''Live Undead'' is the first live album by American

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

band

Slayer Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...

. It was released through

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distrib ...

and recorded in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in front of a room of people. It has been questioned by both critics and authors that the audience sound may or may not be faked. However, in 1984, WBAB Fingers Metal Shop, a radio station, held a contest to meet and hang out with Slayer during a live recording. The album was recorded at Tiki Recording Studios in Glen Cove, NY in front of around a dozen people. The album was originally intended to be recorded in front of a live audience, but things went wrong. Nevertheless, when asked if they were fake,

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

Bill Metoyer Bill Metoyer is an American record producer who has recorded with Slayer, Deliverance, Hirax, Morbid Angel, Trouble and Tourniquet. He has worked at Metal Blade Records for several years as house producer and currently works as A&R. He also wor ...

said, "I don't know if I should tell you." The album begins with an extended introduction of "Black Magic", followed by a small speech. The remaining tracks include both those of 1983's ''

Show No Mercy ''Show No Mercy'' is the debut studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer, released in December 1983, by Metal Blade Records. Brian Slagel signed the band to the label after watching them perform the song "Phantom of the Opera" by Iron M ...

'' and 1984's '' Haunting the Chapel''.

Conception

The seven-track live record was recorded in front of a room full of people in

in the

autumn Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September ( Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Sou ...

of 1984. It has been rumored that the crowd noise was added in a studio rather than recorded on stage.

Joel McIver Joel McIver (born 10 February 1971) is a British author. His best-known work is ''Justice for All: The Truth About Metallica'', first published in 2004 and appearing in nine languages since then. McIver's other works include biographies of Bl ...

, author of ''The Bloody Reign of Slayer'', asked ''Live Undead''

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

Bill Metoyer, who had worked on the album in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Metoyer responded: "I don't know if I should tell you f the crowd noises were faked Isn't that one of those great industry secrets? Let's just say that when you're doing a live record, you want live sound — even if perhaps the microphones didn't pick up the audience properly." ''Live Undead'' marked the beginning of a short association between Slayer and artist Albert Cueller. Cueller would design the sleeve image, which depicts the four band members as grinning, partially decayed zombies walking through a

graveyard A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

Music

The EP begins with "Black Magic", with an extended introduction building alongside the audience's yelling. The song is performed faster, heavier, and more confident than its original recording in 1983. When the song is over, lead vocalist

Tom Araya Tomás Enrique Araya Díaz (; born June 6, 1961) is a Chilean American musician, best known as the vocalist and bassist of American thrash metal band Slayer. Araya is ranked 58th by ''Hit Parader'' on their list of the 100 Greatest Metal Vocali ...

says, "They say the pen is mightier than the sword. Well I say fuck the pen!", and the band begins playing "Die by the Sword". The band then run-through "Captor of Sin", "The Antichrist", "Evil Has No Boundaries", and "Show No Mercy". "Aggressive Perfector" is dedicated to the Old Bridge Militia, a group of

headbangers Headbanging is the action of violently shaking one's head in rhythm with music. It is common in the contemporary rock, punk and heavy metal music genres, where headbanging is often used by musicians on stage. Headbanging is also common in trad ...

from

Old Bridge, New Jersey Old Bridge Township is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, located in the Raritan Valley region and within the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the township’s population was 66,876, re ...

. "Aggressive Perfector" is performed with more "power", as described by author

, who described the entire track listing as, "a fearsome set, although the rest of the songs don't quite have the visceral power of the opening track. In fact, the ''Live Undead'' version of "Black Magic" established a career-long trend of Slayer's live songs being more powerful than the studio versions, with very few exceptions".McIver 2010, p. 46McIver 2010, p. 47

Reception and release

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's employee Ned Raggett gave the album a two and a half star rating, noting that "''Live Undead'' isn't really necessary except for the hardest of hardcore fans in the end, especially in comparison to ''

Decade of Aggression ''Decade of Aggression'' is a double live album by Slayer, released on October 22, 1991, through Def American, Def American Records (later renamed to American Recordings (US), American Recordings) and record producer, produced by Rick Rubin. The a ...

''," and saying that "Evil Has No Boundaries" was the best performance of the seven songs. Raggett also wrote that despite being an unnecessary release, "it does have its 'it could only be Slayer' moments — including Araya's almost casual way of rudely introducing 'Captor of Sin'." The album was originally released in 1984 under

. In both 1993 and 1994, it was re-released with the same catalog numbers. In 2006, it was again re-released as an eleven-track record. It included the '' Haunting the Chapel'' EP and the studio version of "Aggressive Perfector".Raggett, Ned. "Live Undead – Slayer"

. Retrieved 2011-01-07.

Track listing

;Original release

Personnel

The following personnel can be sourced from both

and the album's notes. *

– bass, vocals *

Kerry King Kerry Ray King (born June 3, 1964) is an American musician, best known for being the co-lead guitarist and songwriter of thrash metal band Slayer. He co-founded the band with Jeff Hanneman in 1981 and remained a member for nearly four decades. ...

– guitars *

Jeff Hanneman Jeffrey John Hanneman (January 31, 1964 – May 2, 2013) was an American musician, best known as a founding member and guitarist of the thrash metal band Slayer. Hanneman composed both music and lyrics for every Slayer album until his death in 20 ...

– guitars *

Dave Lombardo David Lombardo (born February 16, 1965) is a Cuban-American drummer, best known as a co-founding member of American thrash metal band Slayer. He is currently playing drums with Testament, Fantômas, Suicidal Tendencies, Dead Cross, Mr. Bungle ...

– drums *Mark Gaide –

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

–

*Eddy Schreyer – remastering *Brian Ames – layout design *Albert Cueller – artwork,

cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game (box art), music album (album art), ...

Charts

Notes

References

* {{Good article 1984 live albums Slayer live albums Metal Blade Records live albums