Kill Em

Product Information

It was during this time that the genre known as Thrash metal was born, and it was all 100% unapologetically Motorhead influenced, although many of the bands in it took their more active bass cue from Sabbath, and the guitar solo sections from Deep Purple. From start to finish, Kill Em' All is a manifesto of sorts for this exact style of playing.

Elektra of 88 reissue "DMM": Very bright version and it lags on bass because "DMM" process. Still fine material. On lead guitar we have Kirk Hammett, and while Kirk may not be the most well-respected lead guitarist among metalheads, he does quite the sound job on KEA, with my favorite solo of his being on "The Four Horsemen". The tone of his guitar matches the other instruments and he synchronizes quite well with Hetfield's rhythm guitar. The rhythm guitar riff-work provided alot of base for other thrash metal bands (at the time) to follow and improve upon; as I'd say due to Metallica being big into NWOBHM at the time the riffs are closer to British heavy metal rather than what would be seen on later thrash releases. This applies to the solo's as well though there's definitely much more thrash in the solo's then the riffs. I couldn't imagine one of Kirk's solos on this record being in, say, an Iron Maiden album. Overall, an amazing album. The first full length thrash metal album and it kills. Buy this right now if you don’t already own it. Not all of the album is great though. Hit the Lights is a bit repetitive, even though the great riffs make up for it, and Seek and Destroy can get quite boring, as it hardly goes anywhere other than the faster section in the middle. I dont mean to jump on the "metallica bashing" bandwagon, but I think it was Dave Mustaine who made Kill em All a truly great classic, as he wrote some of the better songs.This is a speed metal album with thrashy parts. The speed is what really catches anyone from the start. Next, the crunchy and ripping guitar tones make this almost automatically heavier than any predecessor (excluding maybe Venom and Motorhead). The guitars are also extremely catchy at points with songs like The Fourhorse Men, No Remorse, Whiplash, Etc. No band up until this point had this sort of mix. The solos are both easy to listen to and technical. They are not too special but they defiantly get the job done here. The production doesn't feel polished and it works. Compare the guitar tone to Master of Puppets and ...And Justice For All. Benefiting from less dimension, Kill Em All sounds like an all American V8 muscle car, screaming down the highway. This is probably the only Metallica album where the bass is of satisfying clarity, providing a chunkiness that doesn't exist on the rest of 80s Metallica releases. Listen to 'Metal Militia' in comparison to 'Dyers Eve'... where did the bass go?! However, there is no doubt the actual music is very solid thrash. Hit the Lights, despite having the dumbest lyrics I have ever heard (I am tempted to do a dramatic reading of it someday), is a really fun song with crazy soloing, and before you know it, you’re headbanging and punching your lamps. A definite highlight. But think about this: you’re fifty years old and you’re still performing a vanity song you wrote when you were a stupid kid. Honestly I kind of feel bad for them. But that’s their punishment for not releasing a song that their fans have deemed worthy of being played at all of their shows in, say, the second half of their discography, more than twenty years. Metallica’s 1983 groundbreaking debut might be considered the first thrash metal album to many. While I didn’t live those days nor that scene in the flesh, I think thrash metal reached its definitive, purest form in 1984, by Metallica and Slayer’s hands. Of course, there’s no denying Kill ‘Em All was the starting point of thrash metal’s direct evolution. Sure, Sabbath’s “Symptom of the Universe” or Accept’s “Fast as a Shark” contributed greatly in its formative aesthetics, but they weren’t the finished product. One can certainly argue palm-muted rager “Whiplash” IS the finished product. In fact, the ‘thrashyness’ in this debut LP is dialed up from side A to side B, starting with the aforementioned side A closer. Just like fellow Californian thrash pioneers Slayer, whose own debut was released later in ’83, the flavors of the NWOBHM were still very strong in their formula, but in the case of Kill ‘Em All, one can distinctly realize that the further into the record, the heavier and harsher it becomes. There are a few albums – specifically debut albums – that work much better because of their simplicity. I’ve written something similar about Iron Maiden’s debut and I feel that Kill ‘Em All fits the mould too. Style, songs, cover art – none of it complicates the basic enjoyment of pure heavy metal. And, yes, I would classify Metallica’s debut as something closer to pure heavy metal than actual thrash metal as we know it today, because this (as the almost indisputable First Thrash Album) was a blank slate that described a kind of thrash metal without rules and restrictions. I like it all the more for that.

Production on here is awesome. Raw, aggressive, thrash metal sound. Those crunchy guitars made famous from this album sound amazing. The drums sound really good. The bass is audible the whole time and the bass sounds really good. Kirk pulls off some awesome solos, and there are a lot of them on here. MFN 86 reissue:Repress from the 1st press "MFN" pressing. Same sound but lower surface noise. See below more details about the sound. The lyrical aspect of this release has nothing really to do with Satanism, just filled however with hatred towards humanity without any compromise in that respect. Hetfield's vocals go well with the music especially the high-end screams. I don't consider this release their best of the 80's I'd say "Ride the Lightning", "Master of Puppets" and "...And Justice for All" were their absolute best releases. However, this was a beginning for the band and showed their awesome potential at such a young age. Around the time this album was released, glam metal was at an all-time high. It was considered cool to dress like a girl, fluff your hair to extreme volumes, and wear make up. Metallica took a stance completely against any of that. They increased the tempo, added darker lyrical content, and absolutely powerful vocals. They took the sonic sounds of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and mixed it with the speed of hardcore punk to create arguably the first proper thrash metal sound. Considering the band members were either 19 or 20 years old when this innovative album came out, it makes me think...what the hell am I doing with my life, just shy of 22? Metallica is a band I'm sure most who browse the metal archives know. Formed in 1981, they had a somewhat controversial early history, mainly due to lead guitarist Dave Mustaine's drinking problems, but nonetheless just 1 year after their first demo, they put out their first full length, Kill 'Em All.Nexus International Japan:Not the best version of the album. The instruments are pretty weak imo. This version can not fill your space.

Your computer may be infected with malware or spyware that makes automated requests to our server and causes problems.When people bought this album and dropped that needle on the record, ( or place the CD in the CD player or cassette in tape player. ) they heard a new form of metal which would later act as a major change to what we knew as heavy metal. That new form was known as thrash metal. Words can't describe how much this album has had an impact on heavy metal. This is what blew the minds of whoever bought and played this album for the first time. On other hand, the lyrics here are hilarious. While not speaking about Satan and darkness and killing goats, their lyrical subjects were, hm, just laughable, really. Behold. Rhino 04:Very loud and punchy version. It sound little compressed and noisy to me. Remains fine vinyl Kill 'Em All marks the start for one of the most well-known thrash metal acts of all time. A band which I don't think I have to introduce, since you're here already, anyway. As I was saying, what we have here is a prime cut of pure thrash from a former giant, and it is good.