Recording history
After recording four demo tapes as Matrix over the previous three years, brothers Dale and Troy Thompson got their chance when promoter Dorn Repport arranged for Matrix to open for Daniel Band in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. The Thompsons were joined by guitarist Billy Sutherland and drummer Steve Gilbert to perform for a crowd of 1000. Among this crowd were executives from Refuge Music Group. The band caught the label's attention when the band sold out of all the tapes they brought to the show, which led to the label contacting Matrix. Six months later, the band changed its name to Bride and were signed to Pure Metal Records, Refuge Records' Christian metal-focused imprint established specifically to market Bride. Bride's budget to record ''Show No Mercy'' was $2500. According to the band, when entering the studio in October 1985, they incorrectly believed it had to meet a release date only a month away. The album ended up rushed, with the production being thin and muddy.Overview
Musically, the album features a dark, heavy metal style with occasional speed metal influences and Dale Thompson's high-pitched and pseudo-operatic lead vocals. Troy Thompson and Steve Osborne handled the album's guitar duties. Dale played bass on eight tracks and Scott Hall performed on the remaining two. Stephen Rolland's drum work, based on traditional metal drumming and lacking double bass, would be heard on the band's following releases. The album's opening track, "Forever in Darkness," is a fast, rhythm guitar and bass-driven song with an epic chorus. Followed by a minute of lead guitar playing, the song closes hauntingly as Dale repeatedly wails "forever in darkness." "Follow Your Heart" also contains a chorus in which Dale demonstrates a broader vocal range. The song breaks for a brief guitar solo before slowing to several seconds of acoustic guitar. A quiet guitar interlude opens the album's title track, followed by a groovy riff. "Show No Mercy" takes a slower pace with acoustic guitar playing, and the lyrics deal withTrack listing
1986 Pure Metal Records original release # Evil That Men Do (3:37) # Now He Is Gone (3:49) # Fly Away (4:12) # Forever in Darkness (3:43) # Follow Your Heart (4:29) # Show No Mercy (3:36) # I Will Be with You (4:29) # Thunder in the City (5:53) # No Matter the Price (4:18) # The First Will Be Last (4:07) 1999 Millennium Eight Records re-release with six bonus tracks from Matrix and a Bride demo # Evil That Men Do (3:37) # Now He Is Gone (3:49) # Fly Away (4:12) # Forever in Darkness (3:43) # Follow Your Heart (4:29) # Show No Mercy (3:36) # I Will Be with You (4:29) # Thunder in the City (5:53) # No Matter the Price (4:18) # The First Will Be Last (4:07) # I Can Fly Now onus Matrix track(3:40) # What Must I Do onus Matrix track(4:00) # Butterfly onus Matrix track(3:54) # Missing Children onus Matrix track(4:24) # Fright onus Matrix track(3:28) # Look at Me Now onus Matrix track(4:12) # No Matter the PriceReferences
{{DEFAULTSORT:Show No Mercy (Bride Album) 1986 debut albums Bride (band) albums