Kill ‘Em All is the debut album by now legendary thrash heroes Metallica, marking their triumphant conquest of the thrash metal scene. The sound of Kill 'Em All is Metallica at their rawest: heavy riffs are played at killer speed, never once slowing down to let the listener catch their breath. While the original title was intended to be Metal Up Your Ass, the band managers refused, to which Cliff Burton (Metallica’s second and late bassist) said: “Kill 'em all.” The album produced the classic thrash metal song “Seek & Destroy.”
There were some guiding lights. If you take Diamond Head’s Lightning to the Nations, Motörhead’s Overkill, Ace of Spades and No Sleep ’Til Hammersmith… if you take Iron Maiden’s first record, if you take Judas Priest’s British Steel, if you take Saxon’s Wheels of Steel, Tygers Of Pan Tang’s Wild Cat… those are the blueprints that fed into what we were doing.
Yes! This album is certified platinum by the RIAA on March 9th, 1999.