Slayer: best during mythological years

From a recent ode to Slayer:

The resulting tune was, appropriately, titled “Aggressive Perfector,” and it ushered in an era during which the band ditched the fake blood and histrionic shock of their formative days in favor of head-down assault. Or, as Araya says, “We started out with devils and demons, but we evolved to focus instead on the true devils and demons of society.” Which explains why the band ditched the D&D-esque vibe of early records like Hell Awaits and Show No Mercy in favor of a scorched-earth vivisection of society’s bleakest moments, often pairing their musical blitzkrieg rush with a lyrical preoccupation with war’s atrocities. Songs like “Mandatory Suicide” (from 1988’s South of Heaven) and “War Ensemble” (from 1990’s Seasons in the Abyss) combined a musical gut punch with lyrical odes to the senselessness of conflict that, to many, signified that Slayer were a band of their times, commenting on the brutality of the pugilistic Reagan/Bush years. – The Phoenix

Protest rock is all crap and Slayer lost focus when they went to protest rock.

Complaining about events in society enslaves the complainer to looking for approval from others, which requires whining about feelings hurt, the tragedy of others, etc.

Describing life in mythological terms instead frames the combat as one that can apply in any situation, and requires no pandering.

One thought on “Slayer: best during mythological years”

  1. SO says:

    Unleashed, Manilla Road. Two bands that keep using mythological terms to describe life.
    Unleashed has taken again a more commercial direction, after a decent album that is Hammer Battalion.
    But Manilla Road has made interesting records recently.
    Another band I can mention is Doomsword.
    Going into more extreme territory but not too much you have Arkona (a bit of modern riffs included but they make it sound good), or Graveland.

    What Slayer did, was what most thrash/speed (whatever you want to call it) end up doing. Obvious examples are Sodom, Kreator, Destruction, Sepultura.
    Kreator ended up sounding too politically correct for my taste, what I really mean is that they say what is commonly said in a common way.

Comments are closed.

Classic reviews:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z