Metal Martyr

Rating Your Favorites Segment 3 | Slayer

by Scott on May 24th, 2008

Welcome to the third segment of Rating Your Favorites. So Far I have put my album ratings for Megadeth and Lamb Of God. IN this segment I’ll go through my favorites for Slayer, one of the most successful and long lasting metal bands that have stood their ground and endured with their sound since their beginning. With 2 Grammy under their belt and a almost cult like following Slayer are legends in the world of Heavy Metal. Let’s Begin.

1. South Of Heaven - An under-rated album in my opinion came between Reign In Blood and Seasons In The Abyss. With the title track, Mandatory Suicide, Ghosts Of War and Live Undead this album was brilliant. Exploding riffs, bleeding solos and the typical amazing vocals of Tommy Araya, this is my favorite of all Slayer albums.
2. Seasons In The Abyss - Seems to be every die-hard Slayer fans favorite. Can you blame them? From track 1 through 10, every song on this record is an amazing follow up to 1988’s South Of Heaven.
3. Hell Awaits - One of the darkest sounding records, the sophomore release to their self funded Show No Mercy was the stepping stone that secured Slayer as a band that was obviously not going to back down and could only go forward in metal
4. Show No Mercy - Was funded by the band itself and was released in December 1983 on Metal Blade Records. Recorded and released within a month, Show No Mercy was an amazing debut for Slayer. The “Slaytanic” era had begun!
5. Reign In Blood - A lot of people probably rate this album higher on their own lists but I honestly think this album is a little bit over-rated. I know I might catch a lot of flack for saying that but it’s true. I love Angel Of Death and Raining Blood but everything in between is not my favorite Slayer tracks. Jesus Saves and Piece By Piece are great sings but I honestly don’t listen to this album as much as I do the others.
6. Diabolos In Musica - Slayer has evolved a bit since their 1990 Seasons In The Abyss and a lot of people will say that they will never top that record and they’re probably right. With the last four records Slayer’s sound has become a bit different. Diabolus brought more bass guitar sound to the record and a more modern sound. Not the greatest Slayer album but my favorite from the last four.
7. God Hates Us All - was ironically released on September 11th, 2001. A tragic day for the U.S.. However GHUA had some great tracks such as Bloodline which was also on the Dracula 2000 sound track and Threshold, Here Comes The Pain and Payback. GHUS seemed to have a lot of Pro-tooling as well.
8. Christ Illusion - Two songs from the record were nominated and won for Best Metal Performance in 2007 For Through The Eyes Of The Insane and The Final Six in 2008. The controversial song like Jihad showing the telling the story of 9/11 from the terrorists aspect. This album got a lot of flack in the U.S. and India like it was something new from the band and it was the worse thing out there. I guess they never saw any Cannibal Corpse Album covers or tracks.
9. Divine Intervention - Honestly…I really don’t like this album and even the band members have said that the engineering on this record is terrible and they can’t believe they actually released it in that state.

EP’s and Live Recordings

Decade Of Aggression - This is an amazing two disc set of Live slayer that features so many Slayer classics. Released in 1991, 21 tracks of live Slayer and If you have ever seen Slayer live you know they put on a hell of a show and stick so close to the studio sound as every band should.

Live Undead - Was actually recorded in a studio with a bunch of fans in the studio to give it that live effect. Featuring songs from Show No Mercy and the Haunting the Chapel ep, this is a classic “Live” Slayer album

Haunting The Chapel - Released less than a year after Show No Mercy, Haunting The Chapel originally only had 3 new tracks on it to include the classics Chemical Warfare, Captor Of Sin and the title track. Later on you could find newer versions of the EP with Aggressive Perfector.

The Box Set

In 2003 Slayer released The Sound Track to the Apocalypse. A 4 cd and 1 dvd box set that included most of the classic slayer songs, live songs and rarities. The dvd included video clips from old slayer shows and appearances and is a pretty cool addition to any Slayer fans collection. You can find the box set pretty cheap used in places or buy the more budget friendly set that only includes 4 discs and comes in a much more compact case. The box is supposed to look like an ammo can and comes with a Slayer Laminate, a small Slayer tapestry and the 5th disc comes in a faux blood case with little skulls floating around in it which is kind of corny…but they can be that way sometimes. It also comes with a booklet with a lot of great Slayer info.

Image Source: Amazon.com

Share This

Related Stories

Rating Your Favorites Segment 2 | Lamb Of God
Rating Your Favorites, Segment 1 | Megadeth
Slayer To Work On New Record In ‘08
SLAYER Double Vinyl Re-Issue. This Is An Awesome Opportunity!
OSR: Soundtrack To The Apocalypse | Slayer Box Set

POSTED IN: Slayer