Silver Lining Music

Photo by Hugo L. Casanova on Unsplash

So I had to go back and re-visit what has to be 1 of the most monumental and influential debut albums, as well as the demo that essentially broke open the door and peaked Brian Slagel’s ear all those decades ago enough to include them, typo on all, on the “Metal Massacre” compilation. I’m referring to METALLICA’s “Kill ‘em All” and “No Life ‘til Leather” and how it inspired SILVER LINING MUSIC to put together a compilation of many great bands plus some new talent, to honor “KILL ‘EM ALL”.

First up is TAILGUNNER from England opening with ‘Hit The Lights’. This is a prime definition of overplaying a cover song. Arguably the approach to covering a song is to stay true to the original while adding your own touch, such as tribute and cover bands who are often expected to do so but then you have people who go over the top. Sure, a new band looking to make a statement by re-writing a lot of parts, but loses the original vibe thus making it something that a progressive listener might appreciate more.

After all, what made “Kill ‘em All” so hard-hitting, aside from Mustaine’s brilliant song-writing, is the raw attitude it carried as it was ahead of the times. So when you hear THE ALMIGHTY (from Scotland) covering ‘Four Horseman’, SOEN (from Sweden) doing ‘Motorbreath’ and NWOBH legends TYGERS OF PAN TANG ‘Jump In The Fire’ – you get a bit of that raw sound that aligns more with the originals, like James’ young and hungry vocals and solos (eventually done by Kirk Hammett) that encompass the art from the debut. A nice treat was David Ellefson’s homage to riff lord Cliff Burton with ‘Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth) where he takes it in many directions and drops hints of other Cliff riffs showing some mad respect to the unfortunate short-lived career. Of course that leads us into ‘Whiplash’ done by MOTORHEAD, a version which first appeared on the 2004 tribute album “Metallic Attack” which would win MOTORHEAD a Grammy for Best Metal Performance the following year, beating out HATEBREED and CRADLE OF FILTH. I’ve always been a fan of this take on one of the heaviest songs on “Kill ‘em All”, and of course anything MOTORHEAD.

In a somewhat ironic turn we got SAXON’s version of ‘Phantom Lord’ who also keep it true. Would have been much more fitting and ironic had they covered ‘Seek And Destroy’ whose solo was basically a rip off of SAXON’s ‘Princess Of The Night’. But this version of ‘Phantom Lord’ was a real good version despite missing the iconic line at the end “fall to your knees…bow down to the Phantom Lord!!” In another twist of irony, just as METALLICA most popular covers that helped gain them more attention, ‘Am I Evil?’, next we get DIAMONDHEAD also paying back the favor with ‘No Remorse’ which was originally released on the band’s 40th Anniversary re-recorded re-release “Lightning To The Nations” (2020). A solid take on the classic that was accompanied by an animated music video.

Next, a band who seemed to have embraced the AI bug unfortunately (see the music videos for their latest album), we got TESTAMENT taking on ‘Seek And Destroy’. Although the song has stood the test of time, I don’t think this song would stand out much if released today. Certainly a crowd favorite and even gives off the Newstead flashbacks if you ever heard this one live and TESTAMENT does a nice job on modernizing this classic without going overboard.

Bringing this somewhat lackluster compilation to a close was thankfully RAVEN’s excellently rendition of ‘Metal Militia’ that, along with DIAMONDHEAD, Ellefson, SOEN, TYGERS and of course MOTORHEAD, – save this release from being “just another METALLICA tribute album”. The video contains vintage footage from back and highlights a lot of the nostalgia from the growing Thrash scene during their heydays, RAVEN brings some awesome intensity, like only they can deliver on this closing track.

I know I can say with pride that a lot of METALLICA’s early stuff (pre-AJFA) were my inspiration and learning material when I first decided to be a Metalhead and eventually pick up the drumsticks. To me, you’re an absolute poser if METALLICA’s first few albums weren’t on your frequent playlist as a kid. Now while the “No Life ‘til Leather” demo that featured Dave Mustane, did not feature Cliff Burton, both who I feel MADE METALLICA the absolute power house it was, it was “KILL ‘EM ALL” that has stood out to many as one of Thrash Metals Greatest of All Time (although in my opinion, I love “Ride The Lightning” more). I have no doubt in my mind that METALLICA knew that they had a hot item on their plate back in 1983 when putting out the demo that was passed around before their debut release. They and the Bay Area Thrash scene, collectively broke new ground on a genre that has been madly re-invigorated for over a decade, whether it’s simply the look (not to be confused with culture-appropriation douchebags) or new bands that are trying to re-invent the wheel, the few that see success, as well as many of the classic bands that are still doing it and doing it brilliantly.

3.0 Out Of 5.0