Show no Mercy is the debut album of the “Big four of Thrash” Metal band Slayer. You can tell that Slayer has not find it’s sound completely yet. The songs a good to great but it’s a bit more simplistic than it would become later. With that said, some of the songs on Show no Mercy still remains classic to this day. Depending on who you ask of course. But for me, I cannot think of a Slayer universe where the Hanneman penned Antichrist, Die by the Sword and Fight till Death does not exist.
All lyrics and music is written by either Jeff Hanneman and/or Kerry King. I tend to favor the formers song but the title track, penned by King is a real treat also!
It’s aggressive and it’s fast but there’s not much of those guitar harmonies that many of us came to associate with Slayer. As I said, the band had not yet developed it’s sound. Tom Araya still tries to sing and he’s much more high pitch that what he’d later become. I’m not sure it’s it’s good or bad but there’s certainly a difference.
Oh, and the drums. Behind the kit is Dave Lombardo, arguably one of the best Metal drummers of all time. I can’t say that I find any fantastic drum fills och rolls on Show no Mercy though. But it’s definitely solid drumming and it sure fits the songs.
As my memory played som tricks on me I’m forced to lower my rating a bit. Not because it’s a bad album or that the song are bad. It’s just that the songs that are really great makes it tough to not compare the rest with them. You know, those songs that are “just good”.
