Slayer were one of the "big four" thrash bands of the 80's and
early 90's. I bought their "Show No Mercy" record when I was in high
school as a new release and was intrigued by their sound, although I hated their
insipid poser image. Slayer started life in 1981 playing Maiden
and Priest covers. They eventually
began playing thrash that was partially inspired by early Exodus
and their attendance at a Metallica
show.
Slayer - Show No Mercy (Metal Blade) 1983
1. "Evil Has No Boundaries"
(3:12)
2. "The Antichrist" (2:50)
3. "Die by the Sword" (3:37)
4. "Fight 'Till Death" (3:40)
5. "Aggressive Perfector" (3:29)
6. "Metal Storm/Face the Slayer" (4:55)
7. "Black Magic" (4:07)
8. "Tormentor" (3:46)
9. "The Final Command" (2:33)
10. "Crionics" (3:30)
11. "Show No Mercy" (3:08)
12. "Chemical Warfare" (6:01)
I remember purchasing this record as a new release and being completely floored by the sheer aggression. Araya's vocals were so incredibly cool, especially those higher pitched screams he would do. I remember thinking he sounded a bit like Cronos from Venom at times. I brought the record over to a friend's house who was equally blown away by the band. We were also taken back by the band's photos on the back cover. They were decked out in leather and studs and had this very eerie looking black make-up around their eyes, a look that the band quickly abandoned. Kerry King looked bad with his red BC Rich and Hanneman looked like a twisted KK Downing with his blonde mane and blood spattered Les Paul. Songs like "Antichrist". "Black Magic" and "Die By the Sword" were absolutely infectious. Even after not hearing this album for over a decade, I still could easily hear that simple but effective opening riff and Tom screaming out "I am the antichrist, It's what I was meant to be, your God left me behind, and set my soul to be free". Even back then the lyrics bugged me since I had been raised in a Christian home. While this type of lyrics are now cliché and overdone in some metal circles, in 1983 these were pretty shocking, despite the fact that Venom were already doing the same thing. I justified them in my mind that the lyrics were meant as nothing more that b-grade horror and were not meant to be taken seriously. Still it was due to this that I sold the vinyl back in 1989 and did not hear this album again until this CD copy showed up in my mailbox in '06. Hearing it again, I still think to myself that this is musically one great thrash metal opus. Most Slayer fans will disagree with me, but I always thought this to be their greatest recording. The lyrics still don't jive too well for me, even though I now know for a fact that Slayer never meant for their lyrics to be taken seriously. "Chemical Warfare" was not on the original release and was originally released on the "Haunting the Chapel" EP. "Aggressive Perfector"was originally released on Metal Massacre 3.
Slayer - Haunting the Chapel (Metal Blade) 1984
1. "Chemical Warfare"
(6:01)
2. "Captor of Sin" (3:30)
3. "Haunting the Chapel" (3:56)
4. "Aggressive Perfector" (3:28)
The original "Haunting the Chapel" EP had three songs. The CD reissue, which has also been remastered also included the excellent "Aggressive Perfector". The three tracks on "Haunting the Chapel" offered a slightly darker, heavier version of the material on "Show No Mercy." Many a Slayer fan would list "Chemical Warfare" as one of the band's best songs, ranking up at the top with songs like " Angel Of Death". I would tend to agree. As a matter of fact, I much prefer the music on this EP, as well as "Show No Mercy" to anything the band would release after it. Regardless of my personal opinion, this EP inspired hordes of thrash bands to play faster and heavier than ever before. There was nothing widely available in '84, save for Metallica, that was this aggressive and brutal. Overkill as well had released their second demo "Feel the Fire" that may very well have matched the intensity, but again, this wasn't as widely available. Lyrically the band was still playing around with comic book Satanism, as well as the ever popular themes of death and violence. The lyrics seem heavily inspired by Venom. As a matter of fact, listening to this EP again fresh after several years, I really hear a huge Venom influence on the overall sound here, as well as the lyrics. The re-release of this EP includes "Aggressive Perfector", the 1983 version that appeared on Metal Massacre III. A speed metal song that would not have been out of place on "Show No Mercy".
There is also a version of "Show No Mercy" that includes the original three cuts from "Haunting the Chapel" as bonus tracks.
Slayer - Live Undead (Metal Blade) 1984
1. " Black Magic"
(3:56)
2. "Die by the Sword" (4:01)
3. "Captor of Sin" (3:32)
4. "The Antichrist" (2:57)
5. "Evil Has No Boundaries" (2:54)
6. "Show No Mercy" (3:04)
7. "Aggressive Perfector" (2:32)
Released only a year after their first full length studio album, this short seven song live album seems a bit unnecessary. However, when "Live Undead" came out, thrash was a fairly new idea and we were hungry for any new releases and ate this one up. I was actually in high school when this was released and it became one of the soundtracks of our youth. Raw, aggressive Slayer recorded live in a studio before a handful of fans. There is no denying that Slayer had a youthful energy that was captured on tape here. Overall, I prefer the studio versions on "Show No Mercy". However, the slight increase in speed on songs like "The Antichrist" are actually beneficial, even if the vocal performance isn't quite up to the studio version. Tom Araya's song introductions are rather bizarre, especially the foul introduction to "Captor of Sin". I suppose the shock value was part of the novelty of this disc back in the day. Now I just find it silly. The crowd noise in this CD is also part of the charm. Unlike the sound of a big club or arena, this small group of people sound like they are in the middle of an intense gang rumble. At times you can pick out people screaming words like "Slayer" and "Metal!" It's actually pretty haunting and a bit bizarre. The cover is also an important part of the package. The nocturnal graveyard scene is the face of the music for sure. B-grade horror is what Slayer were all about.
Slayer - Hell Awaits (Metal Blade) 1985
1. "Hell Awaits"
(6:12)
2. "Kill Again" (4:52)
3. "At Dawn They Sleep" (6:16)
4. "Praise of Death" (5:17)
5. "Necrophiliac" (3:43)
6. "Crypts of Eternity" (6:37)
7. "Hardening of the Arteries" (3:57)
Slayer steps up the intensity level and releases an album that would be the soundtrack to many other thrash bands for the future. ("Kill Again" has a riff that reminds me of "Terrible Certainty" by Kreator and there is no doubt that Dark Angel owe at least part of their existence to this album.) The music is just pure testosterone injected fury released at a frantic pace. Lombardo's drum work is almost dizzying and Araya's vocals are insane. There is no denying Slayer's place in metal history with this album. It was the transition album between the more memorable material in "Show No Mercy" and the speed for speed sake of "Reign in Blood". Reign in Blood is obviously a classic and a fan favorite, but this album excels at keeping each individual song memorable, in my opinion. This is not only due to the vocals and song arrangements, but the riffs are more distinctive as well, for the most part. (I do admit that "Angel Of Death" from Reign in Blood has one of Slayer's most memorable riffs ever.) The songs also are a bit longer on "Hell Awaits" than the more popular follow-up. Here we have songs that are between four and six minutes long, while the average song length on "Reign in Blood" is less than 3 minutes. The intro to the title track is almost three minutes long in and of itself. As with "Show No Mercy", the lyrics are all for shock value. Shock sells records and no doubt it's worked well for Slayer. The Venom inspired dark lyrics run deep, although there were attempts here to move away from this. "Kill Again" for instance seems to be written from the perspective of a deranged serial murderer. "No apparet motive, kill and kill again / Survive my brutal thrashing, I'll hunt you till the end / My life's a constant battle, the rage of many men / Homicidal maniac!". Not exactly a song about flowers and puppy dogs, but at least it's a move away from the devil fodder. This will actually be a theme that Slayer will revisit may times over. 'Hell Awaits' is a monumental thrash album.
Slayer - Reign in Blood (Def Jam) 1986
1. "Angel of Death"
(4:51)
2. "Piece by Piece" (2:02)
3. "Necrophobic" (1:41)
4. "Altar of Sacrifice" (2:50)
5. "Jesus Saves" (2:55)
6. "Criminally Insane" (2:22)
7. "Reborn" (2:12)
8. "Epidemic" (2:23)
9. "Postmortem" (2:44)
10. "Raining Blood" (4:25)
SLAYYYYYEEERRRRRRR!!! You can't go to a metal concert without some drunk metalhead screaming this out in their best growly voice. For me, I have always thought that Slayer and this album specifically, are a bit overrated. I was a big fan of Slayer in their early days. I bought "Show No Mercy" as a new release and found it to be spectacular. However, it is quite different from what Slayer later became. I am still a huge thrash fan and own a very large collection of thrash from the popular bands like Metallica and Overkill to the obscure stuff like Blackend and Consecrator. Because of that I was getting at least one to two emails a month asking why I didn't own this "thrash masterpiece." One email I received recently claimed that this was "the greatest thrash album EVER released in any way, shape or form." This seems to be the general consensus among thrash fans. Even magazines like Metal Maniacs, Guitar Player and Pit magazine list this at the very top of the thrash metal heep. Well, that being said, I never got it and perhaps that is because by the time this CD came out I had already grown tired of Slayer's anti-Christian imagery, especially since I am myself a Christian. So what does that have to do with the music? Well, I honestly think nostalgia plays a big part in what people think of music and that certainly holds true for me.
I admit that this is one monumental and important album as far as it's place in heavy metal history, in much the same way as Metallica's "Ride the Lightning" and "Master of Puppets." Certainly you can hear Slayer's influence in much of 1990's thrash metal and you can also attribute much of the death metal genre to "Reign in Blood", along with Death's "Scream Bloody Gore" and Possessed's "Seven Churches." "Piece by Piece" alone is probably responsible for the lyrical direction of hordes of death metal bands. There is also no denying the insane drumming of Dave Lombardo, the sheer aggression of Araya's vocals, and the tag team guitars and the powerful riffage of King and Hanneman. Their production and guitar tone alone is some of the heaviest ever laid down on vinyl. While this album may seem tame compared to today's downtuned, extreme metal standards, this was not true in 1986 when this album was released. They just didn't come any heavier than Slayer in the mid-80's.
The albums lead off track "Angel of Death", a song about the concentration camp horrors of Joseph "Angel of Death" Menghele, and the album's closing track "Raining Blood" are the standout cuts here. These two tracks alone were the soundtrack to many a rebellious teen in the 1980's. Likewise, "Epedemic" and "Jesus Saves" stick out in my mind as above average tracks on this album. The rest kind of leaves me cold. It just has never done much for me. Yes, I know this is blasphemy for the average thrash fan, but that's just my opinion. The album also suffers from the fact that no less than eight of the ten tracks are UNDER 3 minutes long and the entire CD is only 28 minutes in length. Shoot, I have EPs that are longer than that. Heck, for that matter, I think I have single songs that are close to the length of this entire album. Of course the biggest detraction for me is the anti-Christian sentiment that runs throughout the lyrics. I realize that most of it was for shock value and I also realize there are other themes represented here as well. As mentioned before, "Angel of Death" is about Joseph Menghele, however there is no denying the pure disdain for people of faith in "Jesus Saves" and several other tracks. So, while "Reign in Blood" is musically an excellent CD and an important part of metal history, it is marred by lyrics that I just find to be offensive for the most part making this album more of a part of my metal collection than something that would ever frequent my CD player. The reissue contains bonus tracks of "Aggressive Perfector" and a remix of "Criminally Insane".
Slayer - South of Heaven (American) 1988
1. "South of Heaven"
(5:00)
2. "Silent Scream" (3:02)
3. "Live Undead" (3:51)
4. "Behind the Crooked Cross" (3:12)
5. "Mandatory Suicide" (4:03)
6. "Ghosts of War" (3:55)
7. "Read Between the Lines" (3:21)
8. "Cleanse the Soul" (3:01)
9. "Dissident Aggressor" (2:34)
10. "Spill the Blood" (4:48)
The first album where Slayer abandons the all out speed assault for a higher energy, tighter song structures and a slamming power groove. Even Tom Araya attempts to sing on a few songs using less of the shrill screams of the past. Rick Rubin gives the band a monstrous wall of sound. This is also the first of three huge albums from this band putting Slayer on the top of the pack, along with Anthrax and Metallica. The lyrical approach on this disc strays from the band's 'hell and Satan' lyrics of the past, and goes for a more social (antisocial) and political approach. Of course everyone knew by this time that the band's whole 'Slaytanic' image was just a facade anyhow, so I guess it was only natural to change the lyrical approach some. At the time the band took some flack from some fans for slowing down and for abandoning their stereotypical lyrics. It mattered little, however, as 'South of Heaven' was one of the band's best selling CDs. I actually hate the whole "Slaytanic" image anyhow, so I think it was an improvement. "Dissident Aggressor" is a slamming Judas Priest cover.
Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss (Def American) 1990
1. "War Ensemble"
(4:52)
2. "Blood Red" (2:48)
3. "Spirit in Black" (4:07)
4. "Expendable Youth" (4:10)
5. "Dead Skin Mask" (5:20)
6. "Hallowed Point" (3:24)
7. "Skeletons of Society" (4:40)
8. "Temptation" (3:26)
9. "Born of Fire" (3:08)
10. "Seasons in the Abyss" (6:34)
Depending on who you ask, "Season in the Abyss" is either the greatest thrash album since "Reign in Blood" or it is the beginning of a downward spiral for the band. Either way you look at it, "Seasons" is still at the top of that spiral and a solid thrash album with those infectious Slayer riffs and Araya's nasty snarl over the top. The album starts off with a riff that is reminiscent of "Evil Has no Boundaries" and "Angel of Death" before switching to an instantly memorable riffs. "War Ensemble"is a pretty darned good song, as is the floow-up, "Blood Red". I can't understand how any fan of thrash couldn't at least appreciate the solid musicianship and riff work of these two songs. "Spirits in Black" has a monster hook as well, yet is still a brutal song. However, it is the last song that is the true thrash classic of the album. The title cut is simply a signature song for Slayer. The riffs, the guitar solos, the vocals, and even the feel of the song is all perfect. There are these short parts where one guitar remains heavy, while another plays these haunting acoustic melodies. It's just a darned cool song. As usual with Slayer, the lyrics are pretty dark, although with "Seasons" the band sticks more with social commentaries rather than the "look how eeeee-vile we are" themes.
Slayer - Divine Intervention (American) 1994
1."Killing
Fields" (3:57)
2."Sex, Murder, Art" (1:50)
3."Fictional Reality" (3:37)
4."Dittohead" (2:30)
5."Divine Intervention" (5:33)
6."Circle of Beliefs" (4:29)
7."SS-3" (4:06)
8."Serenity in Murder" (2:36)
9."213" (4:52)
10."Mind Control" (3:04)
This album is basically a carbon copy of "Reign in Blood," albeit a very short one at just over half an hour. The music is classic Slayer thrash sporting tons of killer riffs, more than proficient playing, technical songwriting and great production. My problem with Slayer has always been with their insipid lyrics and poser Satanic image. I get tired of hearing them complain about TV preachers and Christianity. Maybe if they actually knew something about true Christianity, they would find something else to complain about. Drummer Paul Bostaph of Forbidden replaced Dave Lombardo who went onto Grip Inc. He eventually left that band and played with Testament for a short time.
Slayer - God Send Death (American) 2001
1. "God Send Death"
(3:50)
2. "Addict" (3:44)
3. "Scarstruck" (3:32)
A prerelease single for the album "God Hates Us All." (Hmmm, I wonder what God they are talking about?) Unfortunately, no lyrics are included but thanks to the wonders of the internet, I was able to locate the lyrics to the title track of this EP. After reading the mindless garbage, I now know I will not have to waste my money purchasing the whole album. Of course the band's timing with the recent tragedy in NY/PA/DC is impeccable. When America is currently focusing on God and looking for healing and justice, Slayer is trying to be as controversial as possible by attacking their idea of Christianity once again. I can imagine that the band is merely trying to shock the crap out of everybody, since it is common knowledge that the whole 'Slaytanic' image is nothing but a facade to sell records to mindless people, some of whom take this stuff serious. Unfortunately with such devastation still lingering in the air, the band does not come off shocking in the least, but does come off as distasteful. Musically, the band sounds like they have been listening to their old albums again. I mean this is some serious thrash metal, with some raw and crunchy production. The band has all but dropped the hardcore edge and has returned to their "Reign in Blood" roots, even giving us some fast and furious guitar solos. Gotta love it. Too bad the lyrics have to be so distasteful. Anyhow, tracks two and three are exclusive to this single, or so the liner notes say. Must also mention that the cover to this single bears a striking resemblance to the Priest's 'Demolition,' released only months before this disc.
