SLAYER released the Live Undead 12" on this day in 1984 through Metal Blade.
SLAYER is great on vinyl, but those who have seen the band play (except KERRANG!) will tell you they are one of the most intense live bands on the scene. They play so much faster and heavier than on vinyl, and with lots of headbanging. SLAYER doesn't rely on flash pots and makeup anymore, just pure energy!!! Hopefully, soon they will tour beyond the West Coast. As it says on the "SNM" LP: "Beware Europe, we're going to steal your souls!".
V.R., Brain Damage #1, 1984
Live Undead is SLAYER's first live document, released soon after Haunting the Chapel. The recording itself was, as the sleeve says, made live in New York, but in a studio with engineer Bill Metoyer. There is a purposeful mystery around the recording, but there seemingly was a small crowd - probably in an adjacent room and certainly mixed in later - and the effect is distracting and detached, for sure! Still, some great versions of Show No Mercy era classics like the killer "Evil Has No Boundaries"!
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.
Bill Metoyer interview, The Bloody Reign of Slayer, 2008