Slayer

[§håd0w]

Of course you can... Christian Rock.

If you can't give a genre based on lyrics, then most metal would be classified poorly. Death metal generally has recurring themes of dying in their music, as with Christian Rock is all religous.

And going with Emo... If the band didn't have whiney lyrics, you couldn't call them emo. So yes you can classify a genre of music based on lyrics.

[jrgen]

Of course you can... Christian Rock.

If you can't give a genre based on lyrics, then most metal would be classified poorly. Death metal generally has recurring themes of dying in their music, as with Christian Rock is all religous.

And going with Emo... If the band didn't have whiney lyrics, you couldn't call them emo. So yes you can classify a genre of music based on lyrics.

Death metal is defined by its musical characteristics. Lyrics are often about death, but not always. And no, Christian rock is IMO not a valid genre. There are genres defined by the lyrics, but not within metal. There may be a common lyrical theme in certain genres, but it is not relevant to which genre the music in question belongs to.

[§håd0w]

Everyone has an opinion... to each their own.

[The Man]

To answer the question posed in the original post: Yes, I like Slayer. Reign in Blood, South of Heaven, and Seasons in the Abyss are all-time classics of thrash, IMHO.

Yes, most of Slayer's songs sound the same. Most of Bob Dylan's early songs sound the same as well. That doesn't make them bad. It just means they're all recorded in the same style.

[Rini]

It depresses me that some people won't understand Slayer for what they are. :( It's okay if one doesn't like the music or the lyrics but they are and always will be the "messenger" of thrash metal, aside Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Testament and Iron Maiden. Only they are a lot heavier and faster.

It's a bit funny to see someone bash Metallica's production above Slayer's, (well obviously it's his opinion but...) I personally think that Disciple (from God Hates Us All) is ten times better than anything metallica did from the Black Album onwards. But I have to agree that even Slayer's 1990's production is a bit lame otherwise.

Last week when I was at a festival with Slayer playing, I was quite near the front row, and there was a moshpit right next to me. Whew. That was quite the experience, but it only takes a bit adjustment to fit in, actually when you relax your muscles it feels almost like a back massage :D So whatevr, I had a friggin blast at that gig. Tom's a really sympathetic guy, he just kept smiling all the time, and aww, now he has a grey beard and stuff <3. "Take care of each other there, that's what you're here to do, right? *smile*"

Slayer is definitely one of my favorite bands, not because of the diversity in the production (well, it's part of it, but not the most important), but because of the humorousness they have playing and doing their music, fan-friendly behaviour, and oh, the aggression-releasing music <3

No matter what anyone says, Reign in Blood is THE best thrash-album there is, was, and will be. Why? Because it's flawless, because it has THE thrash song in it:
Auschwitz, the meaning of pain
The why that I want you to die
Slow death, immense decay
Showers that cleanse you of your life
Forced in
Like cattle
You run
Stripped of
Your life's worth
Human mice, for the Angel of Death
Four hundred thousand more to die
Angel of Death
Monarch to the kingdom of the dead
Sadistic, surgeon of demise
Sadist of the noblest blood

Destroying, without mercy
To benefit the Aryan race

Surgery, with no anesthesia
Fell the knife pierce you intensely
Inferior, no use to mankind
Strapped down screaming out to die
Angel of Death
Monarch to the kingdom of the dead
Infamous butcher,
Angel of Death

Pumped with fluid, inside your brain
Pressure in your skull begins pushing through your eyes
Burning flesh, drips away
Test of heat burns your skin, your mind starts to boil
Frigid cold, cracks your limbs
How long can you last
In this frozen water burial?
Sewn together, joining heads
Just a matter of time
'Til you rip yourselves apart
Millions laid out in their
Crowded tombs
Sickening ways to achieve
The holocaust
Seas of blood, bury life
Smell your death as it burns
Deep inside of you
Abacinate, eyes that bleed
Praying for the end of
Your wide awake nightmare
Wings of pain, reach out for you
His face of death staring down,
Your blood running cold
Injecting cells, dying eyes
Feeding on the screams of
The mutants he's creating
Pathetic harmless victims
Left to die
Rancid Angel of Death
Flying free

And people are saying the songs have no meaning?

[The Man]

Angel of Death, like so many songs in heavy metal ("The Number of the Beast" also comes to mind), is so frequently misinterpreted it's saddening. It's written about Josef Mengele, but as Jeff Hanneman, who wrote the song, puts it:

I know why people misinterpret it — it's because they get this knee-jerk reaction to it. When they read the lyrics, there's nothing I put in the lyrics that says necessarily he was a bad man, because to me — well, isn't that obvious?! I shouldn't have to tell you that.

There's also the fact that Tom Araya and Dave Lombardo are of distinctly non-Aryan heritage. ;-)

[LionHeart_83]

Slayer is really good. They are probably one of the only good bands that have clean vocals nowadays

[§håd0w]

Then you must not listen to a lot of bands. There are pleanty that don't scream or growl, or have clean vocals as you put it.

[Rini]

..Or then there just are no other bands that he respects/likes more?

I wouldn't say Slayer has clean vocals, but it doesn't need them. Aggression is a good thing when it comes to music. Try and scream with Araya for a two-hour gig and you'll be all out of fury and anger for the next few weeks :D