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Slayer - Show No Mercy



8.4 | 1244 votes |
Release date: 3 December 1983
Style: Thrash metal

Owners:

1279 have it
84 want it


01. Evil Has No Boundaries
02. The Antichrist
03. Die By The Sword
04. Fight Till Death
05. Metal Storm/Face The Slayer
06. Black Magic
07. Tormentor
08. The Final Command
09. Crionics
10. Show No Mercy
11. Haunting The Chapel [1987 re-issue bonus]
12. Captor Of Sin [1987 re-issue bonus]
13. Chemical Warfare [1987 re-issue bonus]
14. Aggressive Perfector [1994 re-release bonus]
15. Chemical Warfare [1994 re-release bonus]
16. Aggressive Perfector [vinyl & 1983 cassette bonus]

Top 20 albums of 1983: 9
Featured in "Getting Into: Slayer"

Guest review by
Clintagräm
Rating:
8.4
"Blasting our way through the boundaries of hell, no one can stop us tonight..."

Slayer, the now legendary Thrash act that needs no introduction, has been putting out fairly consistent music for over 25 years. However, the old farts we know as kings of thrash these days, started somewhere in time, and that's where this album comes into play.

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published 29.03.2008 | Comments (13)

Guest review by
Stuart
Rating:
7.5
San Francisco and Los Angeles must have been an exciting places to live in the early 80's. Thrash Metal was in its formative years and the scene was absolutely massive in the Bay Area and LA. Great bands were coming out of every dark corner and none more so than LA based ex-Deep Purple cover band Slayer.

The main difference between Slayer and the other bands in the scene was that from the very beginning they were covered in satanic imagery and mysticism which made them stand out from the crowd but also alienated them from ever achieving superstar status. Controversial from the start, Slayer released their debut "Show No Mercy" in 1983 on new label, Metal Blade Records, who had already helped get Metallica noticed on a compilation released the previous year.

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published 03.04.2008 | Comments (1)

Guest review by
Haddonfield
Rating:
9.3
Slayer have become one of the most respected bands in the metal scene by the fans and their peers. They've just released their eleventh studio album, World Painted Blood, and show no sign of stopping. This relentless career started back in 1983 with an album titled Show No Mercy, and it did exactly what it said on the cover.

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published 16.11.2009 | Comments (16)

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Comments

Comments: 29   Visited by: 1253 users
15.02.2011 - 20:18
Rating: 8
Phantom Lord

Kick as album
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30.07.2011 - 21:25
Rating: 9
king_matt

The best Slayer album, no doubt about it.
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12.09.2011 - 00:16
JCJen7

Kick as album
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CHECK THESE OUT
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12.02.2012 - 20:32
Rating: 8
musicalkaratekid

Cynics may say that this album has more in common with judas priest et al than it does with the early thrash movements of metallica and anthrax, but on here slayer still had that velocity and ferocity that made them stand out from the crowd. And let's face it, that drum intro on the title track is fucking insane.
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09.11.2012 - 22:48
megadeath13
Account deleted
Show no Mercy is one my favourite debuts of all time. Evil has no Boundaries or the Antichrist are timeless Slayer classics.
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01.01.2013 - 19:59
Illog1cal
Account deleted
Better than Reign in Blood but not as great as Hell Awaits.
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14.04.2013 - 05:52
Rating: 9
squidrick420

I love this album, but I generally think of it as a speed metal album rather than a thrash album (proto-thrash at best). But yeah, this is one of Slayer's finest, apart from Hell Awaits; say what you want but reign in blood comes in after these in my opinion.
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14.04.2013 - 21:57
Rating: 10
Angelic Storm
Melodious
Written by squidrick420 on 14.04.2013 at 05:52
But yeah, this is one of Slayer's finest, apart from Hell Awaits; say what you want but reign in blood comes in after these in my opinion.


I totally agree that both those albums (and "South Of Heaven") are better than "Reign In Blood". There is some standard heavy metal on "Show No Mercy", and it is certainly more melodic overall than any of their other albums, but I would still class it as a thrash album...
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14.04.2013 - 23:59
Lord_Regnier

Written by squidrick420 on 14.04.2013 at 05:52

I love this album, but I generally think of it as a speed metal album rather than a thrash album (proto-thrash at best). But yeah, this is one of Slayer's finest, apart from Hell Awaits; say what you want but reign in blood comes in after these in my opinion.


The main difference, I think, is "Show No Mercy" is less fast than Slayer's other old material.
I also prefer "Show No Mercy" and "Hell Awaits" to "Reign In Blood" (even if I like "Reign In Blood" very much).
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17.04.2013 - 00:35
Rating: 9
squidrick420

Written by Angelic Storm on 14.04.2013 at 21:57


I totally agree that both those albums (and "South Of Heaven") are better than "Reign In Blood". There is some standard heavy metal on "Show No Mercy", and it is certainly more melodic overall than any of their other albums, but I would still class it as a thrash album...


The reason I say speed metal and not thrash is because in a way the terms are interchangeable, but not 100%. Show No Mercy is borderline speed metal/thrash; it's like crossing the border to Mexico where there isn't one real line but rather a big ass desert in which you have no clue where your at. For the most part this album is structured off of a traditional metal style that is being played quite fast (this is why I call it speed metal), however, it shows some signs of early thrash riffs and structure. Overall the speed metal outweighs the thrash, but like I said the terms are interchangeable and is essentially left to personal discretion.
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28.02.2014 - 00:15
pkillerjp

I prefer Show No Mercy, Hell Awaits, South of Heaven, and Seasons over Reign in Blood, actually. This debut is amazing, you can still hear the Priest and early Maiden influences, which is a very good thing- because it's done with class and not a ripoff at all. I really have always wished they'd play more of this stuff live. The song "Black Magic" is where Slayer's whole persona and guitar sound was born.
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14.08.2014 - 18:48
Rating: 9
Boxcar Willy
yr a kook
This album have me heavy "Kill Em All" vibes when I first heard it yesterday. I prefer RIB obviously, but it was a good listen.
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14:22 - Marcel Hubregtse
I do your mum

DESTROY DRUM TRIGGERS
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02.02.2015 - 12:10
Rating: 7
Ruchesko

All in all, very very Priestly.
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19.02.2015 - 11:33
Rating: 9
raveneffect

My favourite Slayer album and, imho, the best one. This is way more European Speed which is funny since they didnt exist back then but this has something completely different. It packs the excitment and embodies the agression and thirst for power that was spawning from the Thrash era. amazing. flawless
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20.02.2015 - 19:02
Rating: 9
raveneffect

"basically" isn't even a fair way to label this.
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09.06.2016 - 23:20
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
I am embarrassed I have heard this before just once in my teens , I never liked anything whit out album where has video filmed in Egypt ... never will like after to
This is good, classic , good quality album where band did not care much about riffs, accuracy , they wanted to play and kick the ass, trOO metal , kill the posers attitude, (before manowar make it poser it self) . decent album, no single, just speed, aggression, attitude and head banging.
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Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
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I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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03.05.2017 - 03:51
Rating: 9
sbgmetal

Best slayer album imo by faaaaarrrr, man this was great RIP jeff!
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08.03.2018 - 04:52
Rating: 9
Boxcar Willy
yr a kook
Such a killer album.
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14:22 - Marcel Hubregtse
I do your mum

DESTROY DRUM TRIGGERS
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10.11.2018 - 18:22
Maco
Pvt Funderground
Ultra fun album.
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Crackhead Megadeth reigns supreme.
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28.06.2019 - 12:07
Rating: 8
Metren
Dreadrealm
Great frickin' debut. Starts stronger than it finishes, but overall, still a damned good album.
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28.06.2019 - 23:00
Rating: 9
Redel

Written by Metren on 28.06.2019 at 12:07

Great frickin' debut. Starts stronger than it finishes, but overall, still a damned good album.

What an album, especially considering the time it come out.
In my list where I put my favourite 250 albums of all time in order -- if that is even possible -- this one clocks in at rank 49 as of today. There is no more than a single album that is older than SNM and ranks higher in that list. That is Paranoid.
About your "Starts stronger than it finishes", I dont really know. Did you include the several bonuses in that count?
I think this albums is just so much fun (indeed, Maco) from start to finish (including the bonuses). No filler to detect for me here.
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20.07.2021 - 09:27
Rating: 10
F3ynman2000
Nocturnal Bro
No filler - all killer!
My favorite song from the album is Metal Storm/Face the Slayer!
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14.03.2022 - 11:35
Rating: 8
nonZero

I wonder if track 5 is where the name of this website came from
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14.03.2022 - 17:50
Rating: 8
Cynic Metalhead
Paisa Vich Nasha
Written by nonZero on 14.03.2022 at 11:35

I wonder if track 5 is where the name of this website came from


No.

Slayer took the name from us. We drop the copyright infringement case in honor of Jeff.
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14.03.2022 - 18:03
Rating: 8
nonZero

Written by Cynic Metalhead on 14.03.2022 at 17:50

Written by nonZero on 14.03.2022 at 11:35

I wonder if track 5 is where the name of this website came from


No.

Slayer took the name from us. We drop the copyright infringement case in honor of Jeff.

Ahh...makes sense!
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Top 500 Albums (ordered & rated)
Top 200 Overlooked Albums (with genres)
So I Heard You Like Wintersun... (Time II find new bands)
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18.03.2022 - 18:26
Rating: 9
AndyMetalFreak
A Nice Guy
This is a great album, its highly enjoyable, and an all thriller from beginning to end, with many headbanging riffs, blasphemous lyrics, great drumming, and cool shredding solo's. There's nothing complex about it, it's just pure old school thrash, one of the earliest examples of it's kind, and one of the best, if not the best thrash metal debut of all time.
It's not quite Reign In Blood, or Seasons Of The Abyss standards, but it's still a classic in it's own right
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18.03.2022 - 22:18
Rating: 9
Metal Rasputin

This is definitely one of their more interesting albums to say the least. Around this time the very idea of thrash metal was till pretty vague, so even a classic band like Slayer played more NWOBHM style metal than one would expect. I sure didn't when I first listened to this thing. It's a great album.
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30.05.2022 - 00:49
Rating: 10
F3ynman2000
Nocturnal Bro
I can never get enough of this album! One super underrated highlight: the ending solo of "Crionics" - absolute metal perfection!

(Start at 2:07 in the video below )
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16.11.2023 - 15:39
Rating: 9
T. T. B. Dragon

An exceptional album, my favorite from Slayer, great quality songs, for me the least great is Die By the Sword, otherwise all the others are favorites, in addition to being an album that I can listen to until the end without problems.
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