slayer

Slayer originally formed under Tom Araya, Kerry King, Jeff Hannemen, and Dave Lombardo in the early '80s, covering Iron Maiden and Judas Priest songs and were part of the "Big Four" of the thrash scene in the '80s (Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax. Slayer's sound has been changed little in their 20 years of thrashing it up and the fans love it...I know I do.

Show No Mercy (Metal Blade) 1983

1. Evil Has No Boundaries
2. The Antichrist
3. Die By The Sword
4. Fight 'til Death
5. Metal Storm/Face the Slayer
6. Black Magic
7. Tormentor
8. Final Command
9. Cronics
10. Show No Mercy

Slayer's debut album rocked the Bay Area thrash scene in the '80s. Songs like Show No Mercy, Final Command, and Evil Has No Boundaries are fast paced, adrenaline rushing songs with mean drum beats and chopping guitar riffs. This is one of my favorite Slayer albums that I have.

Haunting the Chapel (Metal Blade) 1984

1. Chemical Warfare
2. Captor of Sin
3. Haunting the Chapel
4. Aggressive Perfector

Haunting the Chapel is pretty much an EP pushed out by Metal Blade after the stunning debut album, Show No Mercy. Luckily, I caught this at a Hastings for only $4.99. The only beef I have with the album is the drumming is kinda drowned out and cranking the volume up doesn't seem to work too much. It sounds like my band went into the garage, turned the crappy tape recorder on and started to jam out.

Live Undead (Metal Blade) 1985

1. Black Magic
2. Die By The Sword
3. Captor of Sin
4. The Antichrist
5. Evil Has No Boundaries
6. Show No Mercy
7. Aggressive Perfector

Despite being "live," Live Undead was actually recorded in a studio and the crowd was synthesised in. Still, the album is kinda neat because Slayer did a studio session and just added the crowd in, giving us a taste of what they would sound like live. Unfortunately, the production is also apparent, too, and much of the songs sound like muck.

Hell Awaits (Metal Blade) 1985

1. Hell Awaits
2. Kill Again
3. At Dawn They Sleep
4. Praise of Death
5. Necrophiliac
6. Crypts of Eternity
7. Hardening the Arteries

Slayer's second album and much better than their first. Hell Awaits has the same aggression and speed as their other releases have and, unfortunately, it also has the Satanic "I wanna kill every one, Satan is good, Satan is our pal" lyrics. Past that, the album is pretty good. I like the self titled track the best off of this album.

Reign in Blood (American) 1986

1. Angel of Death
2. Piece by Piece
3. Necrophobic
4. Altar of Sacrifice
5. Jesus Saves
6. Criminally Insane
7. Reborn
8. Epidemic
9. Postmortem
10. Raining Blood
11. Aggressive Perfector
12. Criminally Insane (remix)

Reign in Blood is Slayer's claim to fame. Slayer finally hopped off of Metal Blade and were signed by American and the deal payed off. Slayer's sound is much more clean and distinctive. The album is jam packed with fast, aggressive guitar riffs and killer drumming by Dave Lombardo. At the time I got this, my buddies and I thought Angel of Death was the fastest song ever and we were mesmorized by it. I like Piece by Piece, Jesus Saves, and Aggressive Perector the most off of this album.

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South of Heaven (American) 1988

1. South of Heaven
2. Silent Scream
3. Live Undead
4. Behind the Crooked Cross
5. Mandatory Suicide
6. Ghosts of War
7. Read Between the Lies
8. Cleanse the Soul
9. Dissident Aggressor
10. Spill the Blood

South of Heaven brings a change to not only Slayer's speed, but their lyrics also. In South of Heaven, Rick Ruben refines Slayer's sound even more and slows them down. Along with this, the songs aren't "I wanna kill every one, Satan is good, Satan is our pal" on this one, but more politically toned, such as Behind the Crooked Cross, Mandatory Suicide, and Read Between the Lies. It pissed off a lot of Slayer's hardcore fans, but I kinda like the sound. Despite that, this is one of Slayer's best selling albums. My favorite tracks are Read Between the Lies, South of Heaven, Mandatory Suicide, and Silent Scream. Dissident Aggressor is a Judas Priest cover.

Decade of Aggression (American) 1991

Disc One

1. Hell Awaits
2. The Antichrist
3. War Ensemble
4. South of Heaven
5. Raining Blood
6. Altar of Sacrifice
7. Jesus Saves
8. Dead Skin Mask
9. Seasons in the Abyss
10. Mandatory Suicide
11. Angel of Death

Disc Two

12. Hallowed Point
13. Blood Red
14. Die By The Sword
15. Black Magic
16. Captor of Sin
17. Born of Fire
18. Postmortem
19. Spirit in Black
20. Expendable Youth
21. Chemical Warfare

This is Slayer's first live contemplation (Live Undead doesn't count) The 2 CD pack is jam packed with Slayer classics. The big problem, though, is that they play so fast that there isn't any notice in a change of the song unless Tom barks it out on the mic. The drums are drowned out by the guitars too much, as well. I love being able to hear Dave go crazy on the drums. I suppose if you like it like that, Decade of Aggression is for you. If the recording would have been done better, I would have found the contemplation more fun to listen to, but due to production, I don't listen to it all that much. Still, it's a great way to mark Slayer's 10 years of thrashing it up in the US.

Divine Intervention (American) 1994

1. Killing Fields
2. Sex, Murder, Art
3. Fictional Reality
4. Dittohead
5. Divine Intervention
6. Circle of Beliefs
7. SS-3
8. Serenity in Murder
9. 213
10. Mind Control

After taking a few years off, Slayer have returned with a new drummer and a new, but old, sound. Dave Lombardo, who left to form Grip Inc., is replaced by Forbidden's Paul Bostaph. Bostaph proves that he can fill in Dave's empty slot by giving us the killer drumming on Killing Fields. I was amazed by his drumming which inspired me to buy Forbidden's first CD, Forbidden Evil. Slayer, with their sound honed to perfection even more, have gone back to their Reign in Blood style and, you guessed it, "I wanna kill everyone, Satan is good, Satan is our pal" lyrics. Aside from that, this would have to be my favorite Slayer album, next to Show No Mercy.