist and is apt for Slayer, though some may disagree. His bass lines are quite hard to hear, but that doesn't hinder me because the overall output is great.

Now to the focal point of his release and that’s the guitar work: both the riffs and the massive solos. The riffs are really catchy for all the songs here. Seems they took a good amount of time to create the riffs and the solos. There's a lot of whammy-bar usage, which is pretty great and many bands like Possessed, for one, would make this an integral part of their sound. The solos are fast and tremolo-picked and at times melodic like the one in ‘The Antichrist’. There’s always been a comparison between Kill ‘Em All and Show No Mercy, as both are killer releases, but both of them are quite different from each other. Kill ‘Em All is speed metal pretty much while Show No Mercy is pure thrash.

With anti-Christian lyrical themes and imagery, one hell of an album cover, and one of the most recognizable logos in metal, Show No Mercy was destined for greatness. The production is ideal in its overall sound, but the bass is nonexistent here. I don’t think the inaudibility of the bass is a huge let off, but I think this would’ve been better if the bass were audible. I think this release was immense and catapulted Slayer to the forefront of the US thrash metal scene, which was bearing seeds for the birth of monumental thrash metal releases in the future. I’m not sure if this is my favorite Slayer release or if it’s Reign in Blood, but I guess Show No Mercy edges out Reign in Blood considering the time of its release and its classy musicianship at such a young stage in the band’s career.

All of the songs here are great and it’s really hard for me to pick one or two as my favorite tracks. This release has spawned a huge number of clones, but nothing in the highest sense of the word comes close to this monumental release. Show No Mercy is one of my favorite albums and one of the greatest thrash albums ever. If you call yourself a ‘thrash-head’ and you haven’t listened to this album (I wonder if there are such people), you should kill yourself because your life isn’t valuable. Die by the Sword!

Although later releases from the big four of thrash (Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer and Megadeth) sounded wildly different, it is extraordinary how similar the debut records by of all of them are. As The Antichrist kicks off, it could clearly be any early James Hatfield riff. Dave Mustaine and Scott Ian too penned many similar guitar lines as you will find throughout Show No Mercy, so when it comes down to judging which debut was better, the only way to do so is on the strength of the songs. I would say all bands' musical abilities were equal, although Anthrax’s 1984 effort automatically loses out by having Neil Turbin on vocals. The man was clearly not up for the job compared to both his successors. Megadeth’s Killing is my Business… was a thrilling effort, but compared to both Slayer and Metallica’s debuts it felt as if Mustaine was throwing too many ideas at the wall and seeing what stuck. From my chart run down, you can see I much prefer the Metallica debut, but Show No Mercy is not too far off at all (it would take until the mid 90’s for Metallica to fall behind Slayer in my humble, yet oh so correct opinion).

Slayer, who are best known today for their extreme speeds, only get hellbent on The Final Command, which ends up being the weakest link on here, maybe because production techniques hadn’t yet caught up with the genre, although knowing that Kerry King’s dad and Tom Araya financed the recording, plus the fact the group ended up paying for their own tour tells us that there was not a lot of money flying around at the time. Metal Blade must have corrected and compensated the situation some how as they managed to keep the band on the label for another two years after this came out. Knowing how huge they are now, the mind boggles to how.

The band is so young here their influences are threaded throughout each groove. Crionics could easily be confused as an outtake from Iron Maiden’s Killers lp, from the crafting of the lead from Kerry King to the rolling thunder of the bass line which is pure Steve Harris through and through. Elsewhere you can finds tips of the hat to the satanic imagery of Mercyful Fate and Venom with bonus props especially going to the song craft of Judas Priest. If it weren’t for this, Show No Mercy would be just another metal record thrown upon heavy metals trash heap, all style and no substance, but songs like Die By The Sword and Tormentor stick in your head long after any track on a 1983 speed metal record should. The chorus’ are strong enough to hold the bolts of the song together when the speed gets too frantic. It wasn’t until Reign In Blood, produced by Rick Rubin, that Slayer found the production that truly matched their pace.

A few years ago I read an interview with Dave Lombardo whom I may add is often referred to today as thrash metal’s greatest drummer, that he only realized he was a good enough drummer for a career in music when he managed to play the whole of Kiss’ 100,000 Years, including the six minute solo off of their Alive album. Not knowing this tidbit at the time, but being a Slayer concert virgin I attended one of their London shows in the early '90s wearing a Kiss t-shirt and the looks I got from the throng of denim and leather-clad muppets were that of disgust and ridicule. I felt like a right chump for days after, my metal credibility all but disappeared, my rock buddies mocked and I still hold the mental scars of course, but after reading Dave’s comments ten years after the fact I finally felt vindicated. Still, I wouldn’t do it again. Ever. Slayer fans take no prisoners.

As much as I enjoy some of Slayer’s later work, and even though I do enjoy the more chaotic thrash now and then, I’ve always preferred the more traditional approach to thrash metal. I like Kreator, but I’m more of an Overkill fan. So I guess that’s a good basis for why I love this album so much. But it goes much deeper than that.

Every aspect of this album seems perfectly presented. Its low quality fits the mood of the music well. I’ve never considered Tom Araya a great vocalist, but one thing he does perfectly is fit Slayer’s sound. He’d be a shitty singer in any other band, but is perfect for Slayer. However, one thing that is strange is how often he uses his high pitched vocals here. It’s pretty common. Even though he used them after this album, it became far scarcer. Which kind of sucks, because Tom’s High pitch scream was fucking nuts. In fact, “Evil Has No Boundaries” open with a sick scream after a guitar intro, much like “Angel of Death” would later. The song then goes on to be a fucking fantastic, bone crushing thrash track.

The guitar much different than on most Slayer albums, having a more riff oriented than the speed based style that dominated most later Slayer albums. There are more ringing power chords, and the riffs feel more like Metallica’s “Kill ‘Em All” than “Reign in Blood,” but it took what Metallica was starting, and truly brought it to a new level. It takes that sort of ‘NWOBHM-inspired thrash’ sound and really makes it a little more powerful.

The solos also sound much more written than the “franticly fretting random notes on the high E string” sound they’d later adopt. Some of the solos are actually pretty fantastic. Because god, do I hate most Slayer solos.

The only downside is that much of the album sounds the same. Every song is good, and the album is very consistent, but sometimes it makes you want them to try different things. Which, to be fair, does happen now and then, but no enough to make it feel like they could do more. In most cases “different things” means letting a lot more NWBHM influence seep through, with “Crionics,” almost sounding like an early Iron Maiden tune. By the way, “Crionics” is a fucking fantastic track. It goes more in that midpaced but heavy track direction. Maybe like ‘Seek and Destroy’ with a Maiden gallop? There’s a bridge part that actually almost reminds me of early Manowar too. It’s such a strange song to hear from Slayer.

The title track is fucking intense, very fast by the standards at the time. The only faster song on the album is the Final Command, which is actually something of an indicator of the direction Slayer would later choose to take.

I honestly wish Slayer had done more music in this style. Again, it’s not that I don’t like later slayer albums. Aside from the vastly overrated Reign in Blood, I’m a fan of everything up until “Devine Intervention,” which if both just OK, and their last decent album. But this style is so much more interesting to me. Or maybe I only like it so much because it’s the only album Slayer did in this style. Or maybe because it came so early in the thrash scene, this being up there with “Kill ‘em All” as the earliest all out thrash albums. Either way, despite being looked over in favor of “Reign in Blood” and “Hell Awaits,” this album is truly a classic. In my opinion, this is the best goddamn Slayer album.

Fucking. Slayer.

For a debut, this thrash metal quartet is amongst the ranks of fellow competitors such as Metallica’s Kill ‘em All. Show No Mercy from start to finish is an epic saga of pure metal originality and brilliance. The production quality is quite raw sounding, but each segment from band be it the vocals, guitars or drums are well mixed in here. Tom Araya sets the stage for some highly evil screaming soaking up the music very well in its’ entirety. Songs such as “Die By the Sword” and “Black Magic” are classics and my favorite tracks by far. That’s obligatory though, what matters here is the music.

What you’ll hear in the songwriting are bar chords galore with riffs that are captivating. Not only that, but they also feature tremolo picked frenzies on some tracks. Both guitarists put out some amazing leads. It’s difficult to tell the difference between the 2 guitarists. Over time, there was a progression by Jeff Hanneman and a laziness in Kerry King’s lead guitar work. On this debut, both guitarists put out some great tracks and the crunch tone distortion reigns here. I still think that Reign In Blood is the band’s best output, but Show No Mercy is one hell of a good debut.

There are trade off leads here most of what you find in the music is purely original thrash metal to the core. Every instrument is in unison with one another. Again the raw production is typical when it comes to the early 80’s style of recording. The mixing and production forced the band to have talent. That is apparent here. The leads are simply amazing and awe inspiring. I don’t think that any of them could compete with their later releases. These leads on here are the most original. The riffs are simply amazing as well and the band put together a conglomeration of thrash metal genius.

The only beef that I have about the album are the lyrical concepts. It doesn’t take a lot of thought to write about Satanism/anti-Christianity. But this is why Slayer stayed underground over the years is because of them being notorious for construction these topics. But they admitted they were not serious about the topics or Satanists themselves. But I still do thing that it’s obvious that they have a beef with religion in general a lot like Destruction has as well. Metallica had some tracks on their early 80’s albums that talked about these topics but weren’t serious about it. They just wanted to stay underground.

No song on here is boring or lacking in intensity. Araya’s screaming goes well with the music even though I’m not a huge fan of his vocal work. But on Show No Mercy, his vocals well suited the music in its entirety. The most amazing and original amounts of work went into constructing the music. Both Jeff and Kerry were at their best on here especially in the lead department. They both are in unison when it comes to dual match up. Kerry definitely declined over the years where Jeff kept getting better and better then it became easier to distinguish between which lead was whose. On Show No Mercy, both of them were amazing.

If you don’t own this release and are a thrash metal fan, get it right away. You’d be amazed at most of the sounds coming out of your speakers. 10 tracks and a little over 35 minutes in length, Show No Mercy is a debut album that deserves mighty recognition for. Too bad about their latest release, stick with the old Slayer and you’ll be fine. This debut into the thrash metal world created such amazing work by the band and their talent during the earliest era. Most thrash metal bands either changed their style of music like Metallica and some others keep putting out releases that sound the same. Slayer’s new release is putrid. Show No Mercy is one hell of a great release however!

I'll be totally honest here; I'm not huge on Slayer. Certainly I don't hate them (fuck, I'm reviewing this, right?), but I find much of their work to suffer from repetitiveness and some mistakes in the studio (Diabolus In Musica, anyone?) But, I will give credit where credit is due, as a number of their separate songs (ie "Seasons In The Abyss" or the legendary "Reign In Blood") are damn vicious and well put together bits of thrash. The credit is certainly due here.

Slayer's 1983 debut album is pure, raw 80's metal at its finest. It's heavier than much heavy metal at the time, but not quite thrash. The songs are catchy and have just a little of that beloved NWOBHM sound sprinkled on top with buzzaw guitars and screaming, chanting choruses. The first-time band here is overall damn good. Tom Araya, a respiratory therapist at the time, thumps the bass with competence, but it's nothing too special. His voice, however, is legendary. Araya growls and shouts his vocals with precise menace, and his occasional screams are genuinely, jaw-droppingly spine-tingling, and just plain METAL! Jeff Hanneman and the fantastic Kerry King are a duel to be reckoned with, their guitars buzzing the listener's ears like angry wasps. Lastly, Dave Lombardo certainly kicks ass with his drumwork, though he, along with Hanneman and King, would improve greatly on preceding albums, particularly "Reign In Blood". On a side note, many have complained of this album's rough and, some say, "horrible", production quality. If you want bad quality, listen to Venom's "Welcome To Hell" (still an incredible album in its own right), but otherwise fuck off; it's not that bad.

This album has songs. Great songs. Really, really fucking AWESOME, pure molten metal! No fancy-ass technicality or theatrics, no pansy ballads, none of that shit. "Show No Mercy" really does just that; it whoops ass in a non-stop assault of heaviness from beginning to end. The only downside is that many of the songs may be a bit hard to tell apart at first, with nothing particularly special differentiating them. A closer look and a number of re-listens eventually gives each song its own sound and merit. From the killer solos of "Metal Storm/Face The Slayer" ( my personal favorite) and "Black Magic" to the memorable choruses of "Fight Till Death" and "Die By The Sword", it all kicks skulls and melts faces.

If slight amateurishness and rough production isn't your thing, go listen to your fucking Van Halen or something. Otherwise enjoy "Show No Mercy", one of the most relentless and purely metal albums of the 80's. Headband till there's nothing left!!!

The most important thing I could say about this sort of thing (to me, at least,) is that this is the album that Possessed's first sounds most like. Oof, I guess that sounds like kind of a backhanded insult, doesn't it? It's really not; I'm just aware of what I listen to. I listen to death and black and grind; at a fundamental level, I DON'T listen to stuff like this. So my interest in an album like "Show No Mercy" is more in its influence, because there's only so much I'm going to get out of it in and of itself. It's neat, but do I ever listen to it? Not really- too close to Judas Priest for me.

So I guess that's what most people always say about this album and make a big deal about: it's basically Slayer's heavy/speed metal album before "Hell Awaits" (or maybe "Haunting the Chapel") stormed in and stripped most of that out in favor of a more brackish and deadly sound. Here the game is different; the cheese still permeates it pretty deeply. The falsettos wails aren't vestigial here, if you get what I'm saying- the texture of this music is so firmly entrenched in the tropes of early Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and other big names that Slayer is almost unrecognizable underneath it all. I don't think it's much of a stretch to say that a fundamentally different band is at work here than the one which would end up churning out "Reign in Blood" only a few years later- the goals, quite simply, are very different from each other.

If at this point Slayer wasn't absolutely trying their hardest to be the most vicious, insane, and brutal band in the world, I guess they were just trying to kick out a solid, cool heavy metal album, and I suppose they succeed on that. The riffs are a lot more melodic here- they're not designed to punish the audience so much as seem KICKIN' RAD, and the surprisingly restrained drumming and vocal performances both point to a band more interested in drinking beer and having a Halloween-dark good time than really eviscerating the audience. That's not to say there aren't moments of surprising brutality which would foreshadow the future: the title track is pretty hard to ignore in its viciousness, and "Black Magic" seems especially ominous when sandwiched between the other, cuddlier tracks on this record.

Hindsight's kind of a curse, really. Save the hate mail- I'm not going to "get" this album any more no matter how much you demand I do.

Basically "Show No Mercy" suffers from proximity to infinitely more intense music in arm's reach of it; for those of my generation who have always defined Slayer as the most hard-bitten and cruel of the big 4, it's sort of difficult to rationalize that image with what seems at first glance to seem like a pretty restrained, not particularly morbid release from the guys who would later base their careers off nazi death camps and corpsefucking. So much of what you get with this dinosaur, when you're my age, involves mentally drawing the feathers and beak on it and wondering at just how it's going to fly so soon from then. Invariably, it comes off as dated, especially without any sort of nostalgia to attribute to it- there's other, more immediately relevant releases in the band's catalog.

But as to how it sounds, independent of any history lesson- fun, more or less. It's obviously the most hard-bitten tracks which are the most viscerally appealing; the aforementioned "Black Magic" and "Show No Mercy" are the absolute standouts, sounding like the earliest Sodom or Possessed material with their thrashing ferocity, tightly-coiled riffing, and alarmingly vociferous vocal performances. This is what makes it so interesting on a track like "Tormentor," where Slayer calls the spirit of Maiden perhaps more fully than anywhre else on the album- the more extreme tracks on this release are such obvious outliers it almost makes you question whether the band themselves were aware of the change that was rapidly taking place in their own style.

Really the most interesting feature of this record is how, well, NORMAL (for want of a better term) it sounds. King and Hanneman's riffs are simple and catchy in the speed metal form, without the explosive and atonal edge that the band would rapidly develop as their signature style, and even King's soloing lacks the cat-in-a-blender quality that he's so legendary for. The sheer consonance of this music (and the amazingly clean singing voice that Araya essentially employs) is a total surprise, even when connected to the very next EP the band would turn out. I think most distinctive of all the pieces in their formative stages, though, are the drums- almost hilariously restrained, straightforward, and heavy metal, without the insistent push that Lombardo would later bring in as a crucial element of the band's sound.

Do I particularly like this? No- this isn't something I would really ever listen to on my own. Is it a necessary part of your collection? Well, of course. And if nothing else, it's a museum that everyone should visit once- even if it's on a field trip of sorts.

Slayer's debut "Show No Mercy" can be best summed up with the word revolutionary. This was the birth of extreme metal as we know it. Venom may have started it, but Slayer perfected it. The guitars still have a distinct NWOBHM flavor to them that's undeniably tasty. Slayer's stylistic direction was largely influenced by legends like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Venom. Slayer would go on to develop and perfect their own sound in their future releases, but this is where Slayer were at their youngest and hungriest.

The lyrics try their best to be offensive but often come off as laughable as the band hadn't yet developed in that department. The songwriting comes off a bit like a bunch of teenagers obsessed with the occult and Satan, which is exactly what they were at the time. The influence of this album is widespread. Thrash giants like Kreator, Sepultura and other European heavyweights took their inspiration from here.

The guitar duo of Hanneman/King would quickly go on to establish themselves as the most influential duo after Downing/Tipton of the legendary British heavy metal band, Judas Priest. Dave Lombardo doesn't quite push the limits of extreme metal drumming here like in "Reign in Blood", but for 1983, this was quite fresh, like a faster, more intense style of NWOBHM drumming. Tom Araya's hellish high-pitched screams and his spitfire delivery of the lyrics were completely outrageous for its time.

Slayer were possibly the first band alongside Metallica to possess that signature 'bay area crunch' that rubbed off on every other band in the scene. The riffs found on this album take the best of Judas Priest and Venom and push them to a whole new level of intensity never seen or heard before. The blasphemous lyrics and complete disregard for record sales or achieving fame is exactly what made them famous later. Surprisingly, the riffs have an inherent 'catchiness' that makes them get stuck in your head forever. Also worth noting is that despite the one-dimensional nature of the songs, they all stand out individually with their own identity and keeps this album from becoming repetitive.

Admittedly, these songs are best heard live as the production is a bit lacking sometimes. The drumming doesn't seem to be have dynamics or intricacy as it comes off as a steady, unrelenting background noise that is only decent at best.

"Evil Has No Boundaries" starts off with a demented King Diamond like shriek from Araya before the voracious riffing kicks in to a steady drum beat. The guitar solo is actually better than the ones in "Reign in Blood". They're not excessively squealy and are a little more comprehensible. "The Antichrist" is another solid, but predictable thrasher. The main riff has a distinct 'upbeat' quality to it that Slayer further explored past this album. "Die By The Sword" dishes out more of the same, although the song is a bit more adventurous and offers more in terms of variety with some punishing mid-paced sections accompanying the chorus "Die by the sword!.." which is barked out with hostility by Araya.

"Fight Till Death" sounds like an early mid-paced Kreator song, The lyrics and song title does seem a bit immature but the riffing kicks ass, so no complaints overall. "Metal Storm/Face the Slayer" is the longest song, clocking in at a whopping 5 minutes by Slayer's usual standards. The track is a lethal mix of Venom-esque riffing and the old British 'gallop' made famous by Iron Maiden. The solos are fast but tend to be very much melodic in character, a bit like the ones from Metallica's debut. "Black Magic" is the best Slayer song ever and the definitive introduction to the genius of both Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman. The intro of the song seems to slowly fade in and develops into one of the most memorable evil riffs crafted this side of "Raining Blood". Another memorable moment is the crunchy mid-paced groove that kicks in at around the 3-minute mark, reminding me a bit of Metallica's 'Four Horsemen'.

"Tormentor" sees more NWOBHM influenced speed metal from Slayer. Even the style of lyric-writing draws heavily from early Iron Maiden, more specifically the albums Iron Maiden and Killers. "Final Command" is more Priest influenced but definitely in the same mold as "Tormentor". Araya tries his hand at singing on "Crionics" and makes his best Rob Halford impersonation. The riffing sees more of that vintage Iron Maiden 'galloping' riffs. "Show No Mercy", the title track sees more of the same, by this time the approach gets a little redundant.

Reign in Blood may be my favorite album by this band like many fans, but Slayer's impressive debut is every bit as important in the development of this genre. It truly captures the aggression and hunger that the thrash metal scene had in its earliest days of existence. 1983 was the year that thrash metal truly started to distinguish itself from NWOBHM. No matter what they did later, they will forever be an integral part of the scene and for that, and they will forever have my respect.

"...blasting our way through the boundaries of hell, no one will stop us tonight..."

What's the nostalgic stare? Unless you're around five years old, everyone does it. It's daydreaming about a time in your life when things seemed better, brighter, and perhaps even more sensible than they are now. It involves some sort of hindsight that makes that time appear more enchanted than it probably was...people or places you miss, things you had - an atmosphere slain by time. The older you get, the more it happens. My stare involves discovering a young underground scene and the enigmatic bands that populated it, so if you should happen to see me at work or at the bar or waiting at a stoplight locked in some sort of gaze, you know what's going on.

It's around April or May 1984 in one such instance that causes me to stare into space now. I'm going home on the 8th grade shuttle bus when I'm first hearing Slayer. Walkman on, my eyes stare at the back of the seat in front of me, jaw's slack, and I can't believe what's being pumped through my headphones. A new acquaintance of mine at school taped two songs for me of this band for which I had only seen one devastating picture of (http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s264/gutterscream/IMG_0010.jpg) that I've hardly seen anywhere since. Those songs were "Crionics" and "Show No Mercy". "Crionics", while more melodic, progressively traditional, and contrived (I would learn later on) for a Slayer tune, was still pretty much heavier than a lot of what I'd already heard, but "Show No Mercy" was just total destruction of the boundaries. Savagery and aggression were at the gate and screaming. This was the be all-end all of metal tracks for me, and to this day despite all the stuff that has been released since, I'm still in awe of this song.

Show No Mercy is one of the heaviest, most antagonistic albums grooved in that pre-'84 commercial radio and NWOBHM-bloated era. Along with Kill 'Em All, Forged in Fire and a very short list of other albums, it's a signal flare that burned through the layered fleece of British acts that weren't commercial or well-known, but were cousins in their semblance of sound from the earliest of Mythra to the fading pulse of Spartan Warrior. It just barely reached the surface where the scene was ruled by major labels, their profit margins and their approved bands. We'd like to think the record automatically lit the metal scene on fire, but it didn't.

"...Satan watches all of us, smiles as some do his bidding..."

So, what in Slayer's unknown repertoire put them over the edge? Speed, vocals and attitude. Bands dishing it out with pure disdain weren't plentiful. Motorhead, Venom, maybe Raven and Exciter, some Anvil, the six-month old Kill 'Em All, punk - hell, MC5 were sometimes more of a bully than the early metal bands. Likewise, Slayer took and gave no crap - the handful of NWOblah blah rhythms they siphoned off their older peers prevail with a level of brawn and intensity that would go hand in hand with this new upsurge in rhythmic velocity, this dissident speed-picking that would be forever known as the bedrock of thrash metal. Change anything else you want - vocal range, drumwork, throw in a saxophone, whatever - without this, it isn't thrash (not that anyone had a clue at the time).

Add to this the final frontier - Araya's deep, diabolical, and unabashed vocal delivery (that really only Cronos and a demo-entrenched Tom Warrior were doing) that was spouting out foul devil-skinned lyrics to match (at a level that really only Venom, Mercyful Fate, and a very unknown Hellhammer were penning). With the standards being shattered left and right, one hoped it was only a matter of time before poor out-of-the-loop metal fans put down Circus Magazine (or listened to this dorky fourteen year old waving the record around like a Nascar flagman) and took notice.

"...you never should have come this far..."

With a frenzied solo and one of the first of many Araya screams, "Evil Has No Boundaries" is born, kicking and screaming, centered around a chorus that includes as far as I know their sole attempt at backing vocals. Two future staples are up next, "Antichrist" and "Die By the Sword", a pair of rhythm-heavy tracks that are way more structurally-driven than anything breakneck and can mislead the listener into thinking the opener is a fluke, a one-off bruiser, and that's when vaunted "Fight Til Death" walks in like a gorilla that's missed its last ten meals. With its frightfully dramatic chorus, wild repeating and off-kilter main riff, and unrelenting speed, "FTD" just may be the first bonafide thrash creature recorded for mass consumption outside the Metallica camp. Hanneman and King team up to usher in "Metalstorm/Face the Slayer" with a burst of hardened Euro-drama riffs that serve as an appetizer to its violent, near blow-by-blow lyrics.

Okay, in order for "Black Magic"'s mighty rising-from-the-depths opening to be truly effective, you have to have had to flip the side (which we all had to do), and headphones didn't hurt. What the cd doesn't offer are those extra five or six seconds where you acknowledge your own astonishment for side one. Yeah, sounds lame, but it happened. The more methodical "Tormentor" prepares the quick attack of "Final Command", easily the most frantic speed-chaser of the bunch with a pair of screams that awaken the aforementioned melody of "Crionics", a tune laden with traditional riffs coated in the black chrome of Slayer's unprescribed heaviness and ignites the pyre of the monstrous title track that can blow holes in ships' hulls. From the first hammering blows of Lombardo's intro (who was still in high school and had yet to come into his own), "SNM" is nothing but bone saw speed, vibrating pain, and the shrilling, shrieking, and salivating end to an lp that should've turned the underworld upside down. It was a jarring, ocean-heavy wake-up call that drowned me in fear, bewilderment, and hope, yet I survived. No one played a track like that. Not Venom. Not Exciter. Not Metallica. Not Anvil. Not Mercyful Fate. No one.

No one.

...I am the menace in your eyes, the one you can't escape...

After many, many years of global Reign In Blood adoration it has almost become fashion this new millennium to rediscover and worship Show No Mercy. It is a good album, sure, but Slayer were only half way here to shedding their cover skin and finding their own style and sound as perfected as on their next 4 albums. Just like Anthrax’ debut, this album is still filled with too many blatantly copied ideas from the acts they used to cover in the earliest days of their existence. Yes, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and of course Venom (and to a lesser amount Motörhead) are all over the place here. However, it must be said that because of Araya’s typical voice and Lombardo’s drumming, the band already come very close to their own sound. King and Hanneman were only halfway.

‘Evil Has No Boundaries’, ‘Fight ‘till Death’, ‘Black Magic’, ‘Final Command’ and ‘Show No Mercy’ are 5 tracks on which Slayer show their fast potential and differentiate themselves already a bit from the other early day speed and thrash metal groups emerging from their basements. These songs are ridden with obvious Venom influences (almost similar to Bathory’s debut a few months later) and showcase more palm muted riffing than Venom ever dared. The funniest thing of course being that Slayer and Bathory both copied a lot of Venom on their debut albums but were able to actually pull it off much better than Venom themselves in terms of tightness.

With ‘The Antichrist’ and ‘Die by the Sword’ the band delivers two mid paced songs which are catchy as well as pretty ‘evil’. A remarkable achievement and it’s not without reason these two songs have remained live favourites all these years.

Which brings us to the ‘bad’ here. I’ve never been too fond about ‘Metal Storm/Face the Slayer’. The song drags too much. There is a certain attempt at regaining the ‘The Antichrist’ and ‘Die by the Sword’ atmosphere but it just falls short simply because there are too many awkward breaks and dull in-between riffs messing up the tension.
The attempt at playing Clive Burr rhythms, filling the song with one Maiden rip off after another and Araya’s activities which some might call ‘singing’ make ‘Crionics’ sound like a cover gone horribly bad.
The earlier mentioned ‘Final Command’ even tries to combine Maidenesque riffing with Venomish intensity and even though it works just enough to be called decent, the lame intro and constant borrowing of riff blueprints does get annoying. ‘Tormentor’ is just plain dull. The main riff is neither heavy nor evil and disappears into NWOBHM mediocrity. Not to mention the godawful chorus.

My first introduction to Slayer was Hell Awaits and from that point on I really got into Reign. When I first heard Show No Mercy it simply didn’t convince me. And as a whole it still does not, save a few tracks. And even those tracks I prefer hearing live since I’ve never liked the production here. Especially the drums sound incredibly lame with an overdose of cheap basement reverb. Years later Decade Of Aggression really showed how these songs could and should sound.

Show No Mercy is a decent debut but not close to what was to come… for instance when they unleashed Chemical Warfare unto the world a few months later, that’s when hell really froze over!

I shall say right now that Slayer is my favourite band of all time. They are the band that got me into heavy metal. I thought it appropriate for me to review their first album as the first review I write for them. Enough with silly intros, let’s get to the music. The guitar seems to be a logical place to start.

The guitar on this album is much more melodic than any of their other albums. This album also features the best Slayer solos in my opinion. My favourite Slayer solo is in The Antichrist because it is probably their most melodic solo ever! Metal Storm (the intro to Face the Slayer) has probably the best intro that Slayer has ever written. The album also has some pretty sick riffs, I’ll never forget the riff to Black Magic. The riff to Die by Sword during the solo section is so powerful. Probably the heaviest riff on here.

The bass.. is there. It just exists and doesn’t do much for the album. It is barely audible for most of the album. Then again, Tom has never been the best bass player around but he works for this album. I never really wanted Tony Choy to be in Slayer.

Talking about Tom. His vocals here are fantastic! This is back when he was young and could still do high pitched screams. His vocals here may not be the most aggressive but they are really good! The chorus to Fight ‘til Death is amongst the catchiest choruses I’ve ever heard in a Slayer song. “Prepare for attack, your body will burn, endless war, there’s no return, prepare for attack, death will arrive, your orders are clear, no way to hide, fight til death!”

Now for the drumming! Just like every Slayer album the drumming on this one is superb. Dave Lombardo always keeps things interesting. The best drum pattern on here would have to be in The Antichrist. The drumming follows and complements the riff so well it’s insane. The intro to Show No Mercy is practically a high speed drum solo and it demonstrates Dave’s power behind the kit.

Overall this is among the greatest Slayer albums and it showcases some of their most brilliant compositions. Songs like The Antichrist, Metal Storm/Face the Slayer, Black Magic and Tormentor show this band’s amazing song writing capabilities and the brilliance that they are capable of, even if at this point they had not yet found their sound.

Highlights:

- The Antichrist solo
- The riffs to Die by the Sword and Black Magic
- The intro to Face the Slayer and Show No Mercy
- The chorus to The Final Command

Slayer’s debut is still regarded as a milestone for a new way of doing metal. This new way was (and still is) the “thrash metal”. This album is, along with “Kill ‘em All”, “Killing is My Business…And My Business Is Good” and “Bonded By Blood”, an important sign of the new growing scene. Even if the influences of the heavy metal are still well displayed, this album is incredible for violence and speed. The music is truly EVIL and some face paintings utilized by the members, along with the inverted crosses, created a sort of mystery the surrounded the band in that period. I can only imagine those families that burned “The Number Of The Beast” LPs, because it was “satanic music”, when they found this album in their son’s metal collection.

This band, grown up with Venom and true heavy metal, created a piece of history, a must for every metal kid. And the story begins right here…four guys that wanted to play fast and brutal join together and after few demos, they recorded the first album, “Show No Mercy”. Ten tracks of pure speed/thrash metal. The first thing you can hear is the speed and the way of playing drums by Dave Lombardo: the brutal up tempos are still very influenced by punk music. Araya’s vocals are far more brutal than Hetfield ones and anyone thrash metal singer at the time. In the choirs of the first track “Evil Has No Boundaries” we have also Gene Hoglan singing! This song is incredible with a bunch of guitars solos, that are still melodic but incredibly fast for that period.

“Antichrist” song is a good example for those who want to know the power of Araya’s vocals at the time. The guitars are always very catchy and incredible obscure in the melodies. The solos are still very “heavy metal” but the violence is not common. “Die By The Sword” is still nowadays played live by the group. A classic with that bone crushing mid-paced riff in the central part, followed by fast solos by the guitars. “Fight ‘till Death” is pure headbanging!! Very simple riffage, always catchy refrains, fast tempo, punkish speed…great, great, great!! The solo here is incredible with the shreds, tapping and so on.

“Metal Storm/Face The Slayer” is truly apocalyptic in the music and is a bit different in its form. The Lombardo’s rolls at the beginning are powerful and the whole drums sound incredibly 80’s. Here the tempo is less fast, there is less urgency in wanting to destroy everything. The main part here is done by the guitars, that are very good at drawing melodic and evil riffs. “Black Magic” deserves no presentation at all. If you don’t know this song and the riff at the beginning you can leave and read a Cristina Aguielira’s review instead. This is pure evil. “Tormentor” is one of the heaviest metal influenced songs here and it’s fantastic.

“Final Command” is very heavy metal in the riffs but incredibly fast at the drums, while “Crionics” is slower and obscure in its melodies, that are always well set in the group’s skills. The drums intro the to last track, the title track, is another page of heavy metal. The whole song is fast, evil, bad ass and…well, Slayer. That’s all. This album is incredible forits importance, for the music and for the brutality shown in the year 1983. Innovators, killers, bad ass, violent…SLAAAYEEER FOREVER!!!!!

Metallica’s Kill 'em All and Slayer’s Show No Mercy paved the way for hundreds of thrash and speed acts to come. But this is way more melodic than most thrash out there. The music on Show No Mercy is basically Venom morphed with Judas Priest. In other words, NWOBHM, but faster. Very fun breed of thrash to listen to. The lyrics are pretty cheesy and not nearly as violent as Slayer’s later albums, but the songwriting here is really good. And get a load of that cover. Classic.

Tom Araya was very young, and his voice certainly shows it. He screams like a banshee on many of the songs, and he even does clean vocals. Araya is truly at his peak vocally. Hanneman and King play nicely, if a little bit less skilled than they would become over the next few years. They play dozens of whammy bar abusing solos, and also play a few melodic ‘Priest-influenced dual leads. Dave Lombardo does a pretty good job on drums, but he doesn’t quite reach those ludicrous speed tempos he plays on Reign in Blood.

The production is raw and cheap, but still light-years away from Venom. The guitar tone is nice and thick, but damn, the drums almost sound like electric ones. In all of Slayer’s later albums, you could tell instantly which guitarist was playing a solo, but it is harder here because both guitar tracks are dead center. Bass is average for thrash at this time.

“Evil Has No Boundaries” One of the best songs here. Like on “Angel of Death”, Araya lets out a scream at the beginning. A nice speedy number.

“The Antichrist” I just about crapped my pants when I first heard this song. It was a live version and I hadn’t previously heard Slayer’s early output. This one has a really catchy main riff and Hanneman’s solo is godly.

“Die by the Sword” This deserves all of the praise it gets. A true Slayer classic. The chorus commands you to headbang. Hanneman and King really burn the fretboards with the leads here. Hanneman’s solo still sends a chill up my spine. Whenever they played this one live, Araya would always say this really cheesy intro: “Some say the pen is mightier than the sword, but I say FUCK THE PEN! Because you can DIE BY THE SWORD!”

“Fight Till Death” One of the fastest songs on Show No Mercy. It’s really one of their first pure thrash numbers.

“Metal Storm/Face the Slayer” Starts off with an awesome guitar intro. But notice the very first riff. Metallica seem to have copied that riff in the beginning of “Creeping Death” one year later. Interesting…

“Black Magic” Definitely Slayer’s heaviest song at this point. Has a great building intro then it suddenly starts to thrash. Very memorable riff. Great song.

“Tormentor” The best NWOBHM song here for sure. Vastly underrated. I’m not sure why. You can sing along to the chorus! That doesn’t happen very often with Slayer songs.

“The Final Command” Yes, it may be the fastest song on Show No Mercy, but is definitely the worst of the bunch. The song sounds very forced and unfinished when compared to the rest of the album.

“Crionics” Another underrated melodic gem. Like “Tormentor”, it is packed with clean vocals. The second half of the song is instrumental. It just keeps building until the end where a couple monster guitar solos are unleashed.

“Show No Mercy” Starts off with a frenzied drum solo and turns into an almost anthemic thrasher, similar to “Evil Has No Boundaries”, but much faster. Wonderful choice of a closer.

Despite a few similar sounding songs and raw production, this is definitely a must for Slayer fans with an open mind.

With their 1983 debut “Show No Mercy” Slayer burst onto the seen with basically what could be described as a cleaned up Venom or thrashier Judas Priest. While most of the thrash bands of the time claimed great influence to “NWOBHM”, “Show No Mercy” sounds like it is a “NWOBHM” album.

Maybe what makes “Show No Mercy” so special is because when you look back on Slayer you see an amateurish, both in production and musicianship, band that is nothing like the brutal powerhouse presented on “Reign in Blood”. Although, this same observation can be said of Metallica’s and Megadeth’s respective debuts. But despite this, or in spite of it, they provide many early classic, and concert mainstays.

As said, “Show No Mercy” has a very prominent “NWOBHM” presence, but the main element of this is Tom Araya’s vocals. They sound closer to Rob Halford than what his vocals on anything on “Reign in Blood”. But there are definite cues culled from the likes of Venom, Judas Priest and to some extent Mercyful Fate. Just listen to the scream right in the opening “Evil Has no Boundaries” and not think of one of King Diamond’s or Rob Halford’s wail.

But what is distinctly Slayer are the heavily satanic laced lyrics. Some are cheesy and almost Spinal Tap like in their silliness, while there are parts where it definitely works, and foreshadow the lyrical themes of future albums.

There aren’t any filler songs on this album, but there sure a few standouts like “Evil Has no Boundaries”, “The Antichrist," "Die by the Sword," and "Black Magic". But at just 35 minutes there is absolutely no reason that an album as good as this doesn’t deserve to just be played from end to end.

Overall, Slayer’s debut, “Show No Mercy” is an absolute essential for any budding Slayer fan, and shouldn’t be passed over in favor of the more namedropped “Reign in Blood”. But even aside from that, this stands alone and needs no rely on the following albums for support, and for that reason, “Show No Mercy” is highly recommended.

Ah Slayer's earliest studio endeavor, Show No Mercy. An album that several years and dozens of plays later has not shown a hint of wear and is just as frenzied as it ever was. I had already written a tribute to this album, but now I feel a bit more detail is necessary to convey the unique quality and charm of this classic, that young metalheads may continue to seek it out early in their study of the great genre that is thrash metal. So without further adieu...Slayer Hour 1.

There’s no arguing that Slayer was a massively influential band; the only other thrash band that can claim to be on the same scale is Metallica. But on Show No Mercy, Slayer was as much a product of their own influences as they were of direct innovation. Of these influences, Venom is the most prominent. The fast tempos, aggressive rhythms, and chaotic solos found all over this album are direct descendents of that manic British three-piece, as is Tom Araya’s menacing singing style (yeah, he used to sing in these days) and the entire band’s visual image and stage presentation, as evidenced by the liner photos. It’s also a pretty goddamn raw effort, lacking the polished production of their later Def-American albums. This is, of course, in the album’s favor: not only is the bass audible under the madness (if only barely) but the slight charismatic sloppiness (Dave Lombardo’s drumming prowess is in its infancy) makes everything sound even more frantic. The general lyrical content, expanding on the band’s satanic imagery with elements of battle and killing, is savage and violent and at times mind-boggling (“Satanas sips upon the blood in which he feeds”), but is never anything less than extremely awesome. Also worth mentioning is the cover art, most likely the first thing to inform you that this album is going to rule. What image in all of the band’s history is more iconic than that? But while lots of bands were influenced by Venom, there is another key influence in the early Slayer formula that helped define the album as an inimitable classic.

That other direct influence audible on Show No Mercy is that of heavy metal gods Judas Priest. While this would be buried beneath the fury of future efforts, here it is in full display and is one of the main reasons that this is Slayer’s most unique album. Though much of the riffage uses the Venom template of atonality and ravaged pentatonics, there’s a subtle melodic edge to the King/Hanneman twin guitar attack that would later get abandoned for pure brutality. Take “Black Magic,” a song mostly characterized by fast chromatic riffs, which has a major key riff appearing right after the second verse. Several choruses, particularly those of “The Antichrist” and “Tormentor,’ have melodic chord progressions and vocal lines. Even speedy, “The Final Command” has more of a Priest-style speed metal vibe than a Venom one. There’s also a lot of harmonized guitar lines, but unlike the more dissonant ones from their later albums, here they’re more of a classic Tipton/Downing (or Smith/Murray) variety. The opening sequence of “Metal Storm/Face the Slayer” (in 9/8!), the middle break of “Crionics,” and just before the solos in “Die by the Sword”: these are among many examples of this throughout the album. Another key Judas Priest touch: Tom Araya’s falsetto screams. Though he obviously doesn’t have the control required to maintain melody lines in higher octaves like Halford, Tom knows the perfect locations in the vocal lines to add one of these ear-splitting wails to maximize effectiveness. Not on all their other albums combined are his screams so plentiful. A pity.

But for all the importance of their influences, there’s still a hell of a lot of stuff on here that is pure Slayer, through and through. After all, neither Venom nor Priest were playing at the speeds of tracks like “Show No Mercy,” “The Final Command,” or “Fight till Death.” And neither of them thought to learn the attributes of the other: Priest was never this brutal and Venom was never this memorable. Actually, neither of them were this brutal or memorable over the course of an entire album. There’s no filler whatsoever on Show No Mercy and every riff, be it simple (those of “Evil Has No Boundaries”) or surprisingly complex (those of “Metal Storm/Face the Slayer,” that end thing of “Crionics”), is perfectly written and placed, probably the reason it’s the only album I know front-to-back. Usually I’d pick some standouts, but everyone I know has different picks from this one. With songs as great as these, it’s hard to play favorites.

Oh and before I forget. Best. Solos. Ever. Before they went on to pioneer the atonal shredding style that death metal would abuse into irrelevance, Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King did their damnedest to actually play well-written solos (another latent Priest influence I’d say). And there’s plenty of ‘em, melodic, pentatonic, and atonal, throughout the album to keep the listener on the edge of their seat (climaxing in the “Crionics” solos, holy fucking shit are they killer). Think Slayer never had memorable guitar solos? Look no further.

*Slayer Trivia: this is also the only album in which all of the guitars were tuned to E Standard. Immediately after this they’d go to Eb Standard (also preferred by the likes of Yngwie) to make their riffs even more terrifying, a tuning they’d keep until after Divine Intervention (after which, of course, they’d go much lower). A small thing perhaps, but Standard tuning is certainly a reason why this album has the unique sound that it does. *

A certifiable classic, even if it would be eclipsed by the albums that followed it. If you’re even remotely interested in thrash/speed metal, this would be one of the first albums to get. In fact, you should have it already.

Demonic chants filling the night, virgin sacrifice, the pits of Hell, it is... Communism... no it isn't.... it's "Show No Mercy"... err, anyway... Having been used to the "Reign In Blood" to "Seasons In The Abyss" era Slayer for so long, this first effort and "Hell Awaits" really rekindled my interest in this band. I can relate to the people who viewed Slayer as a band they used to listen to loads but not anymore, it has somewhat had that effect for me, with the general style they solidified and made their own "Reign In Blood" onwards being a staple, a landmark, a sound to be proud of, but one that would wear on you after time as new and exciting bands would cross your path. I would place this just under "Reign In Blood", but its influence is probably greater.
Its easiest comparison in influence is "Kill 'Em All", both excellent albums, but this really being more inspirational in my view, I doubt most of the more extreme forms of Metal would have been really born without this release. It is by far heavier than Metallica's debut and really the two combined are the most influential albums on Thrash ever!

The sound here is very fast, evil version of the NWOBHM with heavy influence from bands such as Judas Priest and Venom (though much better than the latter, which comes as no surprise really, they all bettered Venom it seems). It really holds middle ground between those influences and what the band would become a short while later (and probably Thrash in general). They write mainly short songs here which for what is in them totally fulfills, they have just what they need to be entertaining pieces of headbanging fun. Maybe I swing to more complicated stuff mainly but "The Antichrist" and "Die By The Sword" are just my favourites here, not the most complex but with Thrashy breaks and riffs to die for! Honestly they are some of the most exciting songs I have heard from this band! Tom Araya has higher screams and a bit more youthful energy to him, he's kind of at his best here while the rest of the band were still working towards their peaks. Sweet solos from Jeff and Kerry, I mean what really needs to be said about them anyway, they aren't overly technical or wanky, they're still fast, precise and do it just right here! Dave? Still great, he gets the job done here, he doesn't impress as much as he would later but he still provides that necessary power behind the band's incredible sound here.

The only song I don't really care for is "The Final Command", I don't know, too underdeveloped, too little thought into balancing speed with everything else... the rest is all quality material, some standing above others though... the aformentioned "Antichrist" and "Die By The Sword" mixing with "Black Magic", "Fight Till Death" and "Evil Has No Boundaries" to create memorable staples of aggression never forgotten. "Metal Storm/Face The Slayer", "Tormentor", "Crionics" and "Show No Mercy" just behind them as non skippable tracks that you must hear when you spin this album. Highly recommended!

I own the remastered version, though no "Agressive Perfector" bonus track, I don't need another one! haha

Along with Metallica, Slayer were one of the pioneers in thrash metal. The difference is that while Metallica quickly moved into other metal territories, Slayer stayed pretty much where they began. And this is where they began. This album is perhaps their most melodic offering (until “Diabolus In Musica”, at least), and involves fast riffing, shouty vocals, and good thrash metal drumming.

The first song, ‘Evil Has No Boundaries’, is maybe the best song on offer. It begins with the trademark Araya shriek, before moving in for the kill. The lyrics are pretty average (all Satan and killing and so on), but the riffs are fast and brutal. The solo is very well done, and actually reminds me of Hammett’s guitar playing on Metallica’s “Kill’em All”. Good first track, then. ‘The Antichrist’ is not quite as fast, it’s kinda between mid and fast. You can guess the lyrics from the title. All in all it’s a bit boring, but cool chorus. Next up is ‘Die By the Sword’. This is slightly better than the last, but the chorus ruins it some way. It’s chugging along nicely, and is good for some controlled headbanging, but in the end, it’s not going anywhere.

Number four is ‘Fight Till Death’ (where do they come up with these titles…), another generic thrash metal song. Of course, it wasn’t generic at the time, but now it’s just so average. Sorry, but it bores me. ‘Metal Storm/Face the Slayer’ begins with some cool guitar playing. A really nice intro. Then it builds up in a cool way into a mid-tempo rhythm with (gasp!) some very memorable and catchy riffing. Then comes the ‘Face the Slayer’ part as I understand. Araya’s vocals here are so sub-standard it’s a shame. It’s the guitars that save this song.The last third of the song just makes me sleepy. Track number six is called ‘Black Magic’. Scary title, huh? Actually the intro is killer, it sounds like something Slayer would make in the late 80’s. This song is better than anything since the first track, luckily. Araya does little to impress me (his vocals, mind you, I’m not talking about his bassplaying), but the guitars are very cool.

‘Tormentor’ begins slowly with a build-up, and then it’s onto the same boring formula that killls most of the songs on this album. The chorus is actually alright , but the rest is forgettable. Also, it has a good solo, but what’s a good solo without a good track, eh? ‘The Final Command’, has some very cool guitar parts, and the chorus (if it qualifies as one) is somewhat catchy. Short, simple and to the point for once. Then we have ‘Crionics’. It begins boring, but surprise, the verse is very cool, and the chorus , too! Araya tries to sing on this one, and although he doesn’t quite succeed, it’s nice with a little variation, especially since he’s doing such an average job om the rest of the album. The last part of it makes me yawn, though.

Last song is ‘Show No Mercy’, and usually title tracks are among the best songs, right? Well, believe it or not, it’s among the better ones. A somewhat interesting guitar riff, and nice vocal line in the chorus. The solo is good, but by now all the solos have started to sound the same, so it doesn’t really matter. I’m glad when it finally ends.

Slayer’s debut isn’t a very good one. The songs are very samey, despite the somwhat melodic approach as opposed to later Slayer albums. The production is weak, and makes the drums sound like shit. The lyrics are dumb, Tom Araya does maybe his worst job ever vocally, and all in all it’s just not interesting enough to warrant a purchase. Of course, I bought it before listening to it, but that’s stupid me. If you’re interested in buying a classic bSlayer album, try “South of Heaven” instead, or if you’re into a more modern, melodic appraoch, go for “Diablous In Musica”. Aviod this one.

What this album lacks in sheer raw power, it more than makes up for with classy solos, interesting songwriting, and great catchy riffs. A lot of people don't like this album because it's "cheesy" or whatnot compared to Reign in Blood (oh, I'm sorry, you prefer your goat sitting on a throne, with lower contrast? Well, bend your album Show No Mercy booklet in half and spill soup on it!).

There are really no throwaway songs on here. Everything here is either classic speed metal or classic thrash, with one exception: Crionics, which sounds like something out of the Stained Class sessions!! (There is actually a version from 3/28/83 with an extra intro, that makes it sound even more Judas Priest-like!) Evil Has No Boundaries has a similar riff to the openers of two other Slayer albums: Angel of Death, and War Ensemble, Die By the Sword has that great thrash break, and Black Magic, for a while, was the most brutal song ever. (In early 1983, it debuted in Slayer's setlist.)

The best song on here is probably Crionics, with Tormentor a close second... (there's an absolutely amazing 8 minute version of Tormentor on the same bootleg that has the extra long Crionics!) Pretty much everything here is worth hearing, and just because it doesn't have 87 riffs in 48 seconds, doesn't make it a BAD album. The songs are all well-written, and the lead guitar is actually quite superb (none of the cat-torture footage spliced into Angel of Death to be found here!)

The great thing about Slayer's Reign in Blood album is that it's an album of great songs by guys who really can't play well, proving that the strength of an album is in the song writing - and while the members of Slayer may never win any talent contests when it comes to technical ability, they sure can craft some pretty evil numbers. So what happens BEFORE you learn how to write a song? You rip off your heroes. And since Slayer's early heroes were Judas Priest, that's what their debut album, Show No Mercy, ended up sounding like - a sped-up-to-hell version of classic Priest (Not that Turbo/synth stuff; I'm talking the GOOD shit - Sin after Sin, Stained Class...) - which is why I like it so much.

The riffs and song structures on Show No Mercy all harken back to the classic days of early heavy metal - very far from their double-picked angular/chromatic riffs of late. Lots of open-string galloping, pedal-note/diad riffs, unconventional perfect fourth/fifth harmonized riffing, and that classic tried-and-true method of guitar orchestration, counterpoint - it's all over songs like "Evil Has No Boundaries", "Fight Until Death", "Crionics", and the title track. The solos are also much more 'conventional' and melodic/blues-based, most notably in the descending/tapping run in the ending solo on "Die by the Sword" or Jeff Hanneman's almost-mellow melodic solo in "The Antichrist". "Black Magic" is probably the one song that comes closest to defining their later style, as the main riff has a nice descending parallel-third part that is similar to riffs they later used in "South of Heaven" (the song) and "Dead Skin Mask".

While at first the style may seem 'weak' to those more used to the band's later style, the song writing is still top-notch on "Show No Mercy", and the album also has a wild streak of youthful aggression that (to me) they've never really matched since. I still think it's a worthy addition to any metalhead's library, especially those with a craving for the mid-80's style thrash/speed metal.

(Originally published at LARM (c) 1999)