Slayer Album: “Show No Mercy/Haunting The Chapel”

As of 1983 (when this album came out) Slayer were still an underground band, and their type of music was still relatively unheard of. Only Metallica and (Slayer's influences) Venom and Motorhead dared to venture into music this speedy. But since this disc was released, an almost countless number of imitators have cropped up.

Every basic ingredient is here for a classic album: evil lyrics, insane guitar work (including blindingly fast riffs, great leads and scorching solos), pounding drums, high pitched vocals, and even an occasionally audible bass guitar! In fact, virtually the whole album flies by like a black tornado. Track one, "Evil Has No Boundaries," begins the album with a bang, and shoots out of the gate with a blistering main riff and a skin crawling shriek from (vocalist) Tom (Araya). "The Antichrist" is the first of three classic songs on here (alongside "Die By The Sword" and "Black Magic"). "The Antichrist" has a couple guitar solos and the aforementioned audible, beeping bass line! Next, "Die By The Sword" has fast, churning riffs, and a nice, extended solo, "Black Magic" has more blindingly fast riffs, "Tormentor" has probably the best solo on the album, and I enjoy how "Crionics" builds and gains density (with the help of a few guitar solos). Finally, the title track has great, catchy drumming, as well as even more riffs which shoot by like white noise.

So, "Show No Mercy," Slayer's debut, is as brutal as it is relentless and merciless. It isn't a classic like, say, "Reign In Blood," but it's still a good album and it foreshadowed the greatness to come from future Slayer releases. Thus, this is a great history lesson for those who are new to thrash or interested in its beginnings, and it is essential listening for diehards of this genre and this band.

The big four.

Slayer,Metallica,Megadeth, and Anthrax. Scratch Anthrax, I never liked them anyway. Replace them with Testament.

Slayer has consistently released quality album after album starting with this one.

A masterpeice that has withstood the test of time.

From start to finish.

Brutal,evil,scary, everything metal should be.

Slayer has only, after 25 years started to be recognized for their contributions.

And it's about time.

If your new to Slayer, this is a great place to start.

if you where buying metal albums back in the early 80's as i was,this album got your attention.this was much heavier than Metallica,much better musicianship than Venom-their really werent any contenders(Bathory was at least another year or two away).

slayer took the dual guitar attack of Judas Priest,coupled it with the-then emerging thrash scene and a monster was born.i always prefered Slayer to other thrash bands because they where HEAVY.speed was secondary to the almighty riff.

Today,this album has aged REASONABLY well.the cover and it's lyrical attempts at evil are just plain ridiculous.it is really funny to me that concerned parents REALLY bought that this stuff was to be taken seriously!

anyway,the lyrics and some of the musical arrangements on this album firmly place it in the early 1980's.for that reason,the three stars.true classics should be timeless.this one is not.

Slayer's debut album "Show No Mercy" came out in 1983 the same year as Metallica's "Kill Em All". Although I personally like Metallica's debut better than this this is still an awesome album.

To begin this review as well I'm going to tell a dark tale of metal in the early 80s: It was the 80s and a piece of sh i t was invented called MTV. It promoted selling out and was liked by brainless as sholes. People thought that metal was safe from this channel...WRONG!!! New bands like Twisted Sister, Quiet Riot, and Poison were making a new genre called hair metal which was an MTV friendly version of metal. It grossed old-school metal fans out with its spandex and glam. But in 1983 along came a band that hated MTV and wanted to make fast, heavy, and evil metal like its suppossed to. Girlie girls and moms feared them. MTV hated them. But a group of old-school metal fans embraced them. This band is called...SLAYER!!!

Okay enough of history and let's get to the album. This album didn't exactly start thrash metal but it made it extremely heavy and fast. I liked Metallica(old) better than Slayer than a pinch but Slayer did make faster, heavier, and most of all eviler songs than Metallica ever did. Songs like "The Antichrist" are very Satanic but remember that this is only music. These lyrics don't reflect on the bands beliefs unlike whimps like Melissa and her Panic! At the Disco bullsh i t. Not everything is perfect though. I'm not a big fan of Tom Araya's voice on this album. But still this is a great debut and should be picked up!

I bought this album in an old record store about a year ago, for about £3 which is about $5, so i was so pleased to find out how good it was. Tormentor is the classic British Metal riff, and Evil Has No Boundaries is also awesome. Put this on, so fookin loud, and you might be able to even hear the death tom araya screams about on such tracks. Slayer is amazing for getting something outta your system, so buy this to see how this awesome band developed into one of the greatest heavy bands of all time.

Also reccommended, buy Agent Orange by SODOM, who are basically early Slayer without Tom Araya's amazing howl.