Back in the ’80s, none rivaled Slayer when it came to the title
\nof “most dangerous band.” Not Motley Crue, not even NWA. With their
\nbreakneck speed, gruesome artwork and Satanic lyrics, moralists had
\nyou convinced that listening to even one track would turn you into
\na depraved devil worshipper who would freely sacrifice neighborhood
\nanimals.<\/p>\n
Listening to Slayer now, it’s hard not to view their angle as
\ncartoonish. Hell, some of their CDs have turned into great rage
\nsoundtracks while you are stuck in a stifling traffic jam or
\nworking in a kitchen during a brutal dinner rush. That said, you
\nstill don’t question the band’s no-bullshit attitude. In the same
\nyear that Metallica embraced mainstream with the “black” album,
\nSlayer unleashed
\nSeasons In The Abyss<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Their previous album,
\nSouth Of Heaven<\/i>, was more subdued than
\nReign In Blood<\/i> (still, that’s like saying speed is more
\nsubdued than cocaine). The slower grooves, combined with the fact
\nthat the band hand to follow-up a classic album resulted in mixed
\nreviews. With
\nSeasons In The Abyss<\/i>, the band came back with a hardened
\naggression. Armed with a great duo (producer Rick Rubin and
\nco-producer Andy Wallace), Slayer aimed for the jugular with the
\nfirst track, “War Ensemble” and for the most part, never let up in
\nthe ensuing 40 minutes.<\/p>\n
The signature buzz saw of Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King are all
\nover
\nSeasons In The Abyss<\/i>. Lyrically, the band members share
\nequal time in the songwriting. If you need to know a theme for the
\nalbum, you can make an educated guess with song titles like “Dead
\nSkin Mask,” “Skeletons of Society” and “Blood Red.” It’s no wonder
\nRick Rubin took to these guys — he’s a purist and in the world of
\nmetal, there was no band more pure in its power than Slayer.<\/p>\n
That’s not to say that all of the songs are straightforward
\nthrashers. “Skeletons of Society” experiments with multiple
\nharmonies and virtually all of the songs have an infectious hook
\nattached to the apocalyptic nihilism. Much credit deserves to go to
\nthe band, especially Tom Araya’s throaty delivery and great bass
\nskills, but Rubin and Wallace deserve equal credit. Their work on
\nother seminal ’90s albums like Johnny Cash’s
\nAmerican Recordings<\/i> and Nirvana’s
\nNevermind<\/i> show that while shock may go a long way, the music
\nmust endure.<\/p>\n
The Slayer trifecta of
\nReign In Blood<\/i>,
\nSouth Of Heaven<\/i> and
\nSeasons In The Abyss<\/i> have aged far better than virtually all
\nof Slayer’s peers. While the band is still able to scare the crap
\nout of non-initiates, their musicianship ultimately makes the final
\nimpression when it comes to evaluating the band’s importance in the
\nmetal world. If this is hell’s soundtrack, I’ll take
\nSeasons In The Abyss<\/i> over Creed’s
\nWeathered<\/i> any day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":26784,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6475],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-38057","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-slayer","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38057"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38057"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}