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Rating: Since, as the proverb goes, “third time’s a charm,” I return to reviewing, this time choosing one of my all-time favorite albums: "Show No Mercy" by those fine soldiers of Christ our Lord known as Slayer. I must state that I hate Slayer with all my heart as people: four stinky drunkards dedicated to racism and the adoration of unspeakable deities: the exact opposite of my ideology.
Now I want to take you on a time jump of over two decades: go back with your mind to the distant 1983.
Good times, you might say, and rightly so: being in Los Angeles and facing evening skirmishes armed with studs, screwdrivers, and various tools against the pop stars of the era shouting: “Come on motherfuckers, face the Slayer!” must have been a unique experience. Surely, during one of these furious brawls, you must have found yourself next to at least one member of Slayer, a group inspired by the best Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and Venom, which at the time regularly performed covers of Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest.
“ WHAAAT?!” you might say. Well, in 1983 playing “extreme” metal was more of a concept, an idea, of which there was only a vague impression from what had already been heard from the various Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple but especially Black Sabbath. The genre originates from the Bay Area, from where the bands that most helped to define this genre came, giving it a shape, an image, in short, something that could remove from the amorphous anonymity what would later become thrash, death, black metal.
Slayer were among the first to try, in 1983, with this “Show No Mercy” that I'm reviewing, thoroughly busting your chops. This CD is the “beginning of it all,” the start of a devastating crescendo leading to masterpieces such as “Hell Awaits,” ”Reign In Blood” and so on. The contribution to better define thrash was also brought a few months later by ‘Tallica’s “Kill 'Em All,” decidedly rawer and angrier than “Show No Mercy.”
No “Reign In Blood” speeds or chilling screams like “Angel Of Death”: we are faced with an album that, as impossible as it may seem since it's associated with the word Slayer and as I said above, recalls the sounds of classic Heavy Metal of the previous two decades, proposing a faster form of NWOBHM, slightly more technical and stuffed with clearly Nazi-Satanic inspired lyrics, played as God (or Satan ;-) ) commands by the original lineup of the Los Angeles band. We thus find Tom Araya in great form, who often uses screams and falsetto that remind us of the legendary Sabs, the two axe-men Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King who, although far from the devastating riffing that started right from the next “Haunting The Chapel,” offer a surely better performance than the flat, absolutely banal solos lacking the slightest inventiveness of the last three releases. Behind the drums, who do we find? But Dave Lombardo, obviously. The great Cuban-origin drummer here offers a slightly inferior performance to the subsequent ones, but still praiseworthy: you have to keep in mind that Dave doesn't use the double pedal on this CD, but uses the single one very well.
The CD pivots on true sound masterpieces such as “The Antichrist,” “Evil Has No Boundaries,” “Black Magic,” “The Final Command,” and the historic milestone “Die By The Sword,” perhaps the best track on the entire CD, being the most representative. Also noteworthy is “Metalstorm-Face The Slayer,” clearly inspired by “Phantom Of The Opera” by the legendary (understand dear colleague The Bassist? IRON MAIDEN LEGENDARY! ;-) ) Iron Maiden.
The lyrics range from “Hail Satan” to “Nazism reigns” to “Why don’t we wage more wars?” to “Blood and guts everywhere”: in short, the worst one can imagine. Precisely because of this, these immature and stupid lyrics and the repetition of words like “Satan,” “Death,” and “Kill” caused the first of the unfortunately numerous criticisms and accusations of Nazi-Satanism to King, Hanneman, and Araya, criticisms they still carry on their back today.
In conclusion, an excellent album, absolutely fundamental and certainly not negligible for the innovation and coordination it provided at the time. Many bands were inspired (and are still inspired today) by this album: in short, we are facing a timeless masterpiece, much like what was done for “Kill ‘Em All.”
(P.S. Guys, I wanted to make this shorter, but I just couldn't do it! Writing it concisely seemed to minimize such a great album! What do you think anyway? Tell me and rate, I put effort into it, but feel free to speak! Bye everyone!)
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Evil Has No Boundaries (03:10)
Blasting our way through the boundaries of Hell
No one can stop us tonight
We take on the world with hatred inside
Mayhem the reason we fight
Surviving the slaughters and killing we've lost
Then we return from the dead
Attacking once more now with twice as much strength
We conquer then move on ahead
Evil
My words defy
Evil
Has no disguise
Evil
Will take your soul
Evil
My wrath unfolds
Satan our master in evil mayhem
Guides us with every first step
Our axes are growing with power and fury
Soon there'll be nothingness left
Midnight has come and the leathers strapped on
Evil is at our command
We clash with God's angel and conquer new souls
Consuming all that we can
03 Die by the Sword (03:36)
Live by the sword and help to contain
The helpless minds of you all
Die by my hand in pools of blood
Clutch yourself as you fall
Mindless tyranny, forgotten victims
Children slaughtered in vain
Raping the maids, in which they serve
Only the words of the Lord
Die by the sword
Die by the sword
Satan watches all of us
Smiles as some do his bidding
Try to escape the grasp of my hand
And your life will no longer exist
Hear our cry, save us from
The Hell in which we live
We turn our heads toward the sky
And listen for the steel
Die by the sword
Die by the sword
Watch as flowers decay
On (the) cryptic life that died
The wisdom of the wizards
Is only a neurtured lie
Black knights of Hell's domain
Walk upon the dead
Satanas sits upon
The blood on which he feeds
Die by the sword
Die by the sword
07 Black Magic (04:05)
Cursed
Black magic night
We've been struck down
Down in this Hell
Spells surround me day and night
Stricken by the force of evil light
The force of evil light
Cast
Under his spell
Blinding my eyes
Twisting my mind
Fight to resist the evil inside
Captive of a force of Satan's might
A force of Satan's might
Fighting the curse
Break it I must
Laughing in sorrow
Crying in lust
My strength slips away
Soon I must fall
Victim of fortune
My sources grow small
Life slips away
As demons come forth
Death takes my hand
And captures my soul
08 Tormentor (03:45)
Afraid to walk the streets
In the coldness all alone
The blackness of the night
Engulfs your flesh and bones
Hoping for relief
From the fear you feel inside
Losing all perspective
Of reality in the night
Running from shadows
Blinded by fear
The horror of nightfall
Is ever so near
I slowly surround you
As terror sets in
Are you afraid of the night
I see the fright in your eyes
As you turn and run
But is your mind playing tricks
On a body so very young
Feeling as if no one cares
The fear runs down your spine
But I know I'll never rest
Until I know you're mine
Running from shadows
Blinded by fear
The horror of nightfall
Is ever so near
I slowly surround you
As terror sets in
Are you afraid of the night
Afraid to walk the streets
In the coldness all alone
The blackness of the night
Engulfs your flesh and bones
Feeling as if no one cares
The fear runs down your spine
But I know I'll never rest
Until I know you're mine...
I know you're mine!
Too late to hide
Too late to save your life
Tormentor!
10 Crionics (03:30)
Eyes upon me
Watching me in my perpetual sleep
Dreams deceive me
My future depends on a mindless dream
I've fallen from promises
Damned to take risks on my own
The masterful science that freezes your
Mind and your soul
The wretched dream is realized
The human race is to be crystallized
Thoughts of laughter
Filling the head of the master in charge.
Worlds of wonder
Is this a cure or a painless death
I'll fight and resist
Till they all see the end that is near
The doctors the lawers and G-men
Are living in fear
Living my life with one distant hope
A cure that will kill my invincible foe
11 Show No Mercy (03:07)
(Lyrics - King; Music - King)
Through the night we rise in pairs
Lords at night we ride
From the depths of Hell's domain
Reborn to reign this night
Roam throughout the endless wars
Hold high his name we must
Warriors from the gates of Hell
In Lord Satan we trust
(Chorus)
Stalking the night can't you feel I'm near
Watching each step that you take
I take lives and show all no mercy this night
Attack those not knowing my force [...their fate 1st; 3rd time]
Brothers of the Prince of Night
By bargains we have made
Allies with the darkened souls
Our legions we must save
Fight for our eternal quest
God can't save you in time
Evil stalks the night with us
Your soul it shall be mine
(Chorus)
I am the menace in your eyes
The one you can't escape
Your life falls in my grasp
Your know your end is near
You pray your God will help
His strength no match for mine
Your last hope slips away
Thy soul begins to bleed
I tear your flesh to shreds
Burn holes throughout your mind
Your eyes now filled with blood
A victim of my force
In endless agony
You realize your defeat
Recite my Master's chants
Your soul now his to keep
12 Chemical Warfare (06:05)
Frantic minds are terrified
Life lies in a grave
Silent death rides high above
On the wings of revelation
Multi death from chemicals
Arrogance has won
Annihilation must be swift
Destroy without destruction
Gods on the throne must be watching from hell
Awaiting the mass genocide
Soldiers defeated by death from a smell
Bodies lie dormant no life
Rising new souls on the lands where they fell
Demons not ready to die
Nothing to see where the sleeping souls lie
Chemical warfare
Artificial fucking peace
Line up in a death row
Generals in their slow defeat
Diminished from this hell
Banished from the dying world
The lords of hell await
Dogs of war are helpless prey
To immortality
Gods on the throne must be watching from hell
Awaiting the mass genocide
Soldiers defeated by death from a smell
Bodies lie dormant no life
Rising new souls on the lands where they fell
Demons not ready to die
Nothing to see where the sleeping souls lie
Chemical warfare!!!
Fuck it up!
Liquidate
The torture kills the troops that try to fight
Terminate
Human pesticide bring days of doom
Mist falls
The deadly gas that brings them to their knees
Sacrifice
Steal the soul and send his corpse to hell
Hahahahahaha
Mummified regions lying in dust
Fall victim to this game
Petrified corpses bathing in rust
Taken without being blamed
Falsified spirits farther they fall
Soon they will join us in hell
See the sky burning the gates are ablaze
Satan awaits eager to merge
Gods on the throne must be watching from hell
Awaiting the mass genocide
Soldiers defeated by death from a smell
Bodies lie dormant no life
Rising new souls on the lands where they fell
Demons not ready to die
Nothing to see where the sleeping souls lie
Chemical warfare
Warfare!
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Other reviews
By evileye9000
"Show No Mercy can be considered on par with Metallica’s Kill ’Em All as it helped define thrash metal."
"Don’t expect the violence and mayhem of Reign In Blood, but this album is really not bad at all."
