Metallica – Kill ‘Em All (1983)

October 31, 2020

Did someone say proto-thrash? You can literally smell the BO when listening to this record. I conjure images of a band of spotty teenagers or twentysomethings playing Flying Vs and wearing cut off shirts; performing before a crowd of greasy-haired, denim jacket wearing beer drinkers bumping into each other in time to the music. Metal is a beautiful thing, isn’t it?

A lot of the “bigger” bands either seem to come out blazing; defining their sound, style and image from the get-go, or instead take a few records to build up to their career defining mainstream success, but with Kill ‘Em All, you can literally taste the inexperience on display. The maturity on their sophomore album, Ride The Lightening, is a sound developed a thousand fold from the tunes presented here, and that’s what makes Kill ‘Em All so delicious. It’s not so much the sound of a band finding their feet, but the sound of four snotty youths with absolute unwavering confidence in the punk-infused metal that they are peddling.

Kill ‘Em All is a fucking joy to listen to. This is metal in its purest form.