Metal Without Mercy

The infamous words that Metallica barked out in an early day interview of "L.A. sucks!" have continued to reverberate throughout the history of metal, with stereotypical images of spandex clad glam and sleaze rockers blurring the lines between metal and pop with maybe the token leather clad hard rocker with more of an old school blues/rock approach forever pigeonholing said location as the antithesis of true metal. How beautifully ironic that such a place that would not give Metallica or the lion's share of the thrash metal scene the time of day would birth what was possibly one of the most vicious, fist pounding odes to true heavy metal in an early USPM package in Ruthless' debut EP Metal Without Mercy, a veritable manifesto for a future third way forward for the recently imported NWOBHM amid the growing tide of thrash and speed metal acts. All of the dark imagery and dangerous aesthetics that made the likes of Satan, Venom and Mercyful Fate are present here, but repackaged into something closer to Metal Church and early Queensryche.

Things begin on a decidedly menacing note with a backdrop of guitar feedback and the garbled mutterings of what is assumed to be the prince of darkness himself, and what follows him could be likened to hell itself. A gripping principle riff that is somewhat comparable to something off Slayer's Show No Mercy descends with a sea of speed metal drum work before settling into a mid-paced galloping groove that still shows some affinity for the famed Slayer debut, albeit at a slower pace and with a vocal approach that is about equally as gravely, but has less of a shouting character to it in favor of a gritty snarl that is just a tad cleaner than a thrash gruff. The chorus is a bit more informed by the melodic undertones of Judas Priest, but otherwise this is a power metal that tows an equal lines between the blustering pomp of Manowar and the viciousness of Metallica's more mid-paced work.

As things progress, the aesthetic proves to be a fairly consistent one, though the tempo tends to shift a fair bit between a mid-paced rocking feel and more frenetic elements. Vocalist Sammy DeJohn shifts between a generally nasty sounding muttering tone with occasional hints of Geoff Tate whenever soaring into glass shattering territory. That's probably the biggest thing that separates this early realization of the spirit of power metal, the exaggerated character of the vocals, as DeJohn mimics Tom Araya's generally growling yells but also dwarfs him when getting into the extremely high reaches of the metal voice, showing a bit of an affinity for King Diamond's otherworldly voice at times. The title song "Metal Without Mercy" showcases a particularly vicious display of witch-like shrieks at its close, while the bulk of the song itself listens like a slower rendition of Metallica's "Four Horsemen".

There is a temptation to focus entirely vocals given how they tend to steal the show whenever they are present, but a band is nothing without a thundering instrumentation, and this album delivers it in spades. As the song progresses into the more mid-paced, rock-oriented "Bury The Axe", which stands as the closest thing on to a full out throwback to NWOBHM conventions as heard out of Tygers Of Pan Tang, the aesthetic still remains dark and heavy. Things kick back into overdrive with the thrill ride "The Fever", which has classic Mercyful Fate written all over it and brings home the speed metal riffing with a vengeance. But the absolute kicker of this album is the closer "Mass Killer", which starts things off in creepy ballad territory in a manner that again reminds a bit of Queensryche (namely "The Lady Wore Black"), but then the riffs kick in and things return to a grooving stomp with a thrashing quality and some occasional bursts of speed and intrigue. In many ways this song predicts the sort of atmospheric grandeur leading into a massive metallic assault that Crimson Glory would later capitalize on with their debut LP.

This is one of the earliest and also one of the best representations of raw, pure, unadulterated USPM, and in retrospect, it showcases just how close in proximity the style was with the earliest proponents of speed/thrash as well as the more fringe elements within the traditional heavy metal scene. The reason why this band probably didn't see the same level of success that Metallica and Slayer did likely because they opted to stick to their home territory in Los Angeles and couldn't break through with all the relevant venues being purely interested in a more fun and mainstream friendly variation of heavy metal, and the heaviest that that would go was Armored Saint. Had this band come out in either San Francisco or Stockholm they probably would have seen greater success, but successful or not in the numbers game, there is no question that these five Californians hit pay dirt in the quality department here.