MicShazam

I'd like to be proven wrong. I wasn't aware there was a hidden cache of interesting Slayer songs that I've never heard.

The Batlord

Nah you're totally wrong. After Seasons in the Abyss (1990) they got a lot more samey, but each of their first five albums has a very distinct sound and saying that they all sound alike just makes it clear that you just don't listen to Slayer.

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MicShazam

I've monstly listened to Reign in Blood and upwards and Repentless only partially. I'm willing to admit that I might have a blind spot as far as early Slayer is concerned.

I'm not sure how Reign in Blood, South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss are all that different from each other musically though. I have owned all three and listened to them a lot. They all bleed together in my mind. Very similar, not very similar... I guess everything is relative.

I can't be bothered with listening to all of their albums again just to make sure. There's a thousand things I'd rather give first and second chances.
I'd rather give up and concede that they might be a more interesting band than I credit them with.

...Might be

The Batlord

AFAIC they're all night and day different. Reign in Blood was the savage, 30 minute headbang whose only purpose was to destroy everything; South of Heaven was when they slowed down, got melodic, and Tom Araya didn't scream as much; and Seasons in the Abyss was where they basically summed up their career with their most polished album to date, while also pushing their more melodic experimentations to their logical conclusions. To me it's not even splitting hairs. Those albums are simply highly different.

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The Batlord

Srsly tho this is like the definition of thrash with some insanely awesome riffs. The best Destruction tracks definitely edge out their fellow German competitors from Kreator and Sodom.

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MicShazam

Maybe I'm just listening to it differently. To me, they seem to be using the same chords and progressions over and over - but with slightly different rhythms and tempos. Either I'm deaf, or we just have very, very different things we're focusing on when talking about this band.

At least this was a fun listen. I also like a bit of Sodom. M16 was a really fun track that I used to listen to now and again.

The Batlord

Slayer are definitely not a band to listen to for technical progression, their first few albums aside to an extent (Show No Mercy to Hell Awaits to Reign in Blood). It's their delivery that is/was constantly changing and evolving.

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MicShazam

I can see what you mean from that angle. There was a different sound to several albums when compared to each other. Especially God Hates us All compared to older albums. It was way harsher and more clinical sounding.

After that album they really got stale for me. Christ Illusion, for example, just sounded like a failed attempt at doing Seasons again or something.

The Batlord

I mean basically yeah, but it was also by far the best Slayer album since Seasons in the Abyss and the only one I've cared about since (although as a teenager I definitely did have some love for God Hates Us All.) But if you ever do me any favor then listen to their first three albums in sequence and then tell me all their **** sounds the same. Those albums all have a Slayer-ness, but they sound almost nothing alike in a lot of ways, from production to delivery to vocals. They're basically the sound of a band perfecting thrash with each subsequent release, and no other band would ever touch that evolution. After that the band's sound never really expanded to the same extent, even though it definitely did evolve.

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Frownland

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.