"Dissident Aggressor" / Slayer / South of Heaven

MF'n Slayer, ya'll. Fantastic.

Let me go on record as saying that "South of Heaven" is easily one of the top five metal albums of all time. Ten tracks of soul crushing, leather studded, pseudo demonic speed metal.

I respect the hell out of Slayer. They have stayed the course through the years, never changing their approach or sound, even during the early ninties when metal was scoffed at and derided. One of my co-workers, a likewise unreformed metal fan, made me a copy of one of their most recent CDs and they still pack the same punch. They also have one of my top underrated musicians, drummer Dave Lombardo. Check out the insane double bass work :21 seconds in here on "Silent Scream" (off the same CD, by the way)

Insanity



I've had the good fortune to see Slayer in concert, too. Back in 1991, when metal was at its absolute commerical zenith, I went to see the Clash of the Titans tour at the old Omni. Anthrax, Megadeth and Slayer laid waste to the arena, and it was full on wild. Each band took turns closing the show, and that night was Slayer's. Growing up a good Baptist boy, I have to say that the evil energy and demonic roar when the lights went down and Slayer began their show bathed in an eerie green light was frighteningly intoxicating. One of my all time favorite concernt moments came from that show - getting in an old fashioned circle pit with lots of scary, SCARY looking dudes during "Angel of Death".

Wow - learn something new every day. While looking for this song on YouTube, it seems that this is a cover of an old Judas Priest song. That makes sense now, as I always thought it sounded just a bit different from the normal Slayer fare. That's cool. Mainly, I'm thinking about my favorite part, and the part that from time to time pops up in my head during stressful or sticky moments - the "Stab!.....Fight!" refrain throughout the song. It also makes one of the lyrics immediately after, "I know what I am" MUCH more interesting when you know that it came from (at the time) closeted homosexual Rob Halford. Huh. Other than that part, it's pretty much a dirgelike, slow burn of a song. I have many more favorites by Slayer ("Ghosts of War", off of this same CD, is actually my favorite), but that chorus always gets me. Check out the guitar solo too. I alwys find Slayer's guitar solos funny. You could take the solo from every song and switch it with another, and I don't think anyone would notice. Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman's strengths are definitely to be found in the riffs - not the solos (but don't tell them I said that).

Here's a quick listening version (complete with requisite demonic imagery). Hotlink after will get you the song.


http://www.mediafire.com/?beg4nenymjm