SLAYER — Show No Mercy (review)

SLAYER — Show No Mercy album cover Album · 1983 · Thrash Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
2.5/5 ·
Stooge
Show No Mercy came as quite a shock to me when I first heard it. It’s been years since I’ve looked at the liner notes, but the images of King, Hanneman (while playing guitar with an inverted cross!!), and Lombardo in heavy eye makeup are still etched into my mind. Tom Araya’s higher-pitched vocals also took some adjustment, but he does a fairly good job with hitting some high screams, though often overdoing them. At this stage, they were clearly still trying to find their identity. Satanic and occult imagery was there from the beginning, with songs like “The Antichrist” and “Black Magic”, which coincidentally are probably the most popular songs on their debut.

Musically, their debut is quite different from the form of thrash metal they would go on to produce. Many of the songs showcase much more of a traditional metal sound (particularly during “Metal Storm/Face The Slayer”) albeit sped up slightly. The guitar solos also sound more structured than on their later albums. Some may prefer it that way, but I think the style King and Hanneman would later adapt is more suiting of their aggressive sound. While several songs chug along with decent velocity (“Evil Has No Boundaries”, “Fight Till Death”, “Show No Mercy”), they have yet to truly put their foot down on the accelerator. Their true speed will emerge once Dave Lombardo (only 18 years old here) finds his own sound on the drums.

Not a horrible album, but not a highly recommended one. Show No Mercy makes for an entertaining half an hour to hear a legendary metal band in their infancy, but would say you are neither better off nor worse off having heard it.
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