My Favorite Albums: #82 Slayer’s “Show No Mercy”
Few things are as metal as the first couple of Slayer albums. Right up to and including “Seasons in the Abyss” they show the ability to make metal everything it was meant to be: fast, evil, and harsh and in any combination imaginable. For some reason, I feel the albums that follow this really must that was great about these thrash legends work, but “Show No Mercy” is a perfect example of how Slayer put their stamp on the era. And of the four “great” thrash albums (Anthrax’s “Fistful of Metal”, Megadeth’s “Killing Is My Business… And Business is Good” and Metallica’s “Kill em All” being the other) it is the only one that doesn’t suffer from a rawer production. No, it is actually benefitted it by it in some ways. Slayer’s aggression is metered out perfectly as a raw almost primal force, beating drums and distorted riffs all brought to a head by Tom Arraya’s intense growling vocals. “Show No Mercy” set a brutal standard as to what thrash was and should be.
I feel that if I try to do a song by song I may belabor my point quite a bit, so I’m going to discuss it in the three areas I bring up above: fast, evil and harsh. Starting with fast, I think it’s obvious how Slayer fits this role. Virtually every song on the album is done at an impact speed. “Evil Knows No Bounds” is really pounded into the listener’s ears with its fast picked intro, compounded with the bounding of the main riff. Tom Arraya’s vocals really add a powerful urgency and Dave Lombardo’s drums really keep the pace up with its fills. The little solos also help with as they sacrifice tonality for just raw sound on top of fast raw sound. “Fight till the Death” shows how much drums can drive a song forward, as the relentless high hat and bass drum are jammed at intense speed. “Black Magic” is just jammed together riffs that show off the guitar tandem and Arraya’s clipped vocals make it seem all the faster. The solo is also remarkably moving, but manages to stay within the confines of the songs “musicality”. The speed just comes off as pure metal punch and show that metal and speed are meant to go together.
Flip this over to the idea of metal as “evil” sounding. Now it’s not hard to imagine how Slayer can be considered evil. I mean just look at their lyrics. Take a look at “The Antichrist” with its screamed chorus of “I AM THE ANTICHRIST” and lines like “Searching for the Answer /Christ Hasn't Come/Awaiting The Final Moment /The Birth Of Satans Son.” Or how about “The Final Command” evoking the image of the German Army in WWII “Blitzkrieg Tactics of the German Command /Born with the Power of God in His Hand /Withdrawn from Fighting He Now /Takes His Leave /Seeking out Goals ThatCan’t Be Conceived.” The music itself is also very demonic sounding, as the distorted guitars growl like wild dogs and screams at you like in “Metal Storm/Face the Slayer.” The evil builds even further in the slower songs, “Tormentor” being a good example of this. The riff evokes a somewhat classical feel it seems to me, but when the two guitarists play on top of each other it becomes haunting and domineering. The songs are all about despair being flung at you, heavy metal as a blunt force, with the satanic image of heavy metal really used to full effect.
Harsh is another one that isn’t hard to explain. Slayer is meant to be abrasive. If it wasn’t, they would turn off their damn distortion pedals. “Evil Has No Boundaries” is basically a cacophony of sound, as the riffs and singing really get in your face, but retain this edge of just beyond live. They might step on each other, the possibility exists, but it works well as this style makes it more in your face. Look at “Cryonics” where the lines are just barely distinguished for the guitar, giving this running effect of distortion. The rawness brings the speed and evil to life, forcing the listener to deal with a heavy and loud sound. The rawness is especially present in solos, where the tonality it remarkably similar for all songs, but it works. The solos aren’t meant as tonal oddities or melodic enhancements but as another pounding pulse in the music. Sure, the production might differentiate things better and the production on later records is great, but this really captures a lot of what’s great about seeing Slayer live.
I don’t have much to say about this record negatively, though I would like to have had the bass mixed higher. I think “Evil Has No Boundaries” is a great opener summing up Slayer’s sound on the record and “Show No Mercy” is a great closer because it sums up their sound as a whole. Slayer continues to be a great live band, but this record reminds me how much I like their albums as well.
Favorite Track: “Black Magic”
I feel that if I try to do a song by song I may belabor my point quite a bit, so I’m going to discuss it in the three areas I bring up above: fast, evil and harsh. Starting with fast, I think it’s obvious how Slayer fits this role. Virtually every song on the album is done at an impact speed. “Evil Knows No Bounds” is really pounded into the listener’s ears with its fast picked intro, compounded with the bounding of the main riff. Tom Arraya’s vocals really add a powerful urgency and Dave Lombardo’s drums really keep the pace up with its fills. The little solos also help with as they sacrifice tonality for just raw sound on top of fast raw sound. “Fight till the Death” shows how much drums can drive a song forward, as the relentless high hat and bass drum are jammed at intense speed. “Black Magic” is just jammed together riffs that show off the guitar tandem and Arraya’s clipped vocals make it seem all the faster. The solo is also remarkably moving, but manages to stay within the confines of the songs “musicality”. The speed just comes off as pure metal punch and show that metal and speed are meant to go together.
Flip this over to the idea of metal as “evil” sounding. Now it’s not hard to imagine how Slayer can be considered evil. I mean just look at their lyrics. Take a look at “The Antichrist” with its screamed chorus of “I AM THE ANTICHRIST” and lines like “Searching for the Answer /Christ Hasn't Come/Awaiting The Final Moment /The Birth Of Satans Son.” Or how about “The Final Command” evoking the image of the German Army in WWII “Blitzkrieg Tactics of the German Command /Born with the Power of God in His Hand /Withdrawn from Fighting He Now /Takes His Leave /Seeking out Goals ThatCan’t Be Conceived.” The music itself is also very demonic sounding, as the distorted guitars growl like wild dogs and screams at you like in “Metal Storm/Face the Slayer.” The evil builds even further in the slower songs, “Tormentor” being a good example of this. The riff evokes a somewhat classical feel it seems to me, but when the two guitarists play on top of each other it becomes haunting and domineering. The songs are all about despair being flung at you, heavy metal as a blunt force, with the satanic image of heavy metal really used to full effect.
Harsh is another one that isn’t hard to explain. Slayer is meant to be abrasive. If it wasn’t, they would turn off their damn distortion pedals. “Evil Has No Boundaries” is basically a cacophony of sound, as the riffs and singing really get in your face, but retain this edge of just beyond live. They might step on each other, the possibility exists, but it works well as this style makes it more in your face. Look at “Cryonics” where the lines are just barely distinguished for the guitar, giving this running effect of distortion. The rawness brings the speed and evil to life, forcing the listener to deal with a heavy and loud sound. The rawness is especially present in solos, where the tonality it remarkably similar for all songs, but it works. The solos aren’t meant as tonal oddities or melodic enhancements but as another pounding pulse in the music. Sure, the production might differentiate things better and the production on later records is great, but this really captures a lot of what’s great about seeing Slayer live.
I don’t have much to say about this record negatively, though I would like to have had the bass mixed higher. I think “Evil Has No Boundaries” is a great opener summing up Slayer’s sound on the record and “Show No Mercy” is a great closer because it sums up their sound as a whole. Slayer continues to be a great live band, but this record reminds me how much I like their albums as well.
Favorite Track: “Black Magic”