Listening to this album in a modern light, against modern heavy metal bands, and comparing it against modern production techniques and advancements, and you would wonder why people saw this as such a radical employment of musicianship. By today’s standards it sounds quite tame. That of course is not the case when you hear these songs performed in a live environment, but on vinyl (or disc) it is not so ferocious.
Take yourself back 20-odd years though, to when this was released, and imagine yourself in an era that produced sugar-pop songs by the truckload, and think about how it would have been viewed in its original era. Shocking? No doubt. Heavy? Oh yes!
Hannerman and King’s guitars shake the house down with their killer riffs, even at this early stage of their careers. Araya screams and spits with contempt, crying out the lyrics that shocked parents around the world when they first appeared. Add to this the flying drumming from Lombardo that lifts the tempo of the album to greater heights, and you can still hear the roots of what this band soon became.
The title track is still a gem, and along with other favourites such as "At Dawn They Sleep", "Necrophiliac" and "Hardening of the Arteries" this still comes up trumps. Like I mentioned, it just doesn’t sound as threatening as it used to back in the mid-80’s, but then again neither do other albums of that era, such as Exodus’ Bonded By Blood and Megadeth’s Killing is My Business… And Business Is Good! But you know they are, and you know they were.
Rating: Disregard this at your own risk. It’s still bloody good. 4/5.
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