Started as a cover band for parties and clubs in 1983 with the original foursome of Tom Araya, Kerry King, Jeff Hanneman and Dave Lombardo, Slayer was invited to open for the band Bitch at the Woodstock Club in Anaheim, California, to perform eight songs, six of which were covers. Also there that night was Brian Slagel who had recently founded Metal Blade Records. Impressed with what the band put on, he met with them backstage and asked them to record an original song for his upcoming “Metal Massacre III” compilation album. The band agreed and their song "Aggressive Perfector" was their contribution, which made an immediate impact on the listening public, and led to Slagel offering the band a recording contract with Metal Blade.
Without any recording budget, the band had to self-finance its debut album. To do this, they combined the savings of Tom Araya, who at the time was employed as a respiratory therapist, and money borrowed from Kerry King's father. Having scraped enough together to get underway, the band entered the studio in November 1983. The album was rushed into release, stocking shelves three weeks after tracks were completed, an amazing effort from the start of the project to its completion.
Inauspicious or not, all of the ingredients that came together to create the Slayer giant were already here. The songwriting and guitaring duo of Hanneman and King show off their wares, Dave Lombardo's drums don't stop for a breath, and Tom Araya's storming bass and vocals stand at the forefront of each song. You can still hear the band's influences on this first album. The songs, while competing in that thrash metal tone that they became famous for, are not as overtly heavy, fast or blistering as they become later on. You can pick up some similarities with Metallica's “Kill 'Em All” album and Megadeth's “Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!” album. Not only that, most of the album has a Judas Priest and Iron Maiden feel about it, a much more mainstream heavy metal sound, almost melodic in places than the thrash hardcore sound that was to come. I still love those faint tinges of those bands in these songs even to today.
The album kicks off with the excellent "Fear Has No Boundaries", with all of its black metal tendencies slashed by their desire to play fast and aggressive guitar and drums. It is one of the songs here that straddles more than one genre of the metal scene, fired up by Araya’s opening scream and accompanying guitar solo riff to kickstart. This is followed by the staple satanic song "The Antichrist", where the speed ratchets up, and the dual solos in the middle of the song offer up everything that the band was to offer for the next 40 years. Simple, parent-annoying, and a great singalong tune. From here the album charges into the classic "Die by the Sword", still a great song in the modern age. This has such a Judas Priest feel to it at the beginning which is just awesome. It’s not a breakneck speed song, it is a real chugging song that Slayer have always been able to write even when at their most thrash oriented, and make sound perfectly brilliant, which is exactly what this song is even to this day. "Fight 'Til Death" increases the speed tempo and continues the blitzkrieg of the senses.
The Mercyful Fate influence really shows through on tracks like "Metal Storm / Face the Slayer" and "Black Magic". Great songs dictated by fast pounding drums and typical leads from Hanneman and King. Awesome stuff. “Metal Storm/Face the Slayer” closes out the first side of the album in style, while “Black Magic opens up the second side with the same intensity that has before it on the first half of the album.
"Tormentor" is dominated by the lead breaks of these two great guitarists, lifting an otherwise fairly average song to greater heights. Lombardo takes centre stage in "The Final Command", his drums rifling throughout the song at an incredible rate without losing their crispness, before those guitars again come to the fore with Iron Maiden-like harmonies. "Crionics" again almost tries to be an Iron Maiden song in both structure and melody. While it is not what most Slayer fans will recognise from their catalogue, it is still quite an interesting song to listen to again. Put it on and tell me you can't hear Maiden's "Hallowed Be Thy Name" as you listen to the guitars. Great stuff. The album is closed out by the title track "Show No Mercy", which is closer to what most fans think of as a Slayer tempo.
While the style of the album may be unlike what came further up the line, it is great to hear even today. The fact that Slayer built their own sound out of their own influences is testament to their greatness. It doesn't matter what you hear when you listen to this album, the important thing is that it is a terrific Slayer album, and one that seems to be maligned for the wrong reasons. I still think it is brilliant.
My introduction to Slayer came closer to the end of the 80’s decade that the start, and I didn’t hear this album until I had heard the four albums that followed this. But to be honest, that made no difference to my enjoyment, nay, love, of this album. I’ve always felt this was a terrific album. It doesn’t matter at all if the production isn’t as good as what came down the track. Hell, NONE of these great thrash metal artists have debut albums that sound completely brilliant in a production sense. But that was just how it was in those days, with no money and no time to make it brilliant. But the fans didn’t care. They just wanted the album so they could have the songs and wear the needle out playing the vinyl over and over again. Which, as it turns out, is exactly what I have done now for days on end.
Are you going to rank this album at the top of the Slayer pile? I don’t know, but my guess is you probably won’t. There are some great Slayer albums out there, and while this is terrific it probably won’t match what was to come. But it still a joy to listen to, and be able to pick up just where it all began, to hear those influences in their music that are perhaps only noticeable on this album before they really morphed into their own sound.
40 years on, this album still stands the test of time. It may not be as polished as other metal albums from 1983 such as from Iron Maiden and Dio, but they were already at the top of their game by then, with legendary producers at the helm. That soon came to pass for Slayer, as they flew quickly to the pinnacle of the thrash metal scene worldwide.
The album kicks off with the excellent "Fear Has No Boundaries", with all of its black metal tendencies slashed by their desire to play fast and aggressive guitar and drums. It is one of the songs here that straddles more than one genre of the metal scene, fired up by Araya’s opening scream and accompanying guitar solo riff to kickstart. This is followed by the staple satanic song "The Antichrist", where the speed ratchets up, and the dual solos in the middle of the song offer up everything that the band was to offer for the next 40 years. Simple, parent-annoying, and a great singalong tune. From here the album charges into the classic "Die by the Sword", still a great song in the modern age. This has such a Judas Priest feel to it at the beginning which is just awesome. It’s not a breakneck speed song, it is a real chugging song that Slayer have always been able to write even when at their most thrash oriented, and make sound perfectly brilliant, which is exactly what this song is even to this day. "Fight 'Til Death" increases the speed tempo and continues the blitzkrieg of the senses.
The Mercyful Fate influence really shows through on tracks like "Metal Storm / Face the Slayer" and "Black Magic". Great songs dictated by fast pounding drums and typical leads from Hanneman and King. Awesome stuff. “Metal Storm/Face the Slayer” closes out the first side of the album in style, while “Black Magic opens up the second side with the same intensity that has before it on the first half of the album.
"Tormentor" is dominated by the lead breaks of these two great guitarists, lifting an otherwise fairly average song to greater heights. Lombardo takes centre stage in "The Final Command", his drums rifling throughout the song at an incredible rate without losing their crispness, before those guitars again come to the fore with Iron Maiden-like harmonies. "Crionics" again almost tries to be an Iron Maiden song in both structure and melody. While it is not what most Slayer fans will recognise from their catalogue, it is still quite an interesting song to listen to again. Put it on and tell me you can't hear Maiden's "Hallowed Be Thy Name" as you listen to the guitars. Great stuff. The album is closed out by the title track "Show No Mercy", which is closer to what most fans think of as a Slayer tempo.
While the style of the album may be unlike what came further up the line, it is great to hear even today. The fact that Slayer built their own sound out of their own influences is testament to their greatness. It doesn't matter what you hear when you listen to this album, the important thing is that it is a terrific Slayer album, and one that seems to be maligned for the wrong reasons. I still think it is brilliant.
My introduction to Slayer came closer to the end of the 80’s decade that the start, and I didn’t hear this album until I had heard the four albums that followed this. But to be honest, that made no difference to my enjoyment, nay, love, of this album. I’ve always felt this was a terrific album. It doesn’t matter at all if the production isn’t as good as what came down the track. Hell, NONE of these great thrash metal artists have debut albums that sound completely brilliant in a production sense. But that was just how it was in those days, with no money and no time to make it brilliant. But the fans didn’t care. They just wanted the album so they could have the songs and wear the needle out playing the vinyl over and over again. Which, as it turns out, is exactly what I have done now for days on end.
Are you going to rank this album at the top of the Slayer pile? I don’t know, but my guess is you probably won’t. There are some great Slayer albums out there, and while this is terrific it probably won’t match what was to come. But it still a joy to listen to, and be able to pick up just where it all began, to hear those influences in their music that are perhaps only noticeable on this album before they really morphed into their own sound.
40 years on, this album still stands the test of time. It may not be as polished as other metal albums from 1983 such as from Iron Maiden and Dio, but they were already at the top of their game by then, with legendary producers at the helm. That soon came to pass for Slayer, as they flew quickly to the pinnacle of the thrash metal scene worldwide.
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