Kill 'Em All (1983): Metallica's debut thrash record, decoded

The album

Kill 'Em All, released July 25, 1983 on the independent Megaforce label, is Metallica's debut studio record. Recorded at Music America Studios in Rochester, New York between May and June 1983 with producer Paul Curcio. Ten tracks across 51 minutes, with Hammett tracking lead guitar parts on two weeks' notice after Dave Mustaine was fired from the band in April 1983. The record's low-budget production is one of its defining characteristics, the band has acknowledged across interviews that the sound is a baseline document of where they were rather than the polished records that followed under Flemming Rasmussen.

Who played on it

James Hetfield (rhythm guitar, vocals, songwriting), Kirk Hammett (lead guitar, his debut Metallica record), Cliff Burton (bass, his second Metallica era), Lars Ulrich (drums). The lineup is the same as Master of Puppets (1986) and Justice for All (1988); Burton's death in 1986 ends the Hetfield/Hammett/Burton/Ulrich era after three studio records.

What they played

Light-gauge nickel-wound electric strings (most likely .009 set based on the era's documented Hetfield gear evolution; he later moved to .010 Regular Slinky for Ride the Lightning and beyond) on standard E tuning. Hetfield's primary instruments included a 1973 Gibson Flying V and a Marshall-style amplifier setup, the pre-Mesa/Boogie era. Hammett came in with his Gibson Flying V and lead-guitar voice that shaped the track-by-track album feel.

Burton's bass tracks ran on his Rickenbacker 4001 with Rotosound Swing Bass 66. The bass solo '(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth' showcased his distorted-bass tone that became one of the canonical metal-bass voices.

The thrash-metal moment

Kill 'Em All sits at the founding moment of thrash metal. The Big Four of thrash (Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax) all emerged in the 1983-1984 window, and Kill 'Em All is the earliest of those debuts. Megadeth's Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! followed in 1985 with Mustaine after his Metallica firing. The two records together document the genre's birth in a single 18-month period.

If you want this rig

Ernie Ball

Regular Slinky (.010-.046)

Price tier: $

Why this one: The .010 set Hetfield moved to in 1984 (one year after Kill 'Em All) and ran across the rest of his Metallica catalog. Same gauge as Master of Puppets, Justice for All, and Black Album.

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Frequently asked questions

What strings were used on Kill 'Em All?

Light-gauge nickel-wound (.009 set most likely, given the era's standard rock-string gauges and the documented Hetfield gear evolution toward heavier sets later in the catalog). Standard E tuning across the record. Hetfield moved to the .010 Regular Slinky for Ride the Lightning (1984) and beyond.

Who produced Kill 'Em All?

Paul Curcio at Music America Studios in Rochester, New York. The independent Megaforce Records released the record in July 1983; it was a low-budget production that the band has acknowledged across interviews as a baseline document of where their sound was rather than the polished records that followed. Flemming Rasmussen took over production starting with Ride the Lightning (1984).

Why was Dave Mustaine replaced before this record?

Mustaine was a founding Metallica guitarist who was fired from the band in April 1983, two months before Kill 'Em All recording began, due to documented substance-abuse issues and personal-conflict problems with the rest of the band. He took the documented riff material he'd written with him and founded Megadeth. Kirk Hammett (then in Bay Area thrash band Exodus) replaced Mustaine on roughly two weeks' notice and tracked the lead-guitar parts on Kill 'Em All. Mustaine remains a controversial figure in the early-Metallica narrative.

What's the cultural impact of Kill 'Em All?

Kill 'Em All is one of the founding records of thrash metal as a genre, alongside Slayer's Show No Mercy (also 1983) and Anthrax's Fistful of Metal (1984). The Big Four of thrash (Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax) all emerged in this 1983-1984 window, and Kill 'Em All is the earliest of those debuts to reach mainstream cultural status. The Library of Congress has not yet inducted it; Master of Puppets remains the only Metallica record on the National Recording Registry.

What was Cliff Burton's contribution?

Burton joined Metallica in 1982 (replacing Ron McGovney) and tracked all bass on Kill 'Em All. His bass solo composition '(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth' (track 4) is a foundational metal-bass solo and one of the first instances of a major-label-aspiring metal band including a 4-minute bass-feature track. The track established Burton as a virtuoso-bassist figure in the metal scene before his death three years later.