As much as I never became a big booster of this band really until '86's unfathomable Reign In Blood,
Slayer were a pivotal band in the advancement of metal. Show No Mercy scared the bejesus out of
everybody, being the first totally Satanic wedge of metal stateside, rivaling the likes of Venom for sheer
disgust and overkill. What's more, the record co-starred with Metallica's seminal Kill 'Em All in defining
state-of-the-art speed metal, fusing chops, ambition and studio skills to previous examples of thrash
(again, Venom), resulting in cutting edge OTT, ultra, speed, black . . . you name it, while inspiring new
rafts of hellions to expand the limits of metal, finding progressive metal, more extreme versions of
thrash (i.e. Bathory, Possessed) and the emergence of grindcore, today's most prolific metal minefield.
Show No Mercy was simply outrageous, almost like Kiss all over again, adding dizzying mathematical
speed, blazing chaotic guitar solos, upside down crosses and pentagrams to the smoke, leather and
soon-to-be-dropped eyeshadow. Still, I always found the record stiff and one dimensional, never being
a big fan of speed metal, here laid down in stifling arrangements, translated by an OK mix technically
speaking, but one not to my personal preference, particularly with respect to snare sound. Still, any
record that begs the question, 'What are these guys on?', deserves full recognition for waking up the
neighbours like they've never been before.

         Rating 6