The third of 1986’s thrash metal entries has arrived. And Slayer are the thrashiest of thrash of the three so far, drummer Dave Lombardo must lose several pints of sweat per song such is the ferocity of the tempo, and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya spits out words at a phenomenal rate. Meanwhile guitarists (and also the writing team) Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman combine thundering riffs with squealing solos.
For the most part the songs are of punk brevity, mostly somewhere between 2-3 minutes, but the album is bookended by the longer (4 minute) tracks Angel Of Death (exploring the thoughts of Joseph Mengele) and Raining Blood (about a soul in Purgatory exacting revenge on Heaven). For that, Slayer do still manage to fit in some tempo changes and structure to the songs. Although compared to Megadeth and Metallica they tend to be more fully fast thrash, there’s still a bit of something to stop it being simply repetitive noise.
And, as with the other thrash albums, the constant drone of distortion is oddly relaxing. Even when coupled with lyrics about severed body parts, blood and serial killers. Because Slayer lean hard into the transgressive and demonic imagery that the Satanic Panic fears. They look Tipper Gore squarely in the eye and say “Yes? And?” Because somebody needs to.
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