METALLICA — Kill 'em All (review)

Album · 1983 · Thrash Metal

5/5 · 2019-03-03
Vim Fuego

23 March 1990.

OK, so I’ve used this introduction before, for a different Metallica album, but hey, if I have a record of it, why not? 23 March 1990 was the day I bought “Kill ‘em All” and I became a Metallica completist. Yep. I had all four albums. (The two major E.P.s then in their repertoire followed soon after – “The 5.98 EP – Garage Days Re-Revisited” on 28 March 1990, and “Creeping Death/Jump In The Fire” on 18 June 1990.) In those days, that made me metal as fuck! I didn’t know anyone else with all four albums. Fuck, I only knew two other metal fans...

Anyway, “Kill ‘em All” was and is a primitive thrash metal tour de force. On the whole it hasn’t aged well. It was already sounding dated in 1990. That doesn’t matter. What matters is that it documented some of the earliest beginnings of a brand new genre of metal. Yes, Venom or Overkill or Exodus or Sodom might be older, but this is really the point where thrash became a thing, where people outside of a very small scene started to take note of it. So what’s actually happening here?

Well, it’s like the NWOBHM with a punk rocket up it’s ass. The noisy racket of “Hit The Lights” was Metallica’s first song, and is the perfect high energy song to kick off the album. The main riff is a bit messy and clumsy, as many of the riffs on this album are, but it is electrified by Lars Ulrich’s enthusiastic drumming and Kirk Hammett’s wild leads. James Hetfield shreds his throat with a near hysterical shriek.

“The Four Horsemen” has a more conventional metal riff, which borrows heavily from the likes of Diamond Head or Angel Witch, but it’s actually faster than it sounds. Hammett’s leads wail a bit more than the first track. This track was co-written by Dave Mustaine, and while Metallica’s biblical inspired lyrics are better, Mustaine’s revved up “Mechanix” version is far the superior song.

There are some absolute fucking ragers on this album, and “Motorbreath” is the first of them. This is where the full on punk energy first comes through. This is like a more metallic Motörhead with higher pitched vocals.

While this entire album must be considered a classic, “Jump In The Fire” is a bit of a clunker. The main riff is too long and a bit over-ambitious for a first album. While it’s not a bad song, it just seems plodding and a bit pedestrian in comparison to the rest of the album.

“(Anaesthesia) – Pulling Teeth” was unlike anything I had ever heard before. I didn’t know you could make noises like these with a bass guitar! This is also possibly the most mature, fully developed track on this entire embryonic album. Cliff Burton showed off his wonderful range of skills with this solo track. It’s also the perfect lead-in to the album’s best (to my ears) song...

“Whiplash”! The pounding tom tom intro hints at something massive and menacing, and it fucking delivers! This is a full-on discharge of well... Discharge! Hetfield’s riffing is insanely fast for the time. This would still have to rate as one of Metallica’s faster songs still. As an ode to headbangers, the lyrics are naïve but heartfelt. And this ode gets the hair flying and necks snapping.

“Phantom Lord” is full of youthful enthusiasm and breakneck speed, and some kind of cheesy lyrics, but hey, it was 1983. It’s one of those songs which races along flat out, gets the speed wobbles, but recovers just before disaster strikes.

“No Remorse” has a chunky main riff, and seems like a solid mid-pace stomper. And stomp it does, very well for nearly five minutes. Just when it seems the song is winding down, it kicks up a gear, with the battlecry “attaaaaack!”, and follows with some of the fastest riffing on the album, finishing with a wrist snapping frenzy.

“Seek and Destroy” is one of the stand-out tracks on the album. The main riff is possibly the best on the album, the best mix of It’s a live favourite to this day, and the simple “Searching/Seek and destroy” refrain is a major reason why. Who can resist headbanging and yelling along to this? “And to round this all off, “Metal Militia” is another rager. “Oh through the mist and the madness/We are trying to get the message to you”. We got the message loud and clear.

While not as technically accomplished as the band’s later albums, even though “Ride The Lightning” followed only months later, “Kill ‘em All” blazed the trail. Albums from Anthrax, Slayer, Celtic Frost, Kreator, Voivod, and Metal Church followed soon after, laying the foundations for thrash and extreme metal in general. Without “Kill ‘em All” to lead the way, extreme metal would not be what it is today.