Show No Mercy Songs Ranked

Show No Mercy is the debut studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer, released on December 3, 1983, by Metal Blade Records. Brian Slagel signed the band to the label after watching them perform the song “Phantom of the Opera” by Iron Maiden. The band self-financed their full-length debut, combining the savings of vocalist Tom Araya, who was employed as a respiratory therapist, and money borrowed from guitarist Kerry King’s father. Touring extensively promoting the album, the band brought close friends and family members along the trip, who helped backstage with lighting and sound. Although the album was criticized for its poor production quality, it became Metal Blade’s highest-selling release, producing the songs “The Antichrist”, “Die by the Sword” and “Black Magic”, which were played at Slayer’s live shows regularly. Here are all of Show No Mercy songs ranked.

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10. The Final Command

“Another Iron Maiden sounding song, but with a very high tempo…this is the direction they were coming from in “Reign in blood”. Lots of high pitched shrieking vocals, a la Di’Anno style. Dual lead guitar at times. Two words/phrases caught my eye in this song: “one nation” and “signifier”.”

9. Crionics

“Don’t mind the the riff at the start and the drum rhythm here especially is interesting. The guitar tone is gruntier in this song. You can make out the bass guitar. Iron Maiden type elements include the riffing, lead guitar solo-ing, transitions and shrieking vocals.”

8. Fight Till Death

“he scare quotes indicate that the running time is padded out by a couple of seconds of silence. Included this song for this section on second listen…no song really stood out on first listen. Different texture to the guitar sound on this track. Has riffing and lead guitar. Don’t mind the drumming…especially the bursts of quick beats.”

See more: Slayer Albums Ranked

7. Tormentor

“Slower tempo, especially for the start. Beefier drum sound early. Meat of song Iron Maiden like, Di’Anno years. I like the Iron Maiden like guitar and vocal melodies. The most melodic singing is reserved for the chorus, which is very Iron Maiden like. Some tight sounding lead guitar work.”

6. Show No Mercy

“Like the drum intro. A fusion of Iron Maiden type song with fused with a thrash metal sound…has the characteristic beefy strum for the last part of the riff, which makes it sound thrash to me. In that sense it is a quintessential thrash metal style riff. Maybe the cool thrash song this year by Tornado, “Hate worldwide”, borrows that kind of riff.”

5. Evil Has No Boundaries

“Scratchy/grindy riffing on the left hand side speakers. Interesting sound on the right hand side early on…like the mic. is being scraped by something. Shriek opens the intro. You can make out the lyrics on this album opener. Has backing vocals…kind of like Metallica. Has a steady beat with quick beats at times. Has thrashy riffing later with the beats and bass accompaniment which make it a thrash style.”

See more: Slayer Songs Ranked

4. The Antichrist

“Scratchy/grindy guitar riffing. Interesting bass guitar playing, especially early on. Interesting lead guitar work. Whiny sounding lead guitar at times. Guitar sound hard rock style. More occultish lyrics. Vocals shrieky at times, but he’s not in the same class as the best exponents of this style of high pitched shrieking (think Ian Gillan of Deep Purple, Rob Halford of Judas Priest or Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden)…maybe that’s why he stopped singing like that by the time he recorded “Reign in blood”?.”

3. Die by the Sword

“Riffing, lead guitar. Maybe a Judas Priest style chorus. Whiny lead guitar at times. Long instrumental section in middle, running towards near the end of the song.”

2. Metal Storm / Face the Slayer

“Instrumental to start with. Maybe a Black Sabbath gothic vibe to it early on, followed by Iron Maiden type higher pitched guitars…perhaps a touch of Metallica to the sound too. Interesting lead guitar. You can hear the bass. Interesting guitar and drum textures. You can hear a pop at 0:43 into this song.”

1. Black Magic

“Riffing and cymbals steadily get louder. Like that you can hear the bass guitar on this song. Has thrash elements to this song as far as the riff and beats go. More shrieking vocals at times. Lead guitar is interesting when it has a violin vibe going for it, but he seems to be overreaching himself in what he’s trying to achieve.”