REVIEWS:
Slayer are a more extreme form of thrash metal than Metallica who along with that particular group, developed that genre. They are from California, where the thrash metal scene had its roots. Original lineup: Kerry King (Lead and Rhythm Guitar), Jeff Hanneman (Lead and Rhythm Guitar), Tom Araya (Bass, Vocals), Dave Lombardo (drums). Paul Bostaph replaced Lombardo and is now the bands current drummer.
--Pat D.
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(Pat D.'s review)
Okay, in my humble opinion, you simply must buy the remastered version of this album. Why? Well, it has more songs on it. Two extra tracks to be exact. One of them is probably the best song on the disc, "Aggressive Perfector". Damn, that song is fucking good. Probably my all-time favorite Slayer track. The second is not really worth being put on there, as it is just a remix of "Criminally Insane". Which some of you may like, and I'm not saying its bad, but if yer gonna put an extra track on a disc, at least make it an original.
Anyway, rants about the extra tracks aside, this album is best described as a first rate burst of aggression. Most tracks are so fast, and so short, that "Angel of Death" seems to be a 24 minute Dream Theater epic, while in reality its only around 3 minutes long. I'm not kidding. A couple of tracks on here are under a minute. And since Slayer decided to not leave any space in between songs, sometimes its tough to figure out where one song ends and another begins. So, in that case, I will just talk about the album as a whole, save for a couple of standout tracks.
There are no bad songs on this disc. There are quite a few thrash classics such as "Altar of Sacrifice", "Jesus Saves", "Angel of Death", "Epidemic", and "Raining Blood". All of those songs are as good as any thrash songs ever made, and well worth buying this album just for them. The other songs are basically short fits of aggression, save "Postmortem" which is mostly midtempo. Some of them are kind of meaningless, but they're all at least OK.
On a final note, it may take the average listener a while to like this album. I know when I first bought it that it sounded like indiscernable noise. Part of this has to do with a particularly clueless Rick Rubin mix. Everything sounds hollow and weightless, there is absoultely NO bass guitar anywhere to be found, and the drums are weak. But after a while listening, your brain will begin to decipher the cool blazing riffs and the excellent rhythmic vocals. Its a very fun album to listen to, especially in a car. Give it a chance.
What can I say about this album, other than that I consider it to be the greatest EVER. Period. Even after listening to it dozens of times over the last year and a half, it hasn't begun to wear off on me even a little bit. Reign In Blood is simply amazing, the best album by my favorite band. The album starts with the legendary (and infamous) "Angel of Death", a song that got Slayer branded as Nazis because of its subject matter, discussing the horrific science experiments conducted by Dr. Joseph Mengel at Auschwitz. Doesn't seem like anybody was really paying attention to the lyrics, which are actually a brutal condemnation of the Holocaust. From the unforgettable opening riff, to the slightly slowed-down middle section, to the searing ending, "Angel of Death" is truly one of the greatest songs ever written.
What follows is one short, mind-blowingly intense track after another. "Piece by Piece", "Necrophobic", and "Altar of Sacrifice" speed by, mercilessly hammering at your cranium every step of the way. THHHRRRAAASSSHHH!!! Sorry, I got a little carried away there. We finally get a break from the pummeling at the opening to "Jesus Saves", but this part lasts only briefly, as the song explodes into overdrive at the one-minute mark and never lets up after that. "Criminally Insane" features an awesome drum break at both the beginning and the mid-point, as well some genuinely fear-inspiring lyrics ("I have yet only just begun/to take your fucking lives!")
Three songs later begins the album's second absolute high point ("Angel of Death" being the first), the final one-two punch of "Portmortem" and "Raining Blood". The former, shockingly enough, is mid-tempo for the first two minutes, providing contrast to the all-out speed assaults that make up the vast majority of the album. The impossibly fast ending abruptly stops, giving way to the rainstorm sounds that open "Raining Blood", which rivals the aforementioned "Angel of Death" as Slayer's finest moment ever. The beginning section to this song is perhaps even faster than the end of "Postmortem", and when Tom Araya's vocals come in ("trapped in purgatory/a lifeless object alive"), I just have to chuckle at the sheer insanity of it all. "Raining Blood" eventually ends the same way it began, speeding to the finish at inhuman velocity, nearly collapsing into absolute noise by the time it's interrupted by the return of the thunder-and-lightning sound effects. Thus ends the greatest album of all time, and a true landmark in the metal genre.
I am no expert in speed metal, so it may just be that this genre is not for me, but Reign In Blood is one of the stupidest albums I have ever heard. On this album there was no mood, or emotion, or interesting song structures, or feeling, or variety, or great riffs, or excellent (or for that matter any) melodies; why the hell does everyone love this one so much? Oh sure the dry ultra-heavy speed and intensity of the music doesn't let up, big deal. The dry ultra-heavy speed and intensity didn't let up much on Three Dollar Bill Y'all by Limp Bizkit either, and that is the worst album I have heard yet. Not that this is anywhere near as bad as the first Bizkit album, though. Even though there are quite a few major problems I will admit this is not an extremely painful album to listen to. It's just, well, pitifully mediocre and nothing more. It isn't QUITE low enough to be called truly bad, but man oh man does it come ever so close to it. In fact this really isn't a 5, more like a fairly high four rounded up a little so that I don't feel too bad about knocking on an album widely regarded as classic.
There are actually only three songs on here, "Angel Of Death," "Raining Blood," and a big nineteen minute long middle bit. I'm not going to call the eight center tracks different songs since they all sound exactly the same. In fact, I got the same feeling of the album repeating that I did on Zooropa. If this were a double album or something like that I would have had the advantage of dismissing them as filler, but here I can't do that. The whole album is less than thirty minutes in length, and even as short as it is I still find the endless monotony a bit on the boring side. To be honest I'm usually giving out my first yawn by "Criminally Insane," and "Postmortem" almost guarantees a second. Even though all of these inner tracks are less than three minutes they seem to drag on forever.
Now this album does have some good things about it. The opening "Angel Of Death" is a really good song, displaying some of the only writing talent on the whole album. And the work with the drums and guitar is something to admired indeed. There are some pretty darn fast solos here, and that is always something I love to hear in a metal album. Perhaps, like I said before, I just don't understand the whole speed/thrash thing. I do like Iced Earth because they can make powerful thrash music with great melodies. This one doesn't do that. In fact it's a whole lot like Metallica's debut without a masterpiece like "The Four Horsemen" to help it. Nothing on this album can really be called incredible, and there is certainly nothing to get very excited about. A good opener and a few impressive rolls and solos? Not a very good album if you ask me.
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COMMENTS
[in response to the first review:]
Hey Pat, if you like "Aggressive Perfector" so much then you should check out their debut album Show No Mercy as that's the album the song was originally recorded for. You should also check out Judas Priest as their riffing style is very similar to said song.
As for Reign in Blood, man does it kick ass! Despite the fact it repeats the same speedy hardcore riff with minor variations during all the fast parts, as well as a lack of bass and higher-than-usual guitar tuning, of course. Dark and evil and sinister and heavy as all hell, and how can you go wrong with a song about being turned into a demon? Definitely a great agression release, especially after having to endure faux-edgy corporate radio. Plus it's LOUD!!! For a real treat, request that your local mainstream radio staion play "Altar of Sacrifice" and laugh as they undergo premature urination! BTW, I find it funny that you say that some of the songs are less a minute, as the shortest song on the album, "Necrophobic", is 1:40 and the only song under two minutes.
[Author's note: Actually, you are right about that, Mr. Vexor. I still cannot figure out why i wrote two songs under a minute. Maybe i was thinking of SOD. Hmmm. Anyways, Piece by Piece is 2:02. For some reason on the tape it seems a lot shorter. Maybe thats because it is so damn fast.
Or it could be that the end of Postmortem beginning of Raining Blood i thought was a new song. See, I have the tape, and no way to tell where one song ends and another begins, so it seems like another song to me. Hmmm. Anyways, my apologies for my dumbass innacuracies. Although, you probably find a lot of them in my writing since i usually go into a blind rage when composing reviews. ;-)]
An excellent album. One mighty display of thrash. "Angel Of Death" is the best track here, along with "Altar Of Sacrifice", "Jesus Saves", "Postmortem" and "Raining Blood". The other 5 tracks are still good, but don't have as good riffs or variation. They can even become a bit boring occasionally. The vocals are absolutely perfect. They fit right in with the music. Overall, an excellent display of aggression. 9/10.
I would like to add something: you are right in complaining about the production. Not that it's BAD, mind you (aside from the lack of bass). It's just completely inadequate. The overly high-end oriented mix is much better suited for a more technicality-oriented band like Megadeth (who Rick "Mr. Treble" Rubin should have produced for; maybe then they might have actually gotten a good mix before they released Youthanasia and turned to crap) or a pop band, but for Slayer's brand of heavy, ugly metal it just doesn't work. I found myself turning the treble all the way down to compensate, and it still sounded too damn bright. Worse, the super-high treble makes the album sound annoyingly harsh and distorted when the volume is turned up, and for an album that was MADE to be cranked this is indeed quite a problem. It also doesn't help that the guitars sound like they were tuned higher than usual (as I mentioned before) and that the band (or was it Rick Rubin? I'm not sure who really holds responsibility here) sucked all the crunch out of the guitar, giving them lots of volume but no real meat. Had this album had a mix like Sepultura's Chaos A.D. or Alice in Chains' Dirt, as well as the guitar sound of the former album, these songs could REALLY kick ass. Maybe they wanted to focus more on the speed than the heavyness, I dunno.
Oh yeah, and the music isn't perfect; the solos, though adequate, aren't really interesting and aren't memorable in the slightest (except maybe the one in "Angel of Death") and "Reborn" has an unbelievably annoyiong vocal melody that relegates the song to "weak track" status. Otherwise, the rest is pretty consistent. I'd give this album an 8 after more careful thoguht.
Well, Robert Grazer has done a good job of pointing out this albums flaws, despite the 'no great riffs' comment. Man, was that stupid. The riff in the slowed down portion of "Angel Of Death" is great, one of metal's finest.That song is a classic despite the fact it's tainted with a very, very pathetic speed solo. Most of the album is decent. But there are 3 absolute awesome songs. "Angel of Death", "Altar Of Suicide" and "Raining Blood". The best bit in the whole album is in "Altar Of Sacrifice", about a minute and a half into it ,"enter to the realm of SATAN, SATAN ,SATAN, ..solo". Awesome song.
This isn't a masterpiece, fools. I'd give it 8/10. But I had say this is the best out of the early speeeeedy stuff.They finally got it to the point where they could take it no further and made the next album slower and more varied. Thank god for that.
(Pat D.'s review)
1988 was a good year for metal. We got two phenomenal metal albums. The other of course, is Metallica's classic ...And Justice for All. This album is almost as good. The high points are better, but there is one track that bothers me "Silent Scream", and one cover "Dissident Aggressor" (Judas Priest). Dave Lombardo rules on the drumkit. And this album shows it like no other. The drums have a delightful crsipness and power to them, and Dave lays down some phenomenal drum fills on just about every track. The best examples are "Live Undead", "Behind the Crooked Cross", and "Ghosts of War". Awwww, man. The drums sound so sweet on those tracks. I could go on for days......
Other than the great drums, all of the tracks except "Silent Scream" and "Dissident Aggressor" rule. Most of this album is slower than Reign In Blood, but that just means the riffs will hit you harder. And man, the riffs. Slayer do not have Metallica crunch, but they do have very ambient and rocking guitar lines. Its definitely different from standard metal rhythm guitar, and I think its great. Just about every song has some powerful, catchy riff that will leave you wanting more.
So, as you can see, I love this album. I think the thing that says the most about its greatness is that despite the two not-so-great tracks, South of Heaven gets the most airplay of any of my Slayer albums. One thing, though. For some reason beyond my understanding, Allmusic (linked on the uh...um...duh....LINKS page) gave this album 2 stars (out of five). That just astounds me. It further astounds me that they gave Seasons in the Abyss, in my opinion a FAR inferior album, 4 and a half stars. Unbelieveable. Seasons is OK, but I'd take South over it any day of the week. It may not be as good for you as it was for me (no, I'm not making a hidden sex reference here), but it sure as hell did not deserve such a poor rating. And yeah, I think overall, South is also a more enjoyable outing than Reign.
First of all, I'd like to point out that comparing this album to Reign In Blood is damn unfair. Which isn't to say that it's not a masterpiece. It just doesn't quite measure up to Slayer's previous release, but then again, NOTHING in my collection does! South Of Heaven is the third and final installment in what I consider to be the finest trio of albums ever released (even better than Iron Maiden's trilogy of The Number Of The Beast, Piece Of Mind, and Powerslave), Hell Awaits and Reign In Blood being the first two. It's probably the weakest of the three, but that's not saying much at all, as it still has more than its share of amazing highlights.
The first noticeable difference is the generally much slower pace of the songs, something Slayer hadn't even hinted at before. However, that works to the album's advantage, as it has a dark, creepy vibe that none of the band's other albums quite match. The most revered song among Slayer fans is the title track, with its classic unsettling intro and memorable chorus shouts of "On and on south of heaven!". Another aspect that separates this album from Slayer's previous efforts is the vocals and lyrics. Tom actually sings(!) most of the songs, and he does a pretty respectable job of it, if I do say so myself. His newfound melodicism really works wonders on the previously mentioned title track, as well as "Live Undead" and "Spill The Blood". But he still yells quite ferociously when called on to do so.
Upon closer inspection, South Of Heaven is also a significant departure lyrically from the over-the-top violence and satanism of Show No Mercy, Hell Awaits, and Reign In Blood. The title itself, South Of Heaven, is in fact a reference to our poor screwed-up Earth, not hell. Early on, we get a big surprise from a band that had earlier seemed to glorify death, with an anti-abortion song, "Silent Scream". Whatever your views on this controversial issue, the lyrics are as compelling and thought-provoking as they are disturbing. Thought-provoking? From Slayer? Will wonders never cease?
Every song is a highlight in its own way, but my personal favorites are "Behind the Crooked Cross" (which some have interpreted as an apology for "Angel of Death"), the near-epic shredfest "Ghosts of War" (AMAZING lead guitar work on this one), the anti-televangelism diatribe "Read Between the Lies", and the closing "Spill the Blood", which features a dark melody very similar to the title track, although this may have been done purposefully. All in all, South Of Heaven is a thoroughly satisfying metal classic without a single less-than-stellar track, Slayer's third such release in a row, as I mentioned earlier in this review. It's an absolute essential for any metal fan, no doubt about that. Just don't expect another Reign In Blood.
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I'd just like to point out that if people actually read the lyrics to Angel of Death, its quite easy to tell that they are against the Holocaust. So no "apology" is really necessary. Besides, to interpret the song any other way is rather stupid of the people that did think that it was a Holocaust praising tune. I mean, come on, Tom Araya is Jewish. Kinda stupid to praise the destruction of your own people aint it? Man, those censor people are most of the time too stupid for words. Which i guess, kind of defeats the purpose of this tirade.
(Pat D.'s review)
HIGH POINTS: War Ensemble, Blood Red, Spirit In Black, Hallowed Point, Skeletons Of Society, Temptation, Born Of Fire, Seasons in the Abyss. LOW POINTS: Expendable Youth, Dead Skin Mask (not all bad)
It simple amazes me everytime I discover a new thrash band from the 80s, how unbelievable the drummers are, and who gets the critical acclaim? LARS ULRICH. Mr. "I cant play Dyers Eve without stopping every 30 seconds for a breather". Now, i'm no drum expert, but i have listened to enough drummers to tell who's more dexterous and complex. And let me tell you this: I have yet to find a single major thrash drummer who sounds as boring, generic, and sloppy as Metallica's man. Hell, I guess that gives credibility to James' recent comment in Playboy (I read it for the porn, dammit) that Lars will "never win drummer of the year". I guess if his own famous, close friend bandmates come out and say that he sucks as a drummer, people should pay close attention to those words.
Oh yeah, the point of that diatribe was to further praise Slayer's Dave Lombardo. This has easily got to be one of the best, most creative drumming thrash albums ever made. And I'm not just talking about the insane double kick speed on Reign In Blood (which the drumming was kind of boring anyways). We get some tasty tom rolls and fills all over the place. Like the title track or "Blood Red". For you speedsters, "War Ensemble" and "Hallowed Point" mix up high speed straight ahead thrash drumming with more upper drumkit creativity than Lars Ulrich could ever dream of. Matter of fact, for you Keith Moon fans, I found that Dave's playing on the title track to this album was eerily similar to Keith's style, albeit faster and more controlled (my two main problems with Keith not being).
As for the rest of the band, well, Tom Araya is never going to win any bass awards. There must be a reason that we've never heard him play until Diabolus. In any case, like most early/mid Slayer stuff, the bassline is absolutely nowhere to be found leaving the overall album sound decidedly thin. Fortunately, Kerry and Jeff's rhythm guitar style fits perfectly with that type of atmosphere, and we get such delightful chugfests as "Temptation", "Spirit In Black", and "Skeletons of Society". The only bad things I have to say about this release have to do with "Expendable Youth" and "Dead Skin Mask". The former is just a boring, trite little song that goes absolutely nowhere. The latter is one of those iffy tracks, which is decent, but parts of it like the ridiculously bad Araya vocal phrasing during the chorus just make me cringe. Overall, a very impressive album. Some of the chord progressions Kerry and Jeff use can sound very awkward at first, so be prepared to listen to Seasons a lot before truly grasping its greatness. And you "Metallica-only" thrash fans will never say "that Lars Ulrich kicks some ass" ever again. Guaranteed.
How do you follow up three absolute masterpieces in a row? This is the dilemma Slayer must have found themselves facing while writing and recording Seasons In The Abyss. Apparently, they didn't let it get to them, as this is yet another fantastic addition to the band's catalogue. However, it's not quite perfect, and it pales in comparison to the previous three albums. My main point of criticism is that the band seems to be going for a slightly more commercial sound here (which paid off with Slayer's first platinum record). Also, the weak mix can get to me sometimes. But amazingly, these flaws barely hurt the actual songs.
Of course, nearly everyone who's into Slayer loves "War Ensemble", "Spirit in Black", "Dead Skin Mask", and the title track. I'm not going to argue, as all of these are indisputable classics. "War Ensemble" starts off the album as a ultra-fast thrasher reminiscent of Reign In Blood (although maybe not quite THAT fast), with furious energy and an extremely memorable chorus and bridge. One of Slayer's best tracks, without a doubt. The next four songs are much slower-paced, though "Spirit In Black" speeds up quite a bit during its second half. This particular track is another standout, even as it shows off a more accessible, mainstream-friendly side to the band.
But it's still unmistakeably Slayer, and so is "Dead Skin Mask", the most morbid song here by far; it's about serial killer Ed Gein. The atmosphere is just absolutely chilling. Combine that with the graphic lyrics and the horrying ending, which features the voice of a young girl screaming, "Let me out of here, Mr. Gein!", and what could have been one of Slayer's most radio-ready songs becomes anything but. Unfortunately, the other two songs filling out the album's first half, "Blood Red" and "Expendable Youth", aren't quite as strong, mainly because they're pretty much the same mid-tempo track. But on the plus side, both songs feature great lyrics, about the Tianenmen Square massacre and inner-city gangs, respectively.
The second half, though, is nothing short of phenomenal. "Hallowed Point", another fast number (about gun control, interestingly enough), comes as a shock after the ending of "Dead Skin Mask". Ohhh man, I can't stress enough how much it rules! Next is "Skeletons Of Society", perhaps the album's best mid-tempo song, which contains an irresistible combination of aggression and catchiness. I get the chorus stuck in my head for days after every listen. "Temptation" has double-tracked, echoed vocals in the verses, and the song's bridge ("have you ever danced with the devil?/has temptation ever summoned you?.") makes it another outstanding cut. "Born of Fire" absolutely rips. I can't really describe it any other way. Finally, there's the epic title track, whose intro slowly builds for over two minutes before segueing into the awesome main riff. The ominously sung chorus, as well as the overall mood of the song, makes it deserving of its classic status. While Seasons In The Abyss doesn't quite reach the quality of Slayer's best albums, on account of a couple of songs being rather weak by the band's standards, it is still an excellent release that would be career-defining for many bands. Don't hesitate to buy it if you already have the previous three.
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(reviewed by Kevin Akstin)
During the four years after the release of Seasons In The Abyss, Slayer released the double live album Decade Of Aggression, parted ways with drummer Dave Lombardo, and (allegedly) nearly split up. Somehow, they managed to get it together and put out yet another great album. Although Divine Intervention is considered to be a sub-par album by both fans and critics and critics alike, I strongly beg to differ.
It doesn't get off to a smashing start, though. "Killing Fields" could have been an excellent song, and it includes an outstanding effort from new skinsman Paul Bostaph, but it doesn't quite gel together like it should, and it comes off as somewhat awkward. From there on, however, pretty much everything is vintage Slayer. "Sex. Murder. Art." is a psychotic speedster (with a self-explanatory title, no less) that will leaved you seared and in shock upon first listen. "Fictional Reality" is slower-paced, but catchy in spite of itself, and is followed by another throwback to earlier days in "Dittohead". These two songs show an ever-increasing maturity in Slayer's lyrics, dealing with political issues that are certainly relevant to our society today. Next comes what I believe to be the album's centerpiece, the 5 and ½-minute title track, with some eerie clean guitar passages and disturbing but ambiguous lyrics. I can safely say that it's yet another addition to Slayer's collection of classic tracks.
The second half starts out magnificently with "Circle of Beliefs", an attack on organized religion that reminds one of "Jesus Saves" off Reign In Blood without sounding at all like that song. It's kind of hard to explain. The next two songs, "SS-3" and "Serenity In Murder" don't quite match the excellence of the preceeding tracks, but come awfully close, especially the former, which concerns the infamous Nazi official Reinhard Heydrich. A video was made for the latter, and though I've never seen it, I do know that it was featured in an episode of "Beavis and Butthead" (simply titled "Serenity" on-screen). "213", another song inspired by a mass murderer (Jeffrey Dahmer in this case), is appropriately horror-inducing. The calm-but-creepy intro is certainly something the band has done before, but it still works like a charm in creating the perfect atmosphere. I can almost guarantee that the song's ending will frighten you the first time you hear it. The album closes with "Mind Control", a rather standard-sounding, but quite good, thrasher.
All in all, Divine Intervention isn't quite as great as Seasons In The Abyss. That album did feature a couple of less-than-stellar tracks, but they were still pretty good. The fact that this one isn't quite top-notch all the way through, combined with a particularly wretched production job by the great (sarcasm) Rick Rubin, almost made me drop the rating to an 8. However, I think that there is enough truly exceptional material to justify rating Divine Intervention "excellent" instead of merely "very good". While it may not be one of Slayer's best, it's still an album that they (and their fans) can be proud of.
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COMMENTS
I have heard Dittohead and Killing Fields off this album. Dittohead is great, a fast, ripping, powerful throwback to Reign in Blood era Slayer. And man, does Bostaph rule on the kit. He's actually a lot more interesting to listen to than Lombardo. Dave played a lot of fast, but almost basic drum patterns. Paul throws in some incredibly fast and powerful rolls along with some interesting variations on the double bass drum. And man, why did it take that moron Rick Rubin until now to make a halfway decent mix for this band? Although in reality, he didnt really get it right until Slayer dished out the Korn-fest that is Diabolus In Musica. A shame, really.
(reviewed by Pat D.)
A 4 for this album is generous. Slayer underwent some kind of transformation since Seasons. Damned if I know exactly when and why it occurred. If I'm not mistaken, there were three Slayer albums in between Seasons and this release, and I own not one of them. Which may be a good thing. Slayer (apparently sick of seeing James Hetfield and company getting rich) have decided to cash in on the current trend of sludge rock. By doing this, they left behind just about everything that was great about 'em.
The overall sound the Slaymen have come up with for this release can best be described as Machine Head meets Korn. Now, I don't really care for Machine Head, and I loathe Korn, so as you can see, this album would be tough to get into even if it were good. Which it isn't. Tom still has not gotten it through his head that he cannot sing. So, as usual, the best tracks are the ones where he spits out the lyrics. My personal favorite is "Stain of Mind" in which Tom slurrs rhythmically like the old days. "Bitter Peace" is pretty cool, especially the part where it screams "Can't stop the warring FACTIONS!!!!" Pretty cool. "Love to Hate" is pretty fucking great, also. "Death's Head" isn't bad. Finally, "Scrum" has a wicked bassline. The rest of the album ranges from poor to simply mediocre. It seems Sepultura is the only band capable of making a good speed metal record anymore. I have not acquired their latest Against yet, so I do not know if this holds true. Pantera lost it with Trendkill, and apparently Slayer lost it a while ago.
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(reviewed by Pat D.)
Dammit, dammit, dammit. Why is it that Slayer feel like they have to make tired ripoffs of rapmetal bands? In case they haven't figured it out, they aren't likely to gain much of Slipknot's fanbase by sounding like them. They have about as much chance of getting on 92.3 KSuck as I have of fronting a boy band. Slayer's "long awaited" 2001 release (I put that in quotes because I wasnt expecting anything special after the mediocre Diabolus In Musica) is boring as hell. Like Mark Prindle pointed out on his site, Paul Bostaph for some inexplicable reason has lost almost all of his desire to hit any part of his kit besides the snare, giving him a sound remarkably similar to the duller-than-dirt stylings of Raymond Herrera. Also, Tom has lost all of whatever little range he had before, and proceeds to scream in exactly one tone throughout the album. Grrrr.
The few positive things I have to say consist mostly of the song "Payback" and a very few select others. "Payback" rules. The rhythmic chorus kicks a lot of A, like old Slayer, and Paul actually sounds like he's playing more than a 3 piece drumkit. But that is by far the best track on here. Fairly decent tracks include the bouncy "New Faith" and "Disciple". Thats about it though. On the other side of things, songs like "Here Comes the Pain", "Deviance" "Warzone" are lame, lame, lame sludge. The real crime of this situation is that I'm liking the new poseur Slipknot Iowa album more than either of the last two Slayer releases. And thats just SAD, people. I havent picked up Iced Earth's latest yet, but I think I will shoot myself if THEY start sounding like those childish freaks.
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COMMENTS
[email protected] (Alan Philippa)
slayer are really fuckin awesome at their peak but their peak was only for 4 albums in ym opinion their middle period reign in blood , south of heaven , seasons in the abyss and divine intervention.