SLAYER!!!!!

Alright dammit, my board, if you don't like Slayer...shut the fuck up. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

but for those of us with taste:

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Slayer fuckin' RULES!

Been listening to these guys since 1984 when I picked up the Haunting The Chapel EP. Easily one of the best bands of the past 25 years, they are the real deal and the naysayers are just scared of 'em.

Anyway. Fave Slayer albums? Thoughts? Sacrifices to Satan?

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SLAYER!!! one of the best bands thats been around, and mange to keep their identity when their contemporaries were off searching for Gold records.

A band that has never had their integrity or quality falter one bit as long as they have been around really. Dont really dig the new album, but whatever.

Fav album? Probably Hell awaits that shit rules hard man.

Duuuuuude, also cant wait for the tour!!! Cant believe they are hittin' my state.

Me likee Slayer. Haven't heard the new album yet but I hear it's bad ass.

My faves are HELL AWAITS, REIGN IN BLOOD and SEASONS IN THE ABYSS (i.e. the three pillars of their catalog)

I rarely listen to anything after "South of Heaven", as I never tire of their early works. Kick ass band no matter what era.

Reign in Blood is probably my favorite, as it was the first disc I owned by them. Haven't picked up the new one yet, but I like the little I've heard so far.

As much as I love all of the "Big 4" of thrash, Slayer was the last one I got into during my formulative high school years. Back then, Slayer was "too extreme" for us as we listened to Anthrax & Metallica. Even then, Slayer was on a whole other level. Listening to it now, it seems pretty silly.

I got into Slayer very early, in fact I'm pretty sure I had Haunting The Chapel prior to owning anything by either Anthrax or Megadeth. HTC sounded like something recorded IN HELL, totally unlike anything I had listened to at that point. It scared the crap out of me...that's why I loved it so much!

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I just got the new Slayer today... for free!

I was going into the Target store near where I work to pick up a Xmas gift for my wife, and I found $15 in the parking lot as I was getting out of my car. Of course, I said to myself "Sweet, I can get myself a CD!" I didn't even have Slayer in mind when I went in there, but it turned out that way cuz Target's CD selection is pretty freakin lame so it was the only thing that jumped out at me.

So anyway, I've given it two spins thus far and it sounds good. You know what you're getting with Slayer. It seems to be getting a lot more raves than the last album CHRIST ILLUSION for whatever reason, based on those two listens I'd say C.I. was slightly nastier sounding, but I need to listen to WORLD PAINTED BLOOD some more in order for it to truly "gel."

Coolness!

Christ Illusion was underrated by pretty much everybody, it got too much flak on "that other board" because of the album cover and lyrical content...hey, it's fuckin' Slayer, what do they expect? Anyway...Lombardo's return REALLY cemented this group back into place.

Where I think World Painted Blood is better than CA is in the variety of styles. There are some really interesting segments to some of these songs..For example...the phenomenal guitar solo section in the title track. On the surface it may sound like a typical Slayer "noise" solo...but if you listen, it's actually some pretty hip "outside" soloing that makes actual musical sense (in an avant garde kinda way). That and the groove under that solo are amazing. Quite a few other moments like that on here as well.

In one way I agree with Spec, all the albums from Show No Mercy to South Of Heaven don't date at all, they are still perfect friggin' albums that sound just as good now as they did in the 80's. Seasons has some classic Slayer tunes on it (War Ensemble, title track, Skeletons of Society) but there are also several "autopilot" tunes on here that aren't that memorable.

That was the problem they encountered for much of the 90's...once Lombardo left something was definitely missing. During that era, only Diablos In Musica interests me as there are a few reallly great tracks on there...

...but once Lombardo returned the inspiration seems to have returned and the past two albums I think are pretty damn awesome.

I never got into Slayer.

Akeldama wrote:

I never got into Slayer.

And that's why you touch yourself at night...you're missing SLAYER!!!!!!!!! in your life!

Fuck Slayer, KK solos sound like a dial-up modem.

Ok, I'm wanting to get into these guys but where do I start? My wife has Diabolus In Musica so obviously that's where I'm starting but what are the essentials to have?

Knowing the albums you generally like, I'd go with "South of Heaven" next.

Also, look for the CD that contains Show No Mercy & Haunting The Chapel onto a single disc, so you can hear how they started.

I like all their records aside from Divine Intervention and God Hates Us All, I would recommend the rest of their discography.

What's wrong w/DI and GHUA, SD? Just curious. I do like Undisputed Attitude...

Akeldama wrote:

What's wrong w/DI and GHUA, SD? Just curious. I do like Undisputed Attitude...

Divine Intervention is just kind of a bland attempt to try and recapture the speed of the Reign In Blood album (after the mid-tempo excursions of South Of Heaven and Seasons Of The Abyss). The problems are Dave Lombardo isn't the drummer (Bostoph was only a tolerable replacement, nothing more) and the whole thing feels half-assed, like a paint by numbers performance.

GHUA has a few really strong songs, but it has a couple fatal flaws. The first is that Tom Araya wasn't involved in the arrangements, Kerry King wanted total control (and he wrote the majority of the album), because of that there is very little melodically to grab onto. Tom usually is able to tweak the arrangements to get a better foundation for the vocals, but on GHUA he was forced to basically just scream over King's songs.

The second flaw is the buzz-saw production sound which is just grating as hell. I've never been able to listen to this album all the way through because my ears are worn out about halfway.

S.D. wrote:

Akeldama wrote:

What's wrong w/DI and GHUA, SD? Just curious. I do like Undisputed Attitude...

Divine Intervention is just kind of a bland attempt to try and recapture the speed of the Reign In Blood album (after the mid-tempo excursions of South Of Heaven and Seasons Of The Abyss). The problems are Dave Lombardo isn't the drummer (Bostoph was only a tolerable replacement, nothing more) and the whole thing feels half-assed, like a paint by numbers performance.

GHUA has a few really strong songs, but it has a couple fatal flaws. The first is that Tom Araya wasn't involved in the arrangements, Kerry King wanted total control (and he wrote the majority of the album), because of that there is very little melodically to grab onto. Tom usually is able to tweak the arrangements to get a better foundation for the vocals, but on GHUA he was forced to basically just scream over King's songs.

The second flaw is the buzz-saw production sound which is just grating as hell. I've never been able to listen to this album all the way through because my ears are worn out about halfway.

I like parts of Divine Intervention so I still own it. Alot of it is just really formulaic and boring. I agree with SD's sentiment's on GHUA, Kerry King spawned crap.

There are a some good songs on both Divine Intervention and GHUA, but they would be the last 2 Slayer albums I'd recommend anyone to pick up.

I've been much happier with Slayer since Dave re-joined for Christ Illusion and World Painted Blood.

I finally watched Slayer's set on the Big 4 DVD last night and they kicked ass, Araya in particular surprised me w/how intense he sings live. Lombardo is a friggin' beast of a drummer. Along w/Megadeth they completely blew away Metallica. Even Anthrax did a damn good job.

Akeldama wrote:

I finally watched Slayer's set on the Big 4 DVD last night and they kicked ass, Araya in particular surprised me w/how intense he sings live. Lombardo is a friggin' beast of a drummer. Along w/Megadeth they completely blew away Metallica. Even Anthrax did a damn good job.

I much prefer the 80's material when every song didn't sound identical.

I never realized how much Kerry King contibutes lyrically, I always thought lyrics were Ton's baby.

They all write lyrics, depends on the song. Tom generally writes the more political songs...Kerry writes the anti-religion rants.

Tom's main contribution is arranging, taking the music and lyrics the other guys write and shaping them to fit a memorable vocal line. This is why he doesn't like the God Hates Us All album because for some reason Kerry said "hands off" and didn't allow him to contribute.

Tom is great at coming up with memorable vocal hooks, I can still sing along with the entire Reign In Blood album...hell, I could probably sing it without the music. It's stuck in my head like concrete all these years.

He still has it, there is some very catchy stuff on the last couple records.

No doubt, Tom is a great arranger. The one thing that always turned me off about Slayer was the anti-Christian stuff. Sure, I respect a person's right to believe as they see fit but that kinda stuff is not my thing. I got into Slayer b/c of the political stuff...they are a great band, I won't deny that but i really like the Tom stuff.

I've never taken the lyrics seriously, I always saw the satanic thing as a gimmick they used heavily in the beginning...but by the time Reign In Blood came along other subjects were sneaking in and it was used more sparsely (usually by Kerry). Slayer is essentially a horror movie set to music and the lyrics fit that.

It's Slayer's music that has always been the draw for me though. They totally have their own sound. They were also one of the few thrash bands that mixed in some slow doomy Sabbath-style riffs here and there.

Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman were interviewed by Guitar magazine back in the 80s, when they were asked what influenced their overall approach to guitar...their answer was Black Sabbath's Sabotage. Jeff said "Symptom Of The Universe" was the heaviest song of all time and they tried to pattern themselves off that in the early days.