Slayer fans - Diabolus in Musica

Cafe Society
1

I used to be a semi-fan of Slayer back in the late '80s/early '90s - I only owned one album of theirs (‘Seasons in the Abyss’) but my friends had ‘South of Heaven’ and ‘Reign in Blood’ and I borrowed those. Anyway, I kinda lost track of them through most of the '90s, until last year when I got a new copy of ‘Seasons’. I then got ‘God Hates Us All’ recently. I wasn’t too impressed at first but it has really grown on me, now it’s one of my favorite albums.

Anyway, I’d kept hearing about how ‘God Hates Us All’ sounded more like one of the older Slayer albums, that they were getting back to their old sound. It seemed fairly different from the older albums I was familiar with, the vocal style is different and they are using 7-string guitars now for a deeper sound, they also seemed to toy around with effects other than distortion and delay on it. Good album, but pretty different from the old stuff I was familiar with.

Well, I got their 1998 album ‘Diabolus in Musica’ this weekend and now I know why people were saying all that about ‘God Hates Us All’ - this is VERY different from any Slayer I’d heard before. Much slower, on several songs you can actually hear the bass guitar as a separate instrument, and there’s lots of sampling and effects. I think I’ll grow to like it eventually, but only a couple of the songs do anything for me now.

Eventually I’m going to get every Slayer album, even that one they did in 1983 when they were still wearing eyeliner. I was wondering what the other metal fans on the board think of Slayer and their various albums.

2

Big Slayer fan here.
I haven’t heard God Hates Us All yet.
I own Seasons…,Hell Awaits,Undisputed Attitude, South of Heaven,Diabolus, Reign in blood, and Show no mercy.
I WAAAANT Decade of Aggression.

I love all the Slayer albums I’ve owned. I don’t really care too much for Divine Intervention. I don’t know why, it just doesn’t click with me.

Yes Diabolus sounds totally different than their albums. It sounds…mellower. Though I still love it.

I would love to see them on December 7th when they come around here. They’ll be at the Warfield(where I’ve seen them before). The 7th is the day after my birthday. What a wonderful gift that would be.

3

I love Slayer. I’ve seen them 5 times, and hopefully will see them at the end of the month.
I have Seasons, Haunting the Chapel, South of Heaven, Hell Awaits, Reign in Blood, Show No Mercy, DOA and the Limited Edition DOA with extra tracks, and Divine Intervention. I almost bought God Hates Us All today, held it in my hand, but put it back at the last second. I also have a ton of live bootleg tapes and videos too.
Hell, I even took my wife to see them on Valentine’s day one year. Got one of Kerry King’s guitar picks that night.
I haven’t heard much of the last two albums, but the stiff I’ve heard I liked. I’ll probably pick them up before the concert, so I’m familiar with them. When I saw Slayer this summer,they played a lot from those albums, and I was kinda lost.
Man, now I’m all excited to see them again, can’t wait to get home to put some on the stereo.

4

As a decade-long SLAYER fan I can honestly say that the band has been on a downward swing since 1991. In my opinion each album after Seasons in the Abyss has gotten progressivley worse. Primarily because the band are flat-out lazy when it comes to recording an album and Tom Araya has lost most, if not all, of the passion in his voice. He compensates nowadays by swearing and screeching.

With that said, I think Diablus was a decent effort to update their sound. Although a far departure from the groundbreaking days of Reign in Blood and South of Heaven I think it is worth owning. I especially like the groove on songs such as Love to Hate and Stain of Mind.

Badtz Maru wants to know what I think of the other SLAYER albums ? Ratings are 1-10 as compared within their entire library of albums.

Show No Mercy - 8 - Raw and full of energy the effort is a bit unfocused and concentrates heavily on Satanic themes for the sake of controversy. The production is extremely thin and takes some getting used to. Virtually every song on the album is a “classic” and they still play many of them in concert almost 20 years later !

Hell Awaits - 7 - Again focusing on Satan as a primary lyrical inspiration this album was the one that cemented them as the leader of the thrash/speed/death genre. A good listen although probably one of my least favorite albums.

Reign In Blood - 9 - Popular opinion puts this as the best SLAYER album but I think it is second behind Seasons in the Abyss. Every song is unique and the lyrics have matured to evoke a deep and haunting image. Riffs, riffs, riffs. The bar for Speed Metal has been lowered to the 666th layer of the abyss !

South of Heaven - 8 - “Sell Out !” was what most people said on first listen. It is much slower but again each song weaves its way under your skin and the groove fills the darkest voids of your mind.

Seasons in the Abyss - 10 - The album starts off with a war anthem to top all war anthems. “The final swing is not a drill its how many people I can kiiiiiiiiill”. Lyrics now range from the Satanic to current events. The lrycis on this album evoke vivid images and feelings most other bands cannot create in their listeners. Anyone who says that Heavy Metal lacks passion has not heard the singing on this album. My favorite SLAYER album.

Divine Intervention - 6 1/2 - released a solid four years after SITA, this album is the first SLAYER album to contain songs I often skip. The epic 213 - a reference to the apartment number where Jeffrey Dahmer lived - is sure to put a chill down your spine. Dittohead is one of the fastest SLAYER songs since RIB.

Although I really don’t think you can go wrong with any SLAYER album, I would warn you to keep an open mind as you progress further into their past taking into account the time period in which they were recorded.

If you’re still with me, arachnidlove we’ll have to say “hi” to each other at the Warfield (what a perfect name for a venue). I didn’t realize they had announced dates yet. I better my get tickets ASAP !

5

Wow, Lockfist, that was nice.

6

My first Slayer concert was at the Warfield. I remember getting all giddy and pumped up and scared because I had never been to a concert like this. Then I remembered the pit already moshing when there was no music. God the energy in that place. I remember seeing some guy holding a shirt that said “Fight til Death”(of course their song) and I was just blown away. I thought to myself “how rowdy will this crowd get?” It was way cool though.

Tickets have been onsale for about a week, I think. I’m torn between going and not. I wanna go to Les Claypools flying frog brigade too on the 31st. I can’t go to both concerts. I used to go to Primus’s Freakout shows on New Years Eve for a couple of years. Those were always cool.

Also just a little info. 213 is the only song I like on Divine Intervention. My aol name is Arachnidlove213. 213 for the song and Dahmer reference. I like serial killers

:stuck_out_tongue:

7

I see a lot of you haven’t listened to ‘God Hates Us All’ yet. It’s a really good album, quite a bit faster than SitA, SoH, or DiM. There are only two songs on the album I’ll skip through - track 1, Darkness of Christ, which is a 1:30 intro track with elements from later songs in it, it’s interesting and I wish I could understand more of what the woman is saying in the background but I skip it because the next song is really good. The other one I skip is the last one, Payback. It’s fast and heavy, but it doesn’t really have a hook that sticks in me.

Most of the rest of the songs remind me of the faster songs on SitA - very aggressive, fast trademark Slayer riffs, catchy choruses. It’s funny, though I didn’t care for the album too much at first I probably know more lyrics already on this one than I do in SitA, and I haven’t really read the lyrics sheet yet, either.

This album seems to have a theme, a general attack on religion. Very few true satanic songs like on earlier albums, but most have something to do with religion. I haven’t broken it down yet, I’ll give it a shot…

2 - Disciple - I REALLY like this one, probably my favorite track on the album. Musically it reminds me of ‘War Ensemble’. Some of my favorites -

‘Homicide, suicide
Hate heals, you should try it sometime
Strive for peace with acts of war
The beauty of death we all adore
I have no faith distracting me
I know why your prayers will never be answered
God hates us all’

‘I got my own philosophy
I hate everyone equally
You can’t tear that out from me
No segregation, separation
Just me in my world of enemies’

3 - God Send Death - this one is one of the slower ones on the album, though it gets really fast in the pre-chorus section. Stylistically reminds me of ‘Blood Red’ on SitA. Lyrically, pretty decent. Seems to be about being mad at God either while suffering in hell or dying painfully, not exactly sure.

4 - New Faith - another attack on religion and the Bible. Very catchy chorus, medium pace (for Slayer, that is). This one gives me the feel that it’s supposing that the Left Behind people are right about what’s coming, but it’s not something those who have been expecting it are going to enjoy…

‘Tell me how it feels knowing chaos will never end
Tell me what it’s like when the celebration begins
Welcome to the horror of the revelation
Tell me what you think of your savior now’

5 - Cast Down - starts with a slow groove reminiscent of some of the songs off of Diabolus in Musica, but in the verse section it goes to a fast galloping guitar figure, then gets slow and heavy again during the chorus. Seems to be about serious drug addiction. One of the catchier songs.

6 - Threshold - I keep saying catchy, but when I listen to the rhythm guitar part on this one, I don’t know what else to say…not very fast, and the singing seems a bit more tied in to the rhythm of the guitars than usual. I love the chorus on this one, find myself singing along with it…one of the songs with no religious themes.

‘Violence, I love it
No one’s immune to the hate that flows from it
Infectious, I feed on it
Every fucking endless day
You’re either on my side or else you’re in the way
No one stands a chance when I’m lashing out
Random hate, there is no other way
It’s my discipline, it’s my way of life’

7 - Exile - very aggressive song. Basically about someone the author really hates…oddly enough it reminds me of one of the songs on my wife’s Linkin Park CD she listens to, but I can’t remember the name of it. Another non-religious one.

8 - Seven Faces - starts off with slow moody clean electric guitar playing a repetitive simple riff. Only clean guitar on the album. Has a groove that reminds me of some of Pantera’s heavier stuff. It kinda reminds me of some of the stuff on DiM, but better. Song seems to be about greed and lust. Great lyrics.

‘My life came with it’s own scars
I don’t need you to tell me about your sorrow
I can’t say I’ve seen it all
But I live for the things that keep me hollow
Everyday I look in the mirror
Staring back I look less familiar
I’ve seen all seven faces
Each one looks a lot like me’

‘I am becoming all things envied, I am the excess
I want it all, more pain more sex more lies more of everything’

9 - Bloodline - This one was originally on the ‘Dracula 2000’ soundtrack, and it sounds like it was written specifically for that movie as it has some references to stuff in the movie in it. It’s one of the slower songs, but I like it, it’s better than the movie that inspired it.

Some Biblical references in the lyrics ‘I am the first and the last’, ‘Condemned by a single kiss’, but it’s not as religion-oriented as some of the earlier songs on the album.

10 - Deviance - wait, I was wrong about there only being one clean guitar, this one has one too, though it has some heavy effects on it so it’s not really clean, just non-distorted. According to an interview this one is loosely based on O.J. Simpson.

11 - War Zone - One of the faster songs on the album, sounds kinda old-school. It’s good, not particularly great in my opinion.

12 - Here Comes the Pain - Lyrically this reminds me of their old Satanic songs - ‘I am the new hell on earth, The lord of agony divine’…another good but not great song. Mid-paced, with fast parts.

13 - Payback - Another song of hate, ala Exile. Fast, very aggressive, sounds like something from ‘Reign in Blood’. I like some of the lyrics (though a bit heavy on the F word), but the song seems to lack a hook. My least favorite song on the album.

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I wrote off Slayer a long time ago. I just got tired of the whole Slaytanic scene. I will say though that God Hates Us All is a very tight albumn. Threshold is the best song on there IMHO. The title track is also awsome.

I liked Divine Intervention only because it covered alot of songs I really liked.

Kerry King should leave Slayer and start a new metal band. Hes the only good thing in that band anymore. You know that anything he puts together would be an instant winner.

I have to plug them because I think they are a very unknown band who could be awsomely huge. Living Sacrifce. Check there CD Hammering Process. Its so hard hitting I cant beleive it. My favorite album in the last 2 years or so. Give them a listen and then try to absorb my next fact about them. They’re a Christain metal band. The only one in my collection.

TRUST ME. CHECK OUT THAT CD!! And GHUS. Its good slayer.

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You can’t imagine how delighted I am to see this thread.

Or why. <chuckle>

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You in Slayer?

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Keep guessing. You’re warm, but not hot. :smiley:

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Do you know someone in Slayer?

I know, your actually Dave Lombardo, the ex drummer, right?

13

He eats Slayer CD’s as snacks?

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I agree - he must be Dave Lombardo! I bought God Hates Us All last Friday and gave it to my guitar player Saturday night. I hated it.

The production is really good and most of the riffs and beats are good, albeit straight-forward. The lyrics and vocals are pure crap, though! I was shocked to find Tom writing more inane lyrics than Glen from Deicide – didn’t know it could be done!! And the song “Exile” sounds JUST like Sam Kinison screaming - I laughed my ass off.

I dug “Bloodline” & “Here Comes the Pain” but everything else is terrible. I really haven’t liked a Slayer album since Seasons in the Abyss. I’m just glad they haven’t gone Soulfly or KoRn yet :slight_smile:

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Blood is thicker than water. Or the Black Forest. :wink:

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Hmm. Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor, sounds like you are related to somebody from the band ? I’m not following the Black Forest allusion so you’ll need to keep the clues coming.

Badtz Maru, I do own God Hates Us All, even ventured away from my television on September 11 to pick it up. I don’t care for the album because it is a far departure from the Slayer of old. Interstingly enough we disagree 100% on the songs we like from that album. Payback is my favorite one ! You may have to take that into some consideration with my recommendations… I’ll tell you what though, there is a band from Sweden called The Haunted and their latest album The Haunted Made Me Do It is the album Slayer should have made. You should at least try to check out an MP3 from them.

Hey arachnidlove, I got my tickets yesterday so let me know if you’ll be there too !

su nioj su nioj su nioj…

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Hmmmmm… The Bosda mystery grows thicker…

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Gad Hates Us All is one of the best albums i’ve bought this year.

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The original version of somebody’s last name was, roughly, “The Angry Man of the Black Forest” in German.
:smiley:

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Looking back at my list of Slayer stuff, I left of Live Undead, and a well fought for drumstick.