Slayer – Show No Mercy

The early 80s were a very fruitful time for Metal music, especially in the United States. New bands were rising in the scene, offering a much more edgy, heavy and extreme brand of Metal, maintaining the influence of the likes of Black Sabbath, Van Halen, Deep Purple or Scorpions, but also taking a cue from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) and the Punk movement of the late 70s, culminating in the birth of Thrash Metal.

And if we’re talking about Thrash Metal, there’s one band that encapsulates everything about the sub-genre and was born during this period: Slayer.

Founded in 1981 in California by guitarist Kerry King (who also had a very brief stint with Megadeth in 1984), vocalist Tom Araya, drummer Dave Lombardo and guitarist Jeff Hanneman, Slayer would become the most important extreme Metal band in the world and one of the most important of the genre as a whole. And while they are now known as masters of brutal Thrash Metal, their beginnings were a bit different and their debut, Show No Mercy, is a pleasant surprise for those that are not familiar with this album.

Released in 1983, Show No Mercy was the consolidation of two years of playing in small venues in California and cementing a reputation as the ugly child of a music scene that was moving towards the more melodic spectrum of the new Hard Rock and Metal movement, such as Glam and bands such as Twisted Sister, Poison, Ratt, Mötley Crüe and a few others. Despite the fact that the guys of the band used makeup like most of those bands (in a much more gory and satanic fashion, as their early photos will prove), their brand of Metal based on influences such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Venom were not of everybody’s liking in California.

But this being Slayer, they didn’t care about it.

This debut was self-produced, famously financed by Tom Araya’s work as a respiratory therapist and a loan from Kerry King’s father, and you can tell that by the uneven production. But what they lacked in sound quality is compensated by energy, vigor and a lot of sharp Metal tracks that might not have Slayer’s future knack for brutality, but still maintaining a lot of quality and adding a slight touch of melody that is more than welcomed.

Early 80s, a lot of satanic paraphernalia, shady production and Slayer’s entrance to the Metal world. What more can you ask?

From the very get-go, Show No Mercy hits us with Evil Has No Boundaries. A perverted mix of Iron Maiden and Venom, this is a great example of early Slayer: a lot of speed, darkness and Tom Araya learning his chops as a singer (it’s actually a bit refreshing to listen to him trying to do a few things that he wouldn’t do in the future, as the rest of the album will show). A powerful opener that shows us what this album is all about in quick fashion and one that you will want to listen to several times.

If Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing were mixed with the early Thrash scene, their guitar work would sound very similar to the one in The Antichrist. One of Slayer’s first classics, this track has a certain rhythm to it and the guitar parts from King and Hanneman are very enjoyable, especially when we get to the solos.

The album has many signs of what the band would become in a future, but it also shows several aspects, such as a pinch for melody and rhythm, that they would sadly abandon later on.

The riffing in Die by the Sword it’s just stellar and the chorus is NWOBHM at its finest –one of the best songs in the entire album, without a doubt. There’s a middle section in the song that turns a bit more mid-tempo, which allows us to enjoy Araya’s sadistic vocals. Fight ‘Till Death, on the other hand, strikes me as one of the weakest tracks of the whole album: while it may be interesting to some listeners, I often find it skippable.

The introduction Metal Storm, showcasing a fantastic mix of galloping and guitar work from King and Hanneman, once again presents us a much more melodic and, dare I say, musical side of the band, before leading to Face the Slayer–perhaps one of the band’s more underrated tracks. This is a fantastic mix of all of Slayer’s early influences: Venom, Mercyful Fate, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest all in almost five minutes of intense Speed Metal. The rhythm of the second part of Face the Slayer actually reminds of Maiden’s Wrathchild on musical steroids.

We cannot forget Dave Lombardo’s output during the whole album. While he is yet to become the powerhouse that he would be in subsequent releases, he is already showing his talent on drums here and it’s an absolute delight to hear.

If there’s one song in Show No Mercy that can work as a nexus between this band’s era to what they would be in the future, that would definitely be Black Magic. Here they take their satanic and Mercyful Fate influences to their fullest, creating an intense and powerful song that would become quintessential Slayer in their concerts. Araya delivers a great vocal performance, providing the kind of darkness and shrieks that a song of this nature requires.

My favorite song of the whole album is Tormentor and I have to say that after years of listening to this album, I’m still blown away by this track. This is a fast, mighty and dark song that encapsulates everything that is great about this debut album; the delivery, the energy and the commitment from all four musicians is almost palpable. Hanneman and King are spot on with those guitar riffs and melodies, Lombardo doesn’t skip a beat on drums and Araya knows when to sing and when to shriek in this criminally underrated piece of musicianship.

Oh, and the chorus is just pure gold.

Final Command is the shortest song of the album and it goes to show that Tom Araya’s words about being influenced by Metallica’s No Life ‘Till Leather demo were very true: this reeks of that band’s influence and while it’s very enjoyable to listen, it doesn’t hold up to the rest of the album’s best songs.

When it comes to Iron Maiden, its influence is clearly shown in another underrated track, Crionics. The galloping sound that was cemented by Steve Harris and his boys are clearly shown in this song, with Tom Araya having a solid vocal performance and Hanneman and King doing their best imitation of Adrian Smith and Dave Murray, while also adding a bit of that intensity that was second nature to them. I really like how the rhythm of the song changes at the middle section; it’s the kind of musicianship that is sorely missed in Slayer’s latest albums and that makes this one very unique in their catalog.

The title track concludes this festival of destruction with Lombardo at the limelight with that drum intro and progressing to a song that always reminds of a few ones from Metallica’s Kill ‘em All, such as Whiplash, Hit the Lights or Metal Militia. Maybe this is why I was never very interested in this song; while previous tracks are able to show their influences and still retain a certain musical cohesion, this one feels a bit separated from the rest of the album. It’s still good and enjoyable, but it never resonated with me.

I can imagine someone listening to this album in 1983 and feel blown away by it. Even with the rise of the NWOBHM and Metallica’s Kill ‘em All about to be released a month later, Show No Mercy was a creature on its own–nothing in that year sounded so intense, dark and melodic at the same time. An album that was both fresh and compact, making for a very fun and easy listening.

The guys of Slayer would go on to become extreme Metal giants and legends in their own right within that frame, but it’s always nice to go back to this hidden gem of sorts and enjoy them at the earliest stages of their careers.

A stage where they were learning to have no mercy.

Line up:

Tom Araya – Vocals and bass.

Kerry King – Lead guitar.

Jeff Hanneman – Rhythm guitar.

Dave Lombardo – Drums.

Track list:

1. Evil Has No Boundaries – 3:09.
2. The Antichrist – 2:49.
3. Die By The Sword – 3:36.
4. Fight ‘Till Death – 3:37.
5. Metal Storm/Face the Slayer – 4:53.
6. Black Magic – 4:03.
7. Tormentor – 3:45.
8. Final Command – 2:32.
9. Crionics – 3:29.
10. Show No Mercy – 3:06.