Comments on: Shotgun CD reviews #43431258

By: digitaldarryl

digitaldarryl — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 22:56:37 +0000

Wot, the drummer blew up ‘gain???
And there’s no bloody umlat on Unearth?
That’s not very mëtal.

-d—

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 04:25:14 +0000

Main point taken, but the drummer swap in Slayer was basically swapping Dave Lombardo out with a Dave Lombardo impersonator. If, say, Igor Cavalera or Anders Jakobsen joined and played in their own styles, Slayer would sound totally different.

The main difference between Hell Awaits and Reign in Blood was production and song length. The riffs and stylistic elements weren’t much different at all. Kerry King said the main change was in production.

As for changes since then, I think there is more of a difference between South of Heaven and Reign in Blood than there is betwee Reign and Hell Awaits. South of Heaven has something close to traditional singing and is slow and even mellow in places. That was unheard of in Slayer before. And the so-called “sellout albums” - Diabolous, God Hates - those have very drastic changes from the albums before them.

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 21:10:14 +0000

While I would agree that the first two albums you mentioned were solidly different, they were both released prior to 1986: Show No Mercy is from 1983, and Hell Awaits came out in 1985.

I do, however, disagree with the solidification point of Slayer. I think it was during reign in Blood in 1986 that they found their sound, and after that it didn’t really change. The following albums may have varied slightly, but there is no great variation in sound or theme.

And while I agree that drumming itself is a big part of metal, I don’t think swapping out a drummer in an established band makes a lot of difference. You change a vocal style or guitarist, and the band can completely change (Anthrax, Van Halen, Black Sabbath, the Haunted), but swap out a drummer and it’s business as usual.

My main point was that I’m tired of listening to people regurgitating hype.

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 02:55:20 +0000

In Slayer (and metal in general), the drums make a *huge* difference. In fact, Slayer’s sound developed as a result of Lombardo pushing them tempo-wise.

Sure, Bostaph spent all of his time trying to play in a Lombardo kind of style, but I think the feel was very different, especially when it comes to fills. He’s very precise, but at the same time, a lot freer sounding during fills.

There’s actually been quite a few changes in Slayer’s sound. Show No Mercy was very Maiden/Priest-influenced, then Hell Awaits got a lot darker and crazier melodically. That’s when they first became uniquely Slayer, I think. Then, of course, Reign in Blood.

South of Heaven was much mellower and moodier. A lot of fans didn’t like that album at first. Then on Seasons, they sort of blended the sounds of the last two albums. Divine was more of the same, except not as good.

Diabolus was actually a commercial experiment. There were a lot of nu metallish aspects, at least rhythmically. I don’t think they ever play songs from that albums live. And God Hates Us All turned back toward more straightforward aggression, but there’s were no really fast songs, and not many intricate riffs. In fact, it was maybe the most drum-driven album.

Well, anyway, the point is that they definitely have changed their sound many times since 1986, although usually not in the name of selling out.