marty1982's Full Review: Seasons in the Abyss by Slayer
Ahhh, the ever cynical heavy metal crowd. The majority will probably tell you Metallica's Master Of Puppets is the greatest metal album of all time. Some will give that honor to Slayer's Reign in Blood, others Megadeth's Rust in Peace. A few even mention Sepultura's Arise/Chaos AD albums in places.
Well, this reviewer's vote for "Greatest Heavy Metal Album Of All Time" goes to a Slayer album, but not their much heralded Reign in Blood. No sir, that honor goes to their 1990 masterpiece Seasons In The Abyss.
"So what makes the album so great?" you may be asking yourself. Well, fellow readers, it's simply impossible to explain without going into a bit of a history lesson, here. In 1986, Slayer released their groundbreaking Reign In Blood. Reign In Blood was one of the fastest heavy metal albums of its respected era. And unlike a lot of other "fast albums," the songs were very tightly woven and notes never sounded out of place. Not to mention Tom Araya's picture-perfect screaming. Then in 1988, Slayer shocked the world by releasing the much slower, more groove-oriented South Of Heaven. While the record was certainly different from RIB, Slayer successfully proved that they weren't afraid to try new things and expand their musical horizons.
With Seasons In The Abyss, Slayer took the best of both worlds, mixing the speed of RIB with the grooves of SOH and producing one helluva metal album. Unlike a lot of other metal releases of this type (including the later Divine Intervention), where at least one style seems thrown in either as an afterthought or just for the sake of pleasing fans, SITA seamlessly blends the two. So the faster portions never seem out of place, and are mixed with the more mid-tempo grooves perfectly. SITA also addresses a lot of what was really wrong with South Of Heaven, such as the overly amplified drum tracks (did we really need such loud drumming on a "slower album" like SoH?) and occasionally same-sounding songs.
Seasons In The Abyss also has some truly amazing guitar riffs. Listen to the Blood Red riff and tell me that doesn't give you a huge surge of energy. Kerry King's guitar solos are also downright incredible. And it's nice to see he perfectly achieves that sense of melody yet aggression he was still trying to perfect on South Of Heaven. Although this is almost a given, Tom Araya's vocals reach a new level of both aggression and wickedness here. His voice has a very gruff, energetic, and just plain evil sound; as opposed to his occasionally whiney tone on South Of Heaven. As for the lyrics, they're by far the best Slayer has ever written. Save for a few songs, there's nothing really satanic about them. But the way they are written, with loads of imagery and dark metaphors, you just naturally feel the sheer hate and evil being described with each song.
Opening track War Ensemble gets things off to a great start, with a kick-#ss opening and some great sing-err "screaming." Plenty of rocking guitar riffs abound, and Dave Lombardo's drumming simply must be heard to be believed. Hearing Tom scream "WAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!" during the song's bridge just never gets old.
I've already mentioned the riff for Blood Red (probably my favorite heavy metal riff EVER), so I probably don't need to mention it again. The verses are also great, and the song itself has an all around nice flow. The solo's pretty good too.
Lyrically, Spirit In Black is the closest the album gets to the Satanic imagery of Reign in Blood. Only this time, it doesn't sound quite as forced. For me, however, the highlight here is the excellent guitar riffs and the way the song seamlessly picks up the tempo towards the middle. There are two solos, the second being one of my favorite Slayer solos.
Expandable Youth is a slow but strong track about gang violence. I like the opening riff, as well as Kerry King's solo. Tom Araya's singing is good too.
Structurally, Dead Skin Mask is similar to Expandable Youth. It's another slower song, with a similar verse/chorus structure. The opening riff, once again, rocks; and the solo (while short) is downright amazing. The lyrics and singing (about serial killer Ed Gain) are probably the most disturbing of any Slayer song I've ever heard.
Hollowed Point is IMO one of Slayer's most underrated songs. I love the way it just goes straight into the main riff (without bothering with some fancy intro), and the way Kerry King's two (great) solos are perfectly tied into the song so that they don't at all interfere with its speed nor riffs. The verses (there's no real chorus) are also very singable for a Slayer song.
Skeletons Of Society is certainly one of Slayer's most interesting songs. The opening is strangely fitting for the song title, and the lyrics (telling some sort of story) are also quite creative. Kerry King's guitar work is the highlight, though, as his solo and little guitar bits fit perfectly with the verses and riffs.
Temptation is a fairly brisk song, with some neat volume tricks in the verses and surprisingly listenable lyrics (despite the admittedly cheesy "Play With Your Insanity, Shatter Your Reality" chorus). Nothing special, but a pretty good song nonetheless.
Born Of Fire is probably the only song here I'd consider filler. It's a standard Slayer track with fast drumming, and typically evil lyrics. It's certainly not bad, but just doesn't really stand out.
Fortunately, Seasons In The Abyss closes with what's probably my all time favorite heavy metal song. The title track is a six minute opus, with a long but never dull intro, perfectly leading to Tom Araya's verses and an excellent chorus. The highlight, however, is definitely Kerry King's guitar solo. Wow! You have to listen to it for yourself to really see what I mean.
Simply put, every heavy metal fan must check out Seasons In The Abyss. The album easily blows away Metallica's Master of Puppets and Megadeth's Rust In Peace, even putting Slayer's own Reign in Blood to shame. So what are you waiting for? Just go buy it, damn it!
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