Feb 10

Feb 10 Metallica - Kill 'Em All

Metallica
Kill ‘Em All
Release Date: July 25th, 1983
Label: Megaforce

Review by Jared Stossel

It begins with the fader on the mixing board rising, as drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarists Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield, and bassist Cliff Burton make an E chord reverberate through the speakers. A Rush-inspired drum fill crosses from one speaker to the other, and the band holds out an F chord, even louder this time. We hear a pick slide move across both speakers, and we’re hit in the face with the opening riff to “Hit The Lights”, the first track on Metallica’s 1983 debut album, Kill ‘Em All. The album is a war cry to a generation that found itself not quite fitting in with the rawness of the punk scene, yet not as hedonistic and theatrical as the burgeoning hair metal scene that was dominating LA’s Sunset Strip. After forming in Los Angeles in 1981, with a lineup consisting of Ulrich, Hetfield, bassist Ron McGovney and guitarist Dave Mustaine (who would later form Megadeth), the band began to cut their teeth playing live shows, recording demos that would dominate the metal cassette tape trading scene, and working out material that would eventually make its way onto their ambitious debut album. Dissatisfied with the lack of reaction they were getting at shows - being usurped by acts like Ratt and Mötley Crüe - they found themselves relocating to the fog-ridden San Francisco Bay Area where a pang of hunger for their thrashing brand of heavy metal was palpable. No one had ever heard a metal act like this before, one that combined the speed of punk with the energy and imagery of bands like Maiden and Preist.

This move to the Bay Area would eventually lead to the dismissal of bassist Ron McGovney, who would be replaced by the laidback Cliff Burton. Infighting between Hetfield, Ulrich, and Mustaine – fueled by the latter’s behavior and alcohol problems – would lead to the guitarist’s firing, leading to the recruitment of Exodus’ Kirk Hammett. These two lineup changes would have such a profound impact on the sound, the musicianship, and overall writing sessions within Metallica. Today, Kill ‘Em All can be viewed as a time capsule of the band’s intentions, their desire to mix things up while making a declaration that they would be the biggest band in the world – despite not quite having the chops to do so just yet.

Despite having a fire up their ass and a statement to make, no record label was willing to take a chance on an act like Metallica. Metal Blade Records’ Brian Slagel, having shepherded the band into the scene by getting them to record a song for the first edition of the Metal Massacre compilation, couldn’t afford to help them bring their debut to life. But on the East Coast, their sound caught the attention of Jon Zazula, a record store owner who sold so many copies of the band’s demo, No Life ‘til Leather, that he was able to form Megaforce Records and finance the recording of what would become Kill ‘Em All.

The band spent two weeks in New York recording with producer Paul Curcio, whom the band resented as they felt he had little impact in guiding their sound nor any interest in what they were trying to do. Even with a remix of the sessions performed by sound engineer Chris Bubacz, the disinterest from producer Curcio can be felt throughout the record; you can tell what the band is trying to accomplish with Kill ‘Em All, but it wouldn’t be until subsequent records that those elements would come exploding to the surface of the mixing board.

The ten songs on the album are an amalgamation of riffs, drum fills, and frantic soloing. While Hammett’s guitar playing is in great form on Kill ‘Em All, if you were to listen to later Metallica records, you could tell that these songs truly felt like Hammett trying to sound like Dave Mustaine; the solos are performed in a hurried state of excitement, gliding up and down the fretboard at a breakneck pace, much in the style that would go on to define Mustaine’s creation, Megadeth, in subsequent years. Despite being kicked out of the band before the Kill ‘Em All sessions, Mustaine was credited with co-creating four tracks: “The Four Horsemen”, “Jump In The Fire”, “Phantom Lord” and “Metal Militia”. While all these songs would evolve beyond what Mustaine brought to the equation, his influence can be felt throughout Kill ‘Em All.

Lyrically, Metallica’s first venture into full-length territory was not as introspective as they would get on say, the Black Album. “The Four Horsemen”, a reworked version of a Mustaine-era track that would appear in its original form on Megadeth’s debut, is a galloping metal number that talks about the referenced carriers of the Apocalypse. There’s a somewhat out-of-place Lynyrd Skynyrd-esque riff thrown into the middle; this is the portrait of a band that is still figuring things out as they go. Songs like “Jump In The Fire” and “Phantom Lord” dance with the devil, referencing Satan and demonic entities in your standard heavy metal fare (“Crushing metal strikes on this frightening night/Fall onto your knees/For the Phantom Lord”). In retrospect, the lyrics come off as silly today, yet they still have the power to move crowds of hundreds of thousands into mosh pits larger in scale than you could ever imagine. If the Underworld isn’t referenced, then the hunger to perform and be on the road is sung about at length. While mediocre in comparison to later lyrics that the band would go on to author, the lyrics of songs like “Hit The Lights”, “Motorbreath”, and “Metal Militia” signify that this was a band that had one thing on their mind: complete world domination, whether they wanted to admit it or not.

One of the biggest standouts of Kill ‘Em All comes in the form of “(Anesthesia) – Pulling Teeth” a nearly four-and-a-half-minute instrumental from deceased bassist Burton. Listening to it now is eerily mesmerizing. I was born well after Burton left this world, but I can still understand how lucky the music world was to have a talent like his in it, even if just for a few albums. The band only joins in towards the end of the track, but you almost wish they didn’t – Burton’s abilities as a bassist were spellbinding, and they still shine through to this day. The conclusion of “Anesthesia” dovetails into Kill ‘Em All’s best moment and most important contribution to the genre as a whole: “Whiplash”. Lyrically, Hetfield screeches through the microphone as he screams of the desire to be in the heavy metal world and “thrash all around” (“late at night, all systems go, you’ve come to see the show/we do our best, you’re the rest, you make it real, you know”). The speed at which “Whiplash” is performed is evocative of the punk era, yet layered with high-speed, palm-muted aplomb, Hetfield and Burton acting as the rhythmic driving force of the band in an unconventional manner. This is the song that birthed thrash metal; it all began with “Whiplash”.

Both “No Remorse” and “Seek & Destroy” would go on to give hints to what fans could expect from Metallica in future discography entries – the former would find the band singing about war and battle, while suddenly changing tempo around the five-minute mark, accelerating back into the thrash world. “Seek & Destroy” would become the band’s first live staple, effectively proving that the band knew how to write a hook-laden chorus that would leave fans screaming for more. Nearly forty years later, that chorus is still sung live.

Kill ‘Em All closes with “Metal Militia”, a call to action for all emerging metalheads to spread the good word of the genre to the masses, never conform, and embrace the music that you love. After nearly five minutes, the sound of an army marching begins to overpower the band, a battle ensues as the fader on the mixing board begins to inch downward for the first time in nearly an hour.

Despite its flaws, Kill ‘Em All still holds up rather well today, and it marked a significant indication of what was about to happen in not just the world of heavy metal, but the world of mainstream rock. This was a snapshot of a band that was still trying to figure out precisely what they wanted to be while continuing to march ahead in defiance of anyone who would tell them to stop. At this point, it seems that Metallica didn’t exactly know what they wanted to be, but they had an idea of what they wanted to be. Kill ‘Em All reflects this mentality; it was the birthplace of thrash metal and the beginning of a long journey that Metallica is still on today. Kill ‘Em All is the sound of the biggest band in the world taking shape.