SLAYER STUMBLED UPON THE SKELETONS OF SOCIETY

To be perfectly honest I had major reservations about posting this video clip on my website, because I always said I would never post anything about thrash metal pioneers SLAYER on here out of religeous principle and because I do believe in curses, and the members of SLAYER, at least at various times throughout the band's history, to me were genuinely evil and possessed by the Devil or some other demonic force.

SLAYER went way beyond the occult inspired theatrics of bands like BLACK SABBATH, in the 1980's especially the band's music was acutely violent, nauseating and one might say a dangerous influence on a troubled mind. In a way I would call this post more of a disclaimer than an article, I really want to distance   myself from in any way promoting most of the band's material, especially albums like HELL AWAITS and the 1986 gutchurner - REIGN IN BLOOD, probaly the most sickening slab of music ever recorded.

Although revered by the likes of SLASH from GUNS & ROSES as being the master of speed metal, the late JEFF HANNEMAN, the rhythm guitarist from SLAYER who died from liver failure in May 2013, was really nothing that special at all, sure he knew how to construct one of the most dead heavy riffs imaginable in the history of heavy metal, but he had very little virtuoso ability.

His lead guitar partner KERRY KING was never JOE SATRIANI, and for the most part SLAYER's dark and satanic speed metal always had that undercooked production feel like the METALLICA album AND JUSTICE FOR ALL, because Hanneman's rhythm chops simply drowned out King's lightweight by comparison lead breaks, but unfortunately not even the rhythm guitarist's brutal volume could drown out the violent and sadistic ranting and yelling of singer TOM ARAYA. Rarely could you call it singing :-P

Definitely the most gifted musician in SLAYER is the drummer DAVE LOMBARDO, although I feel he has wasted his life and career playing in a thrash metal band of satanic misfits I have seen the guy play drum solos by himself and he is a master of bass drumming and definitely one of the quickest drummers ever in history, technically he has the ability to be a jazz drummer if he wanted to, but he chose to settle for SLAYER.

Probaly no other drummer in history could have kept up with the lightning speed and maniacal twin guitar madness of Hanneman and King on REIGN IN BLOOD like Lombardo did, far from being a precise and melodic performance you got to say that he done good to live through recording the album without having a cardiac arrest from exhaustion.

After REIGN IN BLOOD in 1986 SLAYER slowed it down and adopted a more traditional speed metal approach, I have never listened to the 1988 album SOUTH OF HEAVEN or SEASONS IN THE ABYSS from 1990, except for one song off the latter, titled SKELETONS OF SOCIETY, which i heard on a compilation metal cassette in the early 90's.

To be honest I dont mind SKELETONS OF SOCIETY, instead of the usual cheesey satanic theme SLAYER were renowned for this song has more of a typical doomsday apocalyptic theme very similiar to a few songs off the METALLICA album AND JUSTICE FOR ALL, songs likes SHORTEST STRAW. 

Most definitely it still is a gutchurning experience, but at least for once SLAYER produced something that you could listen to which had good melodic structure and had nothing to do with somebody strangling or beating someone to death.