Megaforce Records - 1983
9.5/10
Being the case with every Metallica record, Kill ‘Em All is clouded with discourse around things that matter little; Mustaine wrote half of the songs, it’s the “first” of its kind, it's got all the punk influence, and the list goes on. While all of those statements may hold some level of truth, I don’t really think they’re imperative to setting the thrashers’ debut apart from not only the metal scene as a whole, but their own discography. From Ride The Lightning onward, there’s some level of derivative past the bare-bones characteristics of the genre, but here we basically see James and co. playing speed metal with an extra kick, that happened to land with full impact. In other words, I don’t think this genre-defining sound was intentional; rather, it just stuck because there was a personality already brewing that only realized itself upon its release.
And because of that, nothing else has been conjured up in the same vein, no matter how hard a band might try to replicate it (I would say the same about Slayer’s debut from a different angle). The sheer recklessness of the band’s influences made for a disc that chose speed as its defining factor, and it weaved the songs together nicely before realizing that not everything had to be played fast to fit the style. Opening the album with the hot power-chord burn and cymbal crashes that hardly sound like much of anything couldn’t have been a better way to set the stage, and I don’t think anybody really acknowledges that. Whether you’re at one of the album’s faster songs or the steadier ones, the adolescent energy that started here never lets up. “Hit The Lights” is as basic and to the point as you can get, yet its repetitive nature that descends into a string of solo-duels closing us off has such a chaotic undertone that it keeps you wanting more.
I would argue that this is carried over to everything to some level except “The Four Horsemen,” that being the only track that really feels like it had intentional phases by sticking a concise solo between the bridge and the final verse. The rest are furious sequences that happened to produce some of the best riffing and attitude we’ve heard to date. “Whiplash” truly feels like a filler that the band just pulled out of their ass, using a very simple riff backed by a steady bass-drum combo, and lyrics that could have been improvised. Closer “Metal Militia” does the exact same thing, but with even more fury, and “Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth)” quite literally could be a bass-warmup/soundcheck.
Yet, we eat every bit of it up. That’s why I’m bothering to point all of this out, because regardless of that, it’s still immaculate. Metallica very clearly had talent out of the gate just from being able to play these noodly solos and come up with rhythms that would boost any angry young man’s blood-pressure. But I don’t think they truly tried writing music from a precise angle until after this record. You could argue that “Seek & Destroy” has some pretty clear direction due to its steadier composition and slight dash of poetic flow, but I really can’t see even that measuring up to “The Four Horsemen.” “Jump In The Fire” and “Motorbreath” come off flat, yet their catchy nature and rhythm trade-offs allow them to stick like glue, with enhancement from the honest and brash atmosphere. “Phantom Lord” and “No Remorse” tamper with the longer structures, but ultimately feel pretty all over the place despite still being bangers themselves.
What it comes down to is that Kill ‘Em All was like scratching a lottery ticket and hitting the jackpot. Plenty of bands were making music like this at the time, but none could turn such a basic idea that yields little structure into something so furiously compelling and equally good regarding quality. I won’t say it was an accident, since there was clear talent since the No Life Til Leather demo, but there was a serious awakening after this record’s groundwork. Calling any of this “musical genius” would be a lie, even though I love everything about it. Not only did it pave a path for the band to more accurately define the thrash metal genre down the road, but as we know, it would inspire an entire movement of bands already working in the same vein to break into their own unique outfits. I like to compare it to the debut Kiss album, or David Lynch’s Eraserhead; it was never supposed to be as good as it was, despite the potential being there, but it certainly was anyway.
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