10 Insane Stories Behind Classic Albums
4. Show No Mercy - Slayer
In the thrash world, you can't really do much better than Slayer. If the sounds of something like Metallica and Megadeth were a bit too melodic and nice for your liking, the impact of albums like Reign in Blood and Seasons in the Abyss embody everything that makes metal dark and grizzly in the first place. Show No Mercy certainly is no exception to that rule either...if you're willing to stomach and little bit of frayed ends.
On paper, this should be an absolute fireworks show, considering this had the help of Brian Slagel at the helm and songs written by Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman. When it came time to record though, Dave Lombardo's approach to drumming was a lot more jagged than he would have bargained for. Instead of the usual setup with different mics around the drum kit, Lombardo was technically told to record the drums twice, once with just the drums and another with just the cymbals.
As a result, Lombardo himself doesn't really like to revisit this album after too many years, with the bleed of the cymbals and snares sticking out like a sore thumb whenever he listens to the songs back to back. There's no denying that the songs are classics, but the way they got there was just a little bit off.