SLAYER — Seasons in the Abyss (review)

SLAYER — Seasons in the Abyss album cover

Album · 1990 · Thrash Metal

3.5/5 · 2011-01-02
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So here we are. The guy who really does not like Slayer who got put up to do a review for Slayer album, that review being for God Hates Us All, is now doing a second Slayer review. Seeing as I found little to enjoy on God Hates Us All, why put myself through another album by a band I clearly don’t enjoy? Why still would I choose to write a review for it which at the end of the day will only likely annoy Slayer fans for saying negative things about the band’s albums? I’ll tell you why, I actually want to find something that I can enjoy about Slayer. No Slayer fan needs to be told what an influential and respected thrash metal band they are, so I’ve decided that I owe it to myself as a metalhead to give some of the band’s other work a go. The album I’ve chosen to review now is their 1990 album Seasons in the Abyss, which is their fifth album. I choose this one because some time ago I remember seeing the music video for the title track and actually quite liking that song. Again, I’m written this introduction before checking out the album so my words that follow may be taken in context.

There are ten songs on Seasons in the Abyss and the first as these is War Ensemble. Initial reactions are that of the typical thrash metal affair with some speedy guitar riffs and shouted vocals. After having only heard the band’s God Hates Us All album right through previously (see above introduction) I notice that many of the faults that I found with that album are absent on War Ensemble. This isn’t exactly the sort of metal that I personally would listen to by choice but from a neutral standpoint I can see why fans of the genre like Slayer and thrash fans should lap tracks like this one up. It’s got aggression and technique to boot. Personally I’d say that Tom Araya’s vocals are the weak link in Slayer’s sound, at least from listened to War Ensemble. These are typical vocals for thrash and they will never be my cup of tea personally, but I would be lying if I said that they didn’t work for this song and indeed this album. Following track Blood Red shows a slightly more melodic side to his vocals. I quite like the guitar riffs on this one. By the time the third track, Spirit In Black, hits the eardrums I was actually starting to get into the atmosphere of the album a lot more than I initially expected I would. I must say that Spirit In Black is a pretty good thrash song, one that even I can enjoy and as the album moves into Expendable Youth I’m ready to confess that my opinion of Slayer being an awful band is perhaps slightly misjudged. I can’t say that I’ve liked everything on offer on Seasons of the Abyss up until this point, I didn’t think much of War Ensemble for example despite noting the absence of practically everything I disliked about God Hates Us All in my last review, but from Blood Red to Dead Skin Mask all I’ve found is solid if somewhat generic thrash metal that isn’t offensive to my ears.

The second half off the album kicks off with the short and fast track Hallowed Point. This is another typical thrash metal song that should please the thrash fan very much. Even I have to admit that I am nodding my head to its groove but at the end there isn’t really much to write home about a track such as this. It’s generic thrash, but hey, something tells me that that’s what a Slayer will come looking for with Seasons in the Abyss. In contrast the seventh track on the album, Skeletons Of Society, is something which I’m hearing as something of downer in comparison to some of the stuff on offer here. I can’t find anything really noteworthy about this one and unfortunately its tracks like this one that that make me think again that Slayer isn’t that great a band. I freely admit at this stage that up until this point the band has given their fans a solid thrash album with few low points, but from Skeletons Of Society through to Born Of Fire it seems to have taken something of a downturn. Fortunately things do pick up for the title track. The vocals here are the best of the album and it is definitely the album’s gem.

Overall I’m pleasantly surprised to find so much material on Seasons in the Abyss that I enjoy, but to me this sounds like an album that only a dedicated fan of thrash metal will enjoy. What few down moments there were spoilt it for me, though I guess maybe a thrash would still enjoy those moments to some degree.