 The final cost for the record was $ 15 @,@ 000 , which nearly bankrupted Zazula . " This was mortgage money I 'm spending , not something I 've got put by I 'm going to invest , " he said later . Zazula had a hard time finding a distributor for the record , but he eventually convinced Relativity Records to distribute the album in the US and Canada , and Music for Nations in Europe . The band initially intended to title the album Metal Up Your Ass with the cover featuring a hand clutching a dagger emerging from a toilet bowl . However , Zazula convinced them to change this as he thought distributors would not stock it . The final cover featured the shadow of a hand letting go of a bloodied hammer . Burton was credited with coming up with the name Kill ' Em All — referring to timid record distributors , saying , " Those record company fuckers ... kill ' em all ! " — as a response to the situation . Ulrich thought Kill ' Em All was a good name , and Zazula agreed . Even though the original title was unused , the band did later release a " Metal Up Your Ass " T @-@ shirt with the proposed artwork . A live bootleg recording of a 1982 performance at the Old Waldorf , titled Metal Up Your Ass ( Live ) , featured the original cover artwork . Original pressings of the album came with an inner sleeve that included pictures and lyrics as well as a silver label on the vinyl . Subsequent pressings had a blank white sleeve and standard album label . The 1988 reissue re @-@ introduced the lyrics and photos . The original release can be distinguished by the words " Bang That Head That Doesn 't Bang " at the top of the back cover . This was dropped from the reissue . The phrase " Bang That Head That Doesn 't Bang " was dedicated to San Francisco fan Ray Burch , known for his headbanging at the band 's early shows . 
