Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss
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Music CD Cover
Artist: SlayerEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
Published: 2009-06-19
CD Release Date: 2007-07-24
Music Label: Sony Legacy
Soundtracks:
- War Ensemble
- Blood Red
- Spirit In Black
- Expendable Youth
- Dead Skin Mask
- Hallowed Point
- Skeletons Of Society
- Temptation
- Born Of Fire
- Seasons In the Abyss
Free Music Notes for Seasons in the Abyss
Free Music Review: Slayer's Epic Masterpiece!
Hit: 5 Stars
Now I don't want to begrudge those who dig Slayer's earlier classics. "Reign In Blood" is simply a blitzkrieg of fast and furious metal caught on tape. "Hell Awaits" is close to what can be considered "progressive" Slayer. "Show No Mercy" and "South Of Heaven" are also great albums.
"Seasons in The Abyss" takes the best of all those previous albums and results in a highly-nuanced and epic work. It has speed metal when you need it then tones it down to very sinister overtures. It is album that can't be said to be "one-note".
What really catches my ears and brain are the lyrics. The songwriting is top-notch and is more than the typical odes to the horned one. The brutal opener, "War Ensemble", is as close to Slayer penning an anti-war anthem from a solder's viewpoint along the lines of the first half hour of "Saving Private Ryan": It's about survival in the battlefield. "Blood Red" is a continuation of that theme of oppressive rule at gunpoint and, at the time, likening it to the "primitive sickle" (or maybe of Death itself) of the former Soviet Union. "Expendable Youth" totally demythologizes drug-based violence in the ghettos; violence which was only glamorized by "gangsta" rap groups where here you can practically envision the death as another stringer photo in a newspaper with detached matter-of-fact copy accompanying it. "Hallowed Point" goes even deeper into violence by starting out with describing what happens as a bullet hits its target and effectively tells an anecdote from a sniper's perspective. "Dead Skin Mask" effectively captures the horror of Ed Gein while "Skeletons Of Society" is prophetic about the fall of humanity: Think about how messed up humanity was then and look at it now; it's got worse as we're in the midst of WWIII.
"Born Of Fire" and "Spirit In Black" are the usual mythological tales about "Hell" and "Satan" that Slayer does quite well with. Also of note is that for all the tracks on this album these are the only two that I can consider mythological in their subject matter. And yet they are cautionary tales rather than outright worship.
"Temptation" is an interesting track about, what else? Temptation and the resistance thereof. What's more of interest is that the echoed vocal was actually a tracking mistake. Instead of merely being echoed it's as if one is speaking identically to the other, as if one is speaking with themselves. It was an accident which turned into something that brought the track up to another level so Slayer left it the way it is. It's what the late Robert Altman would have considered, "capturing lightning in a bottle".
Then there's the epic closer, "Seasons in The Abyss". The lyrics are deliberately open-ended so one can read into it any way they like though there is an emphasis on insanity, death and of imagery possibly depicting a lobotomy. The music starts with a slow dirge then goes to atmospheric darkness. And, just when the guitar sounds a bit less dark then it all just kicks in. The solos and rhythm leads are perfect! It is a perfect closer to a perfect album that Slayer has failed to reach in regard to its excellence ever since.
I consider it along the lines of 'tallica's "...And Justice For All" but with no infighting and much better production. This is an album that deserves a place in not just the metal aficionado's library but for everyone elses music library as well. This is well written, produced and played music with functioning brains at the helm.
It is, quite simply, a masterpiece.
Seasons in the Abyss Poster
Digitally remastered. Kerrang!'s #1 album of the year for 1990.YEAR: 1990
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