1276. Slayer / Live Undead. 1984. 4/5

In December 1983, Slayer had released their debut album “Show No Mercy”, the episode on which you can find on this podcast in Season 5. On the back of this the band began a short tour to promote the album and begin to expand their audience with the album in tow. Then in February of 1994, guitarist Kerry King joined Dave Mustaine’s new band Megadeth. No one really knew what was going on, not even King himself. The other three members of Slayer, bassist and vocalist Tom Araya, guitarist Jeff Hanneman and drummer Dave Lombardo were somewhat in a state of limbo, not knowing whether or not King was going to return to the band or whether they were going to have to go out and find another guitarist. As it turns out, King lasted five gigs in Megadeth before quitting, saying that it was taken up too much of his time. This created some tension between King and Mustaine for years afterwards.
By mid-1984 Slayer had recorded and released the three track EP “Haunting the Chapel”, with the sound increasing the thrash style that the band was moving towards. More turning followed, and in playing club venues across the US while travelling around in Araya’s Camaro and towing their gear in a rented U-Haul trailer.
On this tour, WBAB Fingers Metal Shop, a radio station, held a contest to meet and hang out with Slayer during a live recording. The album was recorded at Tiki Recording Studios in Glen Cove, NY in front of around a dozen people. The recording was originally intended to be done in front of a live audience, but things didn’t work out as planned. It has been questioned in many areas over the years as to whether the live noise heard on thw album actually took place on the night of the performance. The album’s producer Bill Metoyer was quoted in Joel McIver’s excellent book, “The Bloody Reign of Slayer” when asked about this that, “I don't know if I should tell you [if the crowd noises were faked]! 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."
In the long run, it is a question that bears little meaning if you enjoy the performance. And given the band had only released one album at this point of their career, it was a perfect way to showcase what the band produced in the live environment, with their first live release “Live Undead”.

“Live Undead” is basically just an EP, with seven tracks in total with the running time a little over 23 minutes, and most of the material comes from the band’s debut album. The exceptions are the excellent “Captor of Sin” which came on the previously mentioned “Haunting the Chapel” EP a few months earlier, and “Aggressive Perfector” which had been on the “Metal Massacre Vol 3” compilation album and was then given a re-release on the future “Reign in Blood” album. Both versions here are absolutely stomping, especially “Captor of Sin” which is a truly fabulous song in the band’s discography.
The album begins with an extended introduction of "Black Magic", which sounds marvellous here as the opener. As with all of the tracks on this album, it is heavier and faster than its studio version, resulting in a much better showing for the song. This segues into the awesome “Die by the Sword” via Tom’s engagement, stating “They say the pen is mightier than the sword. Well, I say fuck the pen, cos you can die by the sword!", and away we go. Another excellent version of a great song. “Captor of Sin” follows, and then into “The Antichrist” which is given its best life by increased tempo. One small thing though – I guess I prefer Tom’s vocals on this track on recordings following this, where he doesn’t go for the high screams in the middle of the chorus, but sticks to the same register throughout. They’re both good but I think it sounds better when he doesn’t overextend the high-pitched screaming. That’s just a personal preference. From here the album moves swiftly through terrific versions of “Evil Has No Boundaries”, “Show No Mercy” and the aforementioned “Aggressive Perfector”, and tops off 23 minutes of velocity and aggression that perfectly encapsulates where Slayer the band was at this stage of their development.

My memory is usually pretty good when it comes to where and when I first heard an album or purchased an album, but I’m not 100% sure of the case with this album. My best guess is that I got this sometime after I first purchased the band’s defining live album “Decade of Aggression” in 1991, because that really blew me away. And I know when I did hear this album, I was trying not to compare versions of songs that appear on both. So that fits with that scenario.
I do know I’ve always enjoyed this album, short as it is. It isn’t as fast and thrashy as “Decade of Aggression” is, and I always thought that that is a great point between 1984 and 1991 with the band, especially considering what the released with “Reign in Blood” in 1986 and how fast the band had progressed in such a short time then. And it only doesn’t get played as often as it could because of its length, that I can go to other lengthened live recordings of the band and get the same experience.
In listening to this again in preparation for this review, I’ve actually listened to it a LOT, because I have been getting to the end of it and thinking “Wow, that’s just too short, I need to listen to that again!” and so I do. And it still holds up to this day, these four kids as they were at the time, still really just starting out, and showing the world (or apparently 12 people in a room) just what they had.
If you are a fan of the band you already own this and know it. If you have not heard it, it is an interesting listen worth 23 minutes of your time. About how long this podcast episode has gone for.

1209. Slayer / South of Heaven. 1988. 4/5

Slayer’s 1986 album “Reign in Blood” is considered one of the greatest thrash albums of all time, if not the greatest. Its 30 minutes of pure adrenaline fuelled speed and anger can be sampled by those of you who have not done so yet on the episode in Season 1 that is dedicated to its glory. The tour that followed cemented Slayer as one of the premier heavy thrash bands in the world, and no doubt posed the problem to the band as to how they were possibly going to follow that album up. Indeed, in an interview some years later in discussing that time, guitarist Jeff Hanneman said that “South of Heaven” was the only album the band members had discussed before actually writing the music, that prior to this they wrote what they felt and presented it to be recorded. However, according to Hanneman the band was aware that they couldn't top “Reign in Blood", and that whatever they recorded would be compared to that album. He then went on to say that the band believed they had to slow down the tempo to the songs on the next album in order to draw apart those inevitable comparisons, something that Slayer had not done before. And though there are faster songs here on “South of Heaven”, it is noticeably not as furious as its predecessor, something that had some fans upset when the album was eventually released. The band also looked to tone down the vocals, something that Tom Araya does so well on this album that it also proves a point of difference among other Slayer albums. It actually ended up proving what a fine vocalist he was, and gave him the opportunity to focus on his vocal craft. However, retrospectively guitarist Kerry King felt that Araya had added too much singing to his vocals, which he was critical of, and drummer Dave Lombardo felt that “South of Heaven” signalled the point where the band allowed the fire in the music to die down compared to what had come before. As it turns out, in interviews over the years looking back at the album, some of the band members are more critical of the end result than some of their fan base.

The most fascinating part of this album is the references made to different songs on it over the years from the band members themselves, and their disappointment or even disdain for some of them. The fact that they made a somewhat united decision to record an album of songs at a different tempo from what they had done before, in essence in order to have this album have a point of difference from what they had recorded prior to this release, doesn’t seem to have changed the fact that after the event they all seem to have picking points about the album.
The opening title track is a beauty, a classic, and one still adored by fans all over the world. It’s moody, it’s a creeper, and it has a beautiful build to the middle of the track. The fact that people misinterpret the title as suggesting they are talking about hell, when in fact it is world we live in itself that is being referenced is a nice counterpoint to the usual ignorance Slayer and their songs have received. “Silent Scream” ramps up the energy again, charging onwards throughout. It’s a great track to follow the opener, reminding everyone of what the band is best known for.
It’s interesting that this is considered a slower paced album overall by some people. There is no doubt that a few of the songs have rocked back in tempo, in particular the opening title track, which I think is what leads people into this perception, because the album starts a little slower than the previous albums. The other main song in this mid-tempo category is “Mandatory Suicide”, and it’s interesting that it is these two songs that were still in Slayer’s live set list right up until their disbandment. Go figure. So, it mightn’t be as conclusively fast as “Reign in Blood”, but it doesn’t fall into a complete mid-tempo movement. What does happen here are that the lyrics are at a pace that gives everyone a chance to know what Tom is singing, rather than just the diehard fans. Songs such as “Live Undead” and “Behind the Crooked Cross” mightn’t be as fast as previous albums, but they aren’t a snail’s pace either.
Kerry King seems to have taken great umbrage at the album in the years since its release. He openly rubbished the song “Cleanse the Soul” in interviews, and when asked whether the band may one day play the whole album live, as they did with “Reign in Blood” on Dave Lombardo’s return to the band in the 2000’s, he simply replied “I don’t think so. I just don’t like enough songs on the album to be bothered”. King’s contributions to the album also were less than usual, which may have contributed to his general malaise of the album, and perhaps even the introduction of the decision to cover Judas Priest’s great track “Dissident Aggressor” on this album. Or perhaps there really was a problem with the songwriting for the album, and this allowed the band to fill a gap that otherwise may not have been filled.

Having come into Slayer on the album that followed this one, for me going backwards to discover their first few albums meant that I probably didn’t have to have competing ideas about each of the albums and what they presented at the time of their release, because I more or less devoured all of them at the same time, swapping over the vinyl and CDs one at a time, and becoming encapsulated in their overall greatness. Their following album was an immediate hit with me, and – surprise, surprise - “Reign in Blood” also created a storm.
But unlike what it appeared many of the so-called critics at the time experienced, I never had a negative thought about “South of Heaven” as an album. To me the album comes together well, the tempos, while different from earlier pieces, are fit nicely in sync, and the album flows nicely. The difference in opinion of the band members on the album retrospectively to me was somewhat of a surprise, though Kerry being narky about the songs where he had little to do with them perhaps wasn’t so much of a stretch.
Some have suggested that “South of Heaven” is a maturing of the band and its sound, but I don’t like that analogy. To me, the following album “Seasons in the Abyss” is a next step in an evolution of all three previous albums, “Hell Awaits”, “Reign in Blood” and “South of Heaven”. What this album brings to that process is the focusing of Tom Araya’s vocals such that they are not the out and out shouting and screaming from early in the career, and the focusing of the guitars from out and out speed to bridging a melodic touch to the tempo. In doing so, this album may well have differences, but not ones that detract from the band and their music. And while in time the force of aggression would return to Slayer’s music – for better or worse, depending on your point of view of some of their future albums - “South of Heaven” still stands as one of their most important albums.

1037. Slayer / Seasons in the Abyss. 1990. 5/5

I can totally understand why Slayer fans who came into the band all the way back at the beginning in 1983 have problems reconciling what is offered on Seasons in the Abyss. Where you have been raised on a diet of pure thrash and speed metal that the band delivered on their early albums, coming into this album must have been a slightly off-putting experience. On the other hand, for those that found Slayer at about the time this was released, it could be seen as being a liberating event. This is where I met Slayer.

That it took me so long to get around to listening to Slayer is not only a bit surprising it is also disappointing. I should have been listening to Slayer a lot earlier than this, but as none of my friend group with whom I shared all of our album purchases with had found their way into the band either, none of us had a reference point. Don’t get me wrong, I had heard snatches of songs at record stores and on metal programmes along the way, but had never actually made the connection to go out and buy their albums. As a result, it wasn’t until a few months before this album came along that I finally started divulging in the band, and it was this album that was the first of theirs I bought and obsessed over.
This is where the two sides of the fan debate will part, and maybe I feel a little fortunate that I was able to take in and love this album without the past albums intruding to colour my judgement, because if I had I too may have felt that this album changed everything that Slayer had produced before. Yes, I’m talking about the speed and ferociousness of the songs in general. It’s not the case for the whole album but there are certainly moments where the groove and riff sets in rather than the pure speed or high level thrash that dominated the band’s earlier albums. “Dead Skin Mask” and “Seasons in the Abyss” are the two high profile songs on this album that do this. They are both terrific songs in their own right, but they are not like anything that came from their early days. Perhaps the best example on the album is perhaps my favourite song, “Skeletons of Society”. It’s a simple groove and riff, it tends to plod along, but I love the song and the lyrics. It mirrors “Expendable Youth” though the soloing goes off on its own track as well.
Still if you want thrash you’ve still got it here. Album opener “War Ensemble” is a killer track, set off on the back of the remarkable drumming of Dave Lombardo who ignites the song at a fever pitch but is challenged by the riffing of Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King as Tom Araya somehow plays the bass at this speed while spitting out the lyrics in the same speed. “Blood Red” and “Spirit in Black” continue in a similar vein, as do “Hallowed Point” and “Born of Fire”. Another favourite is “Temptation” with dual vocals tracks that Araya had recorded separately (one the way he wanted to sing it, the other the way writer King thought it should be sung) that were then put together on the song when it was thought it worked. And it does!

In a year where so many fantastic but ever-changing heavy metal albums were released, you can’t deny that this one is still at the top of its game. All four band members are on fire here, Hanneman and King’s amazing guitars brought to the fore with Araya’s bass and vocals pushing the limits and Lombardo’s drumming smashing the silence and at times the sound barrier. While we will always have the raw majesty of Show No Mercy and Hell Awaits, and while Reign in Blood will always stand as a pinnacle, and while South of Heaven still ranks alongside these other albums, this album shows that thrash metal can show a maturity without overly compromising its principles. As I said initially, I can understand where those early fans are coming from with their criticism of this album, and find I am thankful in this instance for the fact that I was able to fall in love with this album for the right reasons and not just be angry about any perceived changes in the make-up of the songs from their earlier vintage. This still ranks as one of the greats.

Rating:  “The final swing is not a drill, it's how many people I can kill!”.  5/5

884. Slayer / Repentless. 2015. 3.5/5

It's been a long while between drinks for metal legends Slayer, and a lot has happened in the interim. Since the release of the at-times-brilliant, at-times-less-brilliant World Painted Blood, Slayer has participated in a never-thought-seen Big 4 concert series with fellow veterans Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax, had guitarist Jeff Hanneman diagnosed with his flesh eating virus contracted from a spider, drafting in Exodus' Gary Holt to fill his spot on numerous tours, the forgoing of drummer Dave Lombardo once again, before Jeff's saddening death of cirrhosis some two and a half years ago. One wondered if we were ever going to see another Slayer album following all of this, and the time that had passed since their previous effort.

Fortunately, the band is made of harder stuff. Perhaps the most difficult part was not replacing Jeff on guitar. Gary Holt has been in the position now for a number of years, and he has always seemed to fit in perfectly with the band and their music. He may not be Jeff Hanneman, but he is a brilliant player, and the fans have welcomed him as one of their own some time ago. No, the most difficult part was always going to be replacing Jeff as a writer, because it is here that his contribution to Slayer has been so enormous, so pivotal, so ground breaking. Kerry King writes some great songs, but Jeff tends to be the hand that wrote the immortal ones. Perhaps this worried me more than most as well, as the one album where Kerry contributed the most to the writing, Christ Illusion, is still a Slayer album that I have trouble finding the balance. In regards to this album, I don't know whether Gary wanted to contribute to the writing process. I guess I understand Kerry's reluctance to let someone from the outside become a part of the Slayer sound for fear that it is... compromised. That he was able to contribute some guitar solos is at least a frank showing that he is considered a part of the band.
Don't worry. This sounds like Slayer, right from the outset. The instrumental opening "Delusions of Saviour" delivers straight into the aggressive and raucous "Repentless", with Tom Araya immediately at the top of his game vocally. In fact he spends most of the album in that top range and at a pace that it virtually impossible to sing along with him. Paul Bostaph returns to the band he served so well in the past, and flays along in support, while the twin guitars of King and Holt do their service to the music, providing the rhythm through the verses and their string stretching wild ride during their solo pieces. Some of the songs, such as "Repentless" and "Take Control" are obviously written with a mind to remind you of the early days, to assure you that Slayer is still Slayer, even with only half of the original staff still remaining. Later songs such as "Implode" and "You Against You" are also the pick of the tracks. It's also nice to have a song written by Jeff here, even if in reality "Piano Wire" is the least spectacular of the songs on the album.
Like a lot of the bands around of this vintage, what you hear on the album sounds a lot like the band who is playing it, but it is different. In other reviews I've used the word 'matured', but I'm not sure you can use that in regards to Slayer. They have done so well over four decades to remain true to themselves and to continue to produce great songs and great albums, but how long can you continue to produce that kind of aggression and intensity on an album? This is still a good album, but when you travel through the middle of the album, with songs such as "Vices" and "Cast the First Stone" and "When the Stillness Comes" that are good songs but perhaps begin to lack the absolute fury in the music and vocals that comes with the best of their material. It's not a criticism, but a fact. Screaming vocals and rolling double kick drum patterns don't disguise the differences in the songs. They don't hide the subtle changes that, to be fair, have been coming over time. And material from a band like Slayer is much more difficult to paper over those subtleties than from a band like, for instance, Iron Maiden.

Repentless may not be a masterpiece, but it is still a solid latter-day outing for one of the greats of the genre. Enjoyable as it is, it will likely hold your attention in the interim, before becoming a second-choice music selection in the future behind those albums you already know and love.

Rating:  No looking back, no regrets, no apologies, what you get is what you see.  3.5/5

777. Slayer / Reign in Blood. 1986. 5/5

Given the prestige in which this album is held, it becomes a difficult thing to write a review that can live up to that reputation. A review that can adequately convey just how amazing this album is, and how defining it was, and how inspiring it was to so many fans and bands. To be honest there is no way I could do it justice, and so you will have to take my words on face value or simply just listen to the album yourself and come to your own conclusions.

The first thing that is noticeable is the production of Reign in Blood. Both of Slayer's first two albums, Show No Mercy and Hell Awaits are terrific albums, but both suffer on the side of production, and sometimes the guitars can feel as though they blend or blur into each other. Here though, every note played is crisp and clear, and can be determined apart from every other note. As well as showcasing each brilliant song, it also shows just how precise and magnificent both Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King are in their guitar playing, especially in those scintillating solos, because you can hear each note played, and can only listen in awe at how perfect their playing is, at that incredible speed. Then you only have to try and keep up with Dave Lombardo's drumming, which is just ludicrous. He is quite magnificent here, his timing is immaculate and every snare, tom, kick, cymbal and hi-hat motion is caught perfectly here. Tom Araya's vocals are clear, concise and above all understandable, even at the speed he has to sing at to keep up with his bandmates. This is magnificently put together.

I love the way that the album is constructed, book-ended by two of their all-time classic songs, and with barely a pause for breath throughout the whole album.
"Piece By Piece" is two minutes of mayhem, that has a half-second pause of silence before motoring straight into "Necrophobic", which careers along at a barely believable speed for half the song, before a five second respite at normal double time before we're back off at lightning speed for the rest of the song, a whole minute and 38 seconds in total. Pause for a (short) breath, and off we go again with "Altar of Sacrifice". There is no time for rest, no time to catch your breath. Sure, "Altar of Sacrifice" does actually slow down as we approach the end of the song, as it flows almost undetected into the awesome heavy riff of "Jesus Saves", which for the first sixty seconds allows you to resume normal headbanging duties, before the accelerator is pushed to the floor again. Awesome stuff.
"Criminally Insane" is the slowest start to a song on the album, but soon builds back to that double time drumming and riffing that binds this album together. "Reborn" may well be the simplest song here, but again at that devastating speed, which is followed by "Epidemic" which is highlighted by magnificent drum work from Dave, whose ability to throw in little rolls and fills between the frightful speed of his normal drumming is remarkable. "Postmortem" concludes things here at an amazingly sublime pace considering everything that has gone on before it.
Bookending all of this are the timeless "Angel of Death" and "Raining Blood". "Angel of Death" starts the album, at a breakneck speed. It is a sensational way to start this album, with fire and fury. "Raining Blood" is perhaps still my favourite Slayer song. I love the first 60 seconds of the song too, that rarely gets a mention in the live set - not that that concerns me. When you get to the break with the rain and thunder, that is where anticipation is in its element, before we break back into the song and the elemental riff and the drums, and Tom's vocals, before the two solo breaks... oooohhhh it is just awesome. In almost thirty years I have never gotten sick of hearing this song. Genius. Immortality. Brilliance.

At a tick under 29 minutes in length, this is a half hour that never gets boring, never gets stale, and ticks every box in heavy metal greatness. All four members of the band are on song, it sounds brilliant, and it is just fast and freaking heavy. It is at the top of the tree for thrash albums, and whether it is universally loved or not, it cannot be denied that its influence goes beyond the heavy metal community. This is a beacon.

Rating:  Raining blood, from a lacerated sky, bleeding its horror, creating my structure, now I shall reign in blood!  5/5

Listen to full album here

618. Slayer / Show No Mercy. 1983. 4/5.

From humble beginnings and playing covers of the bands that were their influence at the time, those being Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Venom and Mercyful Fate, came the debut album from one of the most influential thrash metal bands of all time, “Show No Mercy”. And while the production of the album leaves a lot to be desired and is still to this day a source of frustration for the band members, almost all of the debut albums from those now deemed as giants suffered from the same problems, through a lack of money and influence. All of that changed in time, but it gives the whole album an air of authenticity, that even the great bands start from scratch. Indeed, listening to the album today, it doesn’t sound any different to the first albums of all of those artists, and for the most part stands up perfectly well in retrospect.
Started as a cover band for parties and clubs in 1983 with the original foursome of Tom Araya, Kerry King, Jeff Hanneman and Dave Lombardo, Slayer was invited to open for the band Bitch at the Woodstock Club in Anaheim, California, to perform eight songs, six of which were covers. Also there that night was Brian Slagel who had recently founded Metal Blade Records. Impressed with what the band put on, he met with them backstage and asked them to record an original song for his upcoming “Metal Massacre III” compilation album. The band agreed and their song "Aggressive Perfector" was their contribution, which made an immediate impact on the listening public, and led to Slagel offering the band a recording contract with Metal Blade.
Without any recording budget, the band had to self-finance its debut album. To do this, they combined the savings of Tom Araya, who at the time was employed as a respiratory therapist, and money borrowed from Kerry King's father. Having scraped enough together to get underway, the band entered the studio in November 1983. The album was rushed into release, stocking shelves three weeks after tracks were completed, an amazing effort from the start of the project to its completion.

Inauspicious or not, all of the ingredients that came together to create the Slayer giant were already here. The songwriting and guitaring duo of Hanneman and King show off their wares, Dave Lombardo's drums don't stop for a breath, and Tom Araya's storming bass and vocals stand at the forefront of each song. You can still hear the band's influences on this first album. The songs, while competing in that thrash metal tone that they became famous for, are not as overtly heavy, fast or blistering as they become later on. You can pick up some similarities with Metallica's “Kill 'Em All” album and Megadeth's “Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!” album. Not only that, most of the album has a Judas Priest and Iron Maiden feel about it, a much more mainstream heavy metal sound, almost melodic in places than the thrash hardcore sound that was to come. I still love those faint tinges of those bands in these songs even to today.
The album kicks off with the excellent "Fear Has No Boundaries", with all of its black metal tendencies slashed by their desire to play fast and aggressive guitar and drums. It is one of the songs here that straddles more than one genre of the metal scene, fired up by Araya’s opening scream and accompanying guitar solo riff to kickstart. This is followed by the staple satanic song "The Antichrist", where the speed ratchets up, and the dual solos in the middle of the song offer up everything that the band was to offer for the next 40 years. Simple, parent-annoying, and a great singalong tune. From here the album charges into the classic "Die by the Sword", still a great song in the modern age. This has such a Judas Priest feel to it at the beginning which is just awesome. It’s not a breakneck speed song, it is a real chugging song that Slayer have always been able to write even when at their most thrash oriented, and make sound perfectly brilliant, which is exactly what this song is even to this day. "Fight 'Til Death" increases the speed tempo and continues the blitzkrieg of the senses.
The Mercyful Fate influence really shows through on tracks like "Metal Storm / Face the Slayer" and "Black Magic". Great songs dictated by fast pounding drums and typical leads from Hanneman and King. Awesome stuff. “Metal Storm/Face the Slayer” closes out the first side of the album in style, while “Black Magic opens up the second side with the same intensity that has before it on the first half of the album.
"Tormentor" is dominated by the lead breaks of these two great guitarists, lifting an otherwise fairly average song to greater heights. Lombardo takes centre stage in "The Final Command", his drums rifling throughout the song at an incredible rate without losing their crispness, before those guitars again come to the fore with Iron Maiden-like harmonies. "Crionics" again almost tries to be an Iron Maiden song in both structure and melody. While it is not what most Slayer fans will recognise from their catalogue, it is still quite an interesting song to listen to again. Put it on and tell me you can't hear Maiden's "Hallowed Be Thy Name" as you listen to the guitars. Great stuff. The album is closed out by the title track "Show No Mercy", which is closer to what most fans think of as a Slayer tempo.

While the style of the album may be unlike what came further up the line, it is great to hear even today. The fact that Slayer built their own sound out of their own influences is testament to their greatness. It doesn't matter what you hear when you listen to this album, the important thing is that it is a terrific Slayer album, and one that seems to be maligned for the wrong reasons. I still think it is brilliant.
My introduction to Slayer came closer to the end of the 80’s decade that the start, and I didn’t hear this album until I had heard the four albums that followed this. But to be honest, that made no difference to my enjoyment, nay, love, of this album. I’ve always felt this was a terrific album. It doesn’t matter at all if the production isn’t as good as what came down the track. Hell, NONE of these great thrash metal artists have debut albums that sound completely brilliant in a production sense. But that was just how it was in those days, with no money and no time to make it brilliant. But the fans didn’t care. They just wanted the album so they could have the songs and wear the needle out playing the vinyl over and over again. Which, as it turns out, is exactly what I have done now for days on end.
Are you going to rank this album at the top of the Slayer pile? I don’t know, but my guess is you probably won’t. There are some great Slayer albums out there, and while this is terrific it probably won’t match what was to come. But it still a joy to listen to, and be able to pick up just where it all began, to hear those influences in their music that are perhaps only noticeable on this album before they really morphed into their own sound.
40 years on, this album still stands the test of time. It may not be as polished as other metal albums from 1983 such as from Iron Maiden and Dio, but they were already at the top of their game by then, with legendary producers at the helm. That soon came to pass for Slayer, as they flew quickly to the pinnacle of the thrash metal scene worldwide.

480. Slayer / Hell Awaits. 1985. 4.5/5

When Slayer began its syndicated attempt to take over the metal world, they didn’t leave anything in the tank in their initial foray into the recording side of their existence. Their debut album “Show No Mercy” came out in December of 1983, and was financed entirely by vocalist and bass guitarist Tom Araya who was employed at the time as a respiratory therapist and money borrowed from Kerry King’s father. The success of that album led to the recording and release of an EP “Haunting the Chapel” in June 1984, which contained three new tracks that the band had already been playing live anyway. From here, the band released their first live album, “Live Undead”, recorded in October 1984 and released in November 1984. In the space of just 12 months, Slayer had released a studio album, a follow up EP and a live album. They certainly weren’t allowing the grass to grown under their feet.
With so much initial success - “Show No Mercy” had become Metal Blade Records highest selling release – there was an attitude of wanting to once again strike while the iron was hot. This time around Brian Slagel financed the album, and hired more professional assistance for the studio to capture the true essence of the band. Drummer Dave Lombardo in particular felt that the sophomore album was done more professionally than the first. "I didn't have to overdub the cymbals, and we had a really good engineer”, he was quoted as saying later on. However, Tom Araya was not of the same opinion. In an interview some years later he was quoted as "Nowadays, production-wise, it's so under par. But for what it was at the time, those are amazing records to me. I guess we could go in and redo it. But why ruin it?"
Coming off 12 months of recording and gigging, Slayer had a lot of influences that they could take on when it came to composing songs for their sophomore effort. And as amazing as their first album had been, and as influential and foundation building their next album would become, what was laid down here at Eldorado Studio in Los Angeles in early 1985 saw a progression that would be as important to the thrash metal genre as any other release in that year. Arguably, in any year.

With only seven tracks and a little over 37 minutes long, expecting a long review of this album here is probably not something that is going to happen. But making a study of the opening title track is absolutely something that is worthwhile, because the triumph of the track is that it contains everything that is great about the era of the band. That opening fade in of squealing guitars, almost making you think of screaming souls in hell, with the backwards masking spoken word of “join us” which to me has always sounded like “sell your heart”, is a terrific opening, before the final growl of “welcome back” heralds the opening tom hit followed by that opening riff and rolling drum beat that builds and flows like a well-oiled machine. The entire three minutes that starts the album gives you no idea as to what is going to follow, the tempo steady and not overpowering, allowing the music to drag you in. And then, the break, and then, the cascading over the falls into the pure speed metal adrenaline that follows, with Tom Araya barely able to keep up in singing Kerry King’s lyrics as the band tears it up. The speed does not relent in the back half of the song, crashing into the solo guitar break as well which drives to the close of the song. This is the opening track of Slayer’s sophomore album, and yet it remains one of their best, most popular and most iconic songs. It captures the essence of the band, the speed at which they were at their best, the aggression and power, and yet the amazing technicality with which they played. Just an awesome song, and it never fails to deliver.
The speed and aggression continue into “Kill Again”, picking up from the end of the previous track and starting in overdrive. There is no let up throughout as the band rifle through another wonderfully paced song that again showcases those excellent riffing guitars and Lombardo’s crazed drumming. Tom Araya’s scream towards the end of the track is like hell unleashed, a forerunner to how the opening song of the next album would be introduced. That high pitched scream that follows the supersonic guitar solos is insane and adds greatly to the enjoyment of the song. Deranged psychotic killer is replaced by vampiric tendencies in “At Dawn They Sleep”. The progressive nature of some of these songs is an elemental piece of this album, and this song is one of those examples. It has been quoted as coming from the love of the band Mercyful Fate by both Hannemann and King. Mercyful Fate had by this time released their first two albums, and you can hear where parts of this album could easily have been influenced by them. “At Dawn They Sleep” in particular has those elements that King Diamond and his merry bands of mercenaries incorporated into their music. It closes out the first side of the album, all three songs of it, in a terrific conjuring of the dark and satanic.
“Praise of Death” treads a more traditional path of Slayer song, if you consider ‘traditional’ coming from a similar style as to what they produced on their only other studio album to this date. Fast to the point of overkill, with screaming guitar solos from Hanemann and King that shatter out of the speakers, and a terrific rumbling sound of Araya’s bass guitar holding fort underneath. Then the breakdown in the middle, before Lombardo’s drums drive the song to the peak of the movie Spaceball’s ‘ludicrous speed’ once again to play out to the end of the track. Another terrific track. “Necrophiliac” follows this, and though the lyrics conjuring up the satanic rituals and sinful lusting of the protagonist of the song may not be everyone’s cup of tea, the song itself is another encapsulating of the best parts of the band. Those satanic rituals continue in the lyrics of “Crypts of Eternity”, along with the ripping solo breaks from King and Hanneman which are the real highlight of this track. The album concludes with “Hardening of the Arteries”, an almost mirror reverse of the opening track, starting off at top speed of riff and drums and vocals, blazing through the first half of the song, before hitting the wall and coming in with the opening riff and rum roll of the opening title track, which then plays us to a fade out to complete the album. It is the perfect bookend and even allows you to turn the album over and continue that on once again into the start of the opening track without missing a beat. And the never-ending loop begins again.

Listening to this album in a modern light, against modern heavy metal bands and Slayer albums themselves, and comparing it against modern production techniques and advancements, and you would wonder why people saw this as such a radical employment of musicianship. By today’s standards it sounds quite tame. As Tom Araya suggested in his quote I used in the opening stanza, perhaps the band could have gone in and re-recorded it and utilised a better production sound to enhance its reputation. But is that ultimately true? Perhaps it doesn’t sound as threatening as these songs do when they are played live, but that is the environment where you can ramp things up anyway. “Hell Awaits” was always going to be a song that was a live monster. But isn’t the same thing said about the production sound of “Hell Awaits” as is also said about Iron Maiden’s debut album, of Metallica’s “Kill ‘Em All”, Exodus’s “Bonded by Blood”, Armored Saint’s “March of the Saint” and Megadeth’s “Killing is My Business, and Business is Good!”. All sound less polished than each band’s later albums, but in the long run that is a combination of differing recording techniques being used as technology improves, and also the fact that the band’s themselves improved out of sight. So yes, listening to “Hell Awaits” might not be the same as what you hear from the band on their following albums, but it is still terrific all the same.
I didn’t come onto Slayer until 1989, initially through the two albums that followed this one, “Reign in Blood” and “South of Heaven”, and more fully with the release of “Seasons in the Abyss” in 1990. The centralising of Slayer’s albums into my own collection all occurred during that time, with this one being a part of that. So, the discovery of Slayer’s discography, that being the first five albums that had been released up until that point, all came together in a short space of time, and thus my listening to all of those albums al came as a conglomerate. And in that kind of situation, my enjoyment of this album could have gone two ways. It could have been dragged along with all of the great music that Slayer produced on those albums, and I could have loved it as a part of the whole. Or it could have got buried under albums that have been praised for their legendary status since their release, and perhaps be tarnished by the slightly inferior production or lyrics or songs themselves.
I can guarantee you here that it was definitely the first option and not the second.
“Hell Awaits” is a great album. I have had it running for a little over a week now – a bit longer than has been the case for recent albums – and I haven’t tired of it. Part of that perhaps is its length, but each time I start it again, I am met with the title track, and how can you not want to hear that over and over again?! And on vinyl at home in the Metal Cavern, it has been superb.
Of Slayer’s 12 studio albums, this is really hard to rank, but mainly because so many of their albums are equally as good as the others. It can be as high as four and as low as seven or eight, depending on the mood. As a classic, and as an album I discovered reasonably early on, I think it is probably ranked at #5. But that would be a conversation worth having with other fans.
As terrific as this album is, what came next is legendary. Three albums that defined a genre and a generation at a time when thrash and heavy metal music dominated half a decade and created fans that would last a lifetime. “Hell Awaits” of course is a part of that, but the next three albums created a legend.

444. Slayer / God Hates Us All. 2001. 2.5/5

Once again some people were waiting for the next Reign In Blood and once again these same people were still waiting. What the public got instead was another angry album from a band that does it so well.

However, for me there is so much here that doesn’t quite work. The best Slayer albums – and we all know which ones they are – always seem to flow so well from song to song. Not necessarily seamlessly, but always such that they are easy to listen to. Here on God Hates Us All, many of the songs seem clunky, almost thrown together like a kid doing a bad jigsaw puzzle. The time changes don’t seem to work like they do on other albums, and Tom’s screaming being layered over itself creates a wall of noise that isn’t as palatable as is usually the case.
The great guitar riffs and licks are there, but they appear randomly, and for only a moment or so. Some of the songs just seem to bring on a headache more than an enjoyment, which is what I’m looking for. Friends of mine completely disagree with me, and say I must be mad, how can I not love this album? Well – apart from the reasons I’ve listed, I don’t know. All I know is that for me, this isn’t the best that Slayer can, or have, released.

Maybe, like so many others, I am just waiting for the next Reign In Blood as well…

Rating: I guess I just wanted more from it that it could offer. 2.5/5.

332. Slayer / Christ Illusion. 2006. 4/5

It’s a little bit tough to beat the hype when you have a new album out, and it is promoted as “the new century’s Reign In Blood”. Combine this with the fact that it is returning drummer Dave Lombardo’s first recorded material with the band since Seasons In The Abyss and is the long-awaited follow up to God Hates Us All and you have a pretty big time bomb ready to go off in your face.

Fortunately on most levels Christ Illusion lives up to the hype.

While I could never accuse Slayer of conforming to standards, I didn’t feel a couple of their later albums were up to the same quality as they had regularly produced for most of their career. Here on Christ Illusion I once again think that they have nailed it for 80-90% of the album, and maybe just fallen down a little at the final hurdle. A personal opinion that others may take or leave a they choose.

The highlights as always are the faster, heavier songs, when Tommy Araya seems forever to be trying to catch the rest of the band with his vocals. Jeff and Kerry’s guitaring as always is just brutal, while the return of the drum god Dave Lombardo is the defining part of this album. His input again has improved Slayer tenfold.

Favourites for me include “Flesh Storm”, “Catalyst”, “Eyes Of The Insane”, “Jihad” and “Cult”

Rating: Not the promised hybrid of Reign In Blood and Seasons In The Abyss but good all the same. 4/5.

240. Slayer / Divine Intervention. 1994. 4.5/5.

The release of Slayer’s fifth studio album “Seasons in the Abyss” saw the band truly explode on the world stage, with their popularity rising to new heights. The tour to support that album became enormous. They toured Europe and North America with the Clash of the Titans tour alongside bands such as Megadeth, Anthrax, Testament, Suicidal Tendencies and Alice in Chains, and released the amazing live album “Decade of Aggression” in 1991.
Beyond this, there were a few things going on. In May 1992, drummer Dave Lombardo, the engine room of the band, quit Slayer, essentially due to wanting to be able to spend time with his family but also through disagreements with the rest of the band. It was something that took the fan base by surprise. In his place the band brought in Paul Bostaph, who had previously been the drummer for the band Forbidden. The band continued touring through 1992 and 1993, and also contributed songs with rapper Ice-T for the soundtrack to the movie “Judgement Night”.
It wasn’t until March 1994 that they band returned to the studio to begin writing and recording for the follow up album. It was already far longer between albums than the band had ever spent, and they now also had four months ahead in the studio. Vocalist and bass guitarist Tom Araya was quoted after the album’s release that more time was spent on the production for this album than they had on any of their previous releases.
The other thing that had occurred during this time of course was the elevation of grunge music to the top of the charts, and the influence that that had had on other heavy metal and thrash metal bands throughout the world. Bands had changed their sound to incorporate the new wave, or to completely embrace it, with mixed results. Other bands had literally disappeared into the ether as a result of this change in the music world. Slayer, with Bostaph appearing on his first Slayer album, and with such a long time between releases, came out and provided their response to everything that had occurred in that time frame… by producing an album that sounded exactly like you would expect a Slayer album to sound. Aggressive. Topical. Heavy.

Kerry King dominates the first side of the album when it comes to composition. “Killing Fields” is all over the place tempo wise, and the way Bostaph plays. The timings don’t really seem to fit together at any point in time, until finally the song kicks into gear at the three-minute mark, when everything comes together. I’ve never really been able to get my head around the concept of this opening track. A mix of slower tempo music with over-the-top double kick drums that are filling too much of the song than necessary. The last minute is fine. The first three are strange. It sounds like it was a chance to introduce Bostaph to the band, get him to showcase every skill in the book to prove he could replace Lombardo. Anyway. “Sex. Murder. Art” is more like the Slayer everyone knows. Straight into the fast tempo song that Slayer are renown for. Short, sharp and to the point. Excellent. “Fictional Reality” is more of what you expect from a Kerry song. Great riff, driven by the drums, and Tom’s vocals chant over the top. We then jump straight into “Dittohead”, and I’ve always loved this song. Pure thrash from start to finish, as fast as you can play and then play a bit faster. Awesome riffage, and could fit anywhere in Slayer’s discography and be brilliant. The title track “Divine Intervention” channels “Skeletons of Society” from the previous album, in the mid-range tempo guitars. The song is built on the scream side of Araya’s vocals, which does get tiresome at times when you know what he could do on earlier albums and on other songs on this album. The song goes too long, over five and a half minutes, especially given the length of the entire album as a whole. But the twin guitar solos toward the end make it worthwhile. “Circle of Beliefs” jumps back into the faster bandwagon, the type of songs that are the better side of Slayer. Flying along musically, especially those riffing guitars, and Araya’s vocals are at their best here, not screaming but pointedly booming out of the speakers at you. It’s a great song.
“SS-3” is the real start of the Jeff Hanneman composed or co-composed tracks, and now we are off to the races. “SS-3” is scintillating throughout, and those guitar solos are now back in the iconic areas that we know so well from this duo. Once again Tom’s vocals seem more natural and enjoyable on this track. Following this is “Serenity in Murder”, which was released as a single/EP, with three live songs attached to it (which is also awesome by the way). Tom experiments with his vocals throughout this song which improves it dramatically. Nice riffing, and a drop back in tempo, but it is pulled together by the dramatic effect of the track. “213” differentiates itself with the clear doom guitar intro to the track, a slow and foreboding build up right to the two minute mark, when Araya joins up and the riff breaks in. It’s an unusual Slayer song, one of Hannemann’s ‘out of the box’ compositions that may well be a step too far for some fans, but which I have always really enjoyed. The album then concludes with “Mind Control”, back into the swing of a typical Hannemann track, with both he and Kerry charging along both riff wise and solo wise. It’s a perfect way to end an album that keeps thrash alive in the mid-1990’s.

It was ridiculous how long we had to wait for this album. Given the ‘bang-bang’ release of those first five albums, four year between this and “Seasons in the Abyss”, even giving the release of “Decade of Aggression”. So when this finally surfaced it was a very exciting trip into the city to purchase my CD copy of the album. My memories of those initial reactions to the album are slight ambivalence. I had certainly built up the anticipation of this album far too much, and expected something that was going to blow my socks off from the first time I played the album, and I definitely didn’t get that. Some of it I found great from the beginning, but other parts of the album left me less than excited. Looking back from all of these years later, I can understand what 24 year old me was thinking. Because when I listen to this album today, I still get those feelings. I’ve had another couple of weeks revisiting the album, and it is the same songs today that light a fire, and the same songs today that I think miss their mark, and in some cases not inconsiderably. In trying to understand that, when I think about all of the band’s other albums, and perhaps “Divine Intervention” just suffers in my mind from being the sixth album in line behind five amazing opening albums of the band’s discography. I certainly don’t consider this a bad album, but it doesn’t rank against those other albums that came before it. On the other hand, it stands up pretty well compared to a couple of albums at least that are yet to come. So what is it missing that makes those other albums great? I don’t know the answer to that as such, except to say that there are some changes on this album that perhaps don’t retain the same intensity, drive and attitude of the music that preceded this. I was certainly in a different place in my life at the time, and I imagine Slayer as a band was also. “Divine Intervention” is still a very good album, one that defied the era in regards to metal music, and stuck true to the band’s ideals for what it wanted to produce musically. For that alone it deserves your attention.

230. Slayer / Diabolus In Musica. 1998. 3.5/5.

Slayer’s ride through the first half of the 90’s decade had seen them able to stem the tide that worked against so many metal bands in that decade. As the rise and fall of grunge was replaced by a scene cruising into alternative metal, industrial metal and nu-metal, many of their contemporaries had already made adjustments to the music they were producing, and for the most part were finding the going more difficult. Slayer had been on the crest of a wave with their “Seasons in the Abyss” album, and despite the loss of long time drummer Dave Lombardo, had found an able replacement in Paul Bostaph, and then released “Divine Intervention” in 1994 which continued their impressive aggressive releases. They then brought out their “Undisputed Attitude” album where the band covered punk and hardcore songs from their favourite bands of that genre, an album that received mixed thoughts from the fans.
What the fans were looking for was a new album with new material. It had been four years between Seasons and Intervention, and so it was to be a further four years between Intervention and their 8th studio album, “Diabolus in musica”, a name that translates as ‘The Devil in Music’ in Latin. Most of the album is played tuned down to C#, an interesting shift that was to be a talking point going forward.
There have been plenty of people, both so-called experts and fans alike, who have noted the trajectory that this album takes seems to have a lot of influence from a band like Pantera, who had taken the 90’s decade by storm after completely revamping their own sound. Now Dimebag Darrell had plenty of fanboys in the music world who it felt then dictated their own music direction to implement that style, and Slayer certainly appear to have been one of them. The fairly obvious slip into a genre that imitates nu-metal if it doesn’t fully go down that path seems to be a driving factor here, and over the years it has brought that feeling with it.

When it comes to discussing the best moments on Diabolus in Musica, they will inevitably be those that remind you the most of days gone by. The opening track “Bitter Peace” has a fantastic build-up and payoff that most Slayer fans would appreciate. “Scrum” contains some terrific time changes and a couple of formidable riffs that show that even eight albums in Hanneman and King can still mix it with the best. “Screaming From the Sky” also harks back to an earlier time, of the mid-tempo thrash of the late 1980’s era of the band and the way it could bring out that awesomeness of the band. So too “Perversions of Pain”, where the mid-tempo is only interrupted by the terrific solo riffs. Great stuff.
Perhaps the only song here that works well that doesn’t call on past glories is “Stain of Mind”, which manages to sound completely modern, with a chunky groove and that nu-metal rhythm and vocals, while still satisfying from an extremity point of view. You can hear even now how it was the best loved track on its release.
The remaining tracks have a consistent blandness to them, with the band seemingly caught in a zone where riffs become almost irrelevant to the song and Araya’s at-times monotonous shouting becomes the focus. “Love to Hate” is the worst offender, but “Overt Enemy” is close behind, both of which become tedious long before anything of note occurs. King and Hanneman’s lead breaks are almost always worth waiting for, with blood-pumping impact through the structure of the song, but in the framework of these fairly dull and unremarkable efforts, they simply fail to serve any purpose at all.
For me, one of the most interesting parts about this album is that all of the music bar one song, Kerry’s “In the Name of God” is composed by Jeff Hanneman, and the reason this surprises me is because as a Slayer fan I’ve always generally loved Hanneman’s compositions over the other band members efforts. So the fact that this musical direction has pretty much been set by the guy I think writes the best Slayer songs is something that has always been difficult to overcome.

1998 was, for me, a massively desolate year when it came to new music from bands I loved. There was a reason I was beginning to drift towards the European metal scene, as they seemed to be moving in a positive direction, whereas the bands I had always loved were changing the way they had gone about things to try and remain relevant. And it is a very easy thing to say that from my point of view they should have continued to write the same music that they always had and they would have survived and succeeded, because I most probably could have been wrong.
I bought this in my local record store where I was living at the time in Newtown, and rushed home to put it on and listen to new Slayer music. And it would be fair to say that the reception it received at that time was very very cold. I wasn’t sure if I was missing something, whether I was the one who was expecting too much from this album. The general consensus amongst my friends who listened to Slayer at that time was that it was fine but wasn’t outstanding. On it’s release in fact, in metal magazines, the album initially was immensely popular within the fans base, some ranking it as high as the 2nd all time Slayer release. I was never sold on it as that. I enjoyed the album – certainly when it was released it got a hammering having waited so long for a follow-up to “Divine Intervention” – but there was something that I find is not as enjoyable as so many of their other albums. In the long run, this was a hybrid, modernised Slayer album, one where things had been tweaked and changed, and for me it didn’t quite click.
On listening to the album a lot again over the past few weeks, I guess I still have those same conclusions. It isn’t a bad album but it is definitely of a differing style. My most endearing comparison is that I have been listening to this album paired with another album that I am listening to for my next podcast episode, Nuclear Assault’s 1988 release “Survive”. The true thrash metal style of that album so completely dominates over the style of this album, that for me it perfectly reflects what is missing from “Diabolus in musica” - true thrash metal guitars and speed and joy. It’s sometimes amazing the difference ten years can make.

216. Slayer / Decade Of Aggression. 1991. 5/5.

Though Slayer had released a live album before this came along, it was not anywhere near the sheer magnitude that this comes across on.

Decade Of Aggression was released as a celebration of ten years of Slayer, and was recorded on the Seasons In The Abyss tour. There could be no better time to record a live album for Slayer. They were on a high, their albums were selling through the roof, and they were bloody heavy.

This is a spectacular analysis of the band live. They are powerful and fast, with barely a break between songs to catch breath. Dave just goes off on the drums, Kerry and Jeff's guitars are blinding, while Tommy stands at the front and belts out his vocals while banging away on the bass.
What impresses me the most about this release is that there are no overdubs. What you hear is what was played on stage. And you know that, because Tom stuffs up the lyrics in War Ensemble, and the band just keeps on going. Perhaps overdubs on live albums have their place, but you buy a live album to hear how the band really sounds, not how they sound in a studio.

Memories : The day I bought this, Bono was in the market for a stereo, so he had Kearo, Anthony, Shane, Holzy and me following him around to different stores as he tried to find a bargain. When it came to trying them out, he hadn't bought a CD that day – so it was Decade Of Aggression, pumping through the departments in David Jones, much to the chagrin of most of the customers on that Saturday afternoon.

Rating : One of the best three live albums ever released. A must have. 5/5.