Band:	Metallica
Album:	Kill 'Em All
Style:	Bay Area thrash metal
Release date:	July 1983

01. Hit The Lights
02. The Four Horsemen
03. Motorbreath
04. Jump In The Fire
05. (Anesthesia)-Pulling Teeth
06. Whiplash
07. Phantom Lord
08. No Remorse
09. Seek & Destroy
10. Metal Militia
11. Am I Evil? [Diamond Head cover] [Elektra reissue bonus]
12. Blitzkrieg [Blitzkrieg cover] [Elektra reissue bonus]
13. The Four Horsemen [live] [digital download bonus]
14. Whiplash [live] [digital download bonus]

Being an inspirational oeuvre for many bands, Kill 'Em All is the debut album of the most successful band of metal music, the first official package after some arguments among band members and finally Dave Mustaine's dramatic departure.

The songs are super fast and neoteric in many cases. Immediately by listening to this record, the punk roots come into view. The riffs are really heavy, yet raw and unpolished, which means they had a long way to go in terms of musicianship at that time. Solos are performed insanely fast; however, this acceleration causes quite a lot of bum notes in many songs, which are obtrusive. Bass lines are stunning and surely enhancing the quality of the record. Hetfield's voice is fairly squeaky and no way near a qualified singer. Arpeggiated guitar chords in "Phantom Lord" would be definitely worth mentioning.

As controversial as it might be, many famous pieces of rock music are brought to the listener's mind; "Sweet Home Alabama" can be heard in "The Four Horsemen", "Seek And Destroy" has been derived from Saxon's "Princess of the Night" and the Diamond Head song "Dead Reckoning", with many more examples to mention.

The production of the record is awfully weak due to financial restrictions and the instruments haven't been well-mixed. However, it gathers huge energetic moments, which some would dislike, as they might argue there is no drive, no ambition and the band was just turning up to go through the motions and not bring pure brutality. But considering the zeitgeist, it is still quite astonishing.

Finally, the package can be described as speed metal with thrash and punk elements added. If you need something speedy and brutal definitely there are plenty of much better records out there, but this one surely can help you enjoy a speed/thrash classic.