Metal Reviews

Slayer qualitatively have been on the downturn since post-Seasons, this has been known for a long time now. But with the death of axeman Jeff Hanneman, should the band rest their legacy with him and stop touring altogether? Kerry King is not as great of a riff writer as Hanneman was, nor has the band's studio material been up-to-par with the eighties era. But overall should the band just call it a day and spare us the subpar material, or should they continue to play the older material for a newer generation?

Hang it up.

Slayer just need to stop. End of story. Stop releasing awful albums and stop with the crappy tours where they butcher their classic material.

Heh, interesting to see this thread. Just today I was looking at upcoming shows and noticed Slayer is playing here in a few months. I was like, "Hmm maybe I'll go" and then was like, "Oh wait Jeff Hanneman's dead."

Not to say they can't play a good show without Jeff but that realization made me less interested.

Well in fairness they couldn't play a good show with Jeff so I like their chances even less now...

I saw them without Hanneman. It wasn't a bad show, but now after kicking out Lombardo it's pretty fucking dumb to continue. Especially writing new material. And I guess fuck Exodus if they continue. Slayer isn't a side act, Mr. Holt.

I'd prefer a new Exodus album long before another Slayer album.

How many Slayer tunes did Lombardo write? Yeah, none. Hanneman wrote some great songs, but so did King. He is as much responsible for their legacy as Hanneman was. To suggest they should quit because Hanneman drank himself into an early grave is ridiculous.

Without even discussing the quality of the recent output—which has been very good, by the way—this is how these guys make a living, feed their children, pay their bills. It's so arrogant when fans suggest they quit. This isn't a goddamn hobby.

I would say yes. Barring Christ Illusion, I like the other albums they put out post 2k. CI was pretty average. I am curious to listen to their output without Hanneman and Lombardo.

I saw them live two days ago in México City, along with Ghost and Iron Maiden. Slayer was really boring, they lacked spirit and it seemed that they were doing us a favor for playing. Lame. In fact many people started calling them Ex-layer. I think it's a pretty good name for what they are now. Gary Holt is great but he's Exodus, not Slayer.

Ghost and Iron Maiden were awesome though.

don't know whether they should still be called Slayer, but guys it's fucking Gary Holt. he is definitely going to bring good things to the band.

Except that he isn't writing anything for them on their next album says King.

wow... talk about a luxury stand-in.

what a load o'pish, then.

They've been living off past glories for quite awhile now and the quality of their live performances have dipped dramatically in the past few years. Tom looks old and tired, Lombardo left the band over money and King hasn't written anything interesting since Divine Intervention. Lay the Slayer beast to rest.

But how will they feed their kids!? This media empire we know as Slayer with merch deals for everything, formed by men who have connections throughout the metal industry, how could they ever find some other way to pay their bills then to drag their old corpses across the country playing to crowds, which they will only disappoint?

In best Helen Lovejoy voice, "Won't somebody please think of the children!" I would hope that the band members had planned for this inevitability some time ago. Just because Slayer (as a unit) is retired doesn't mean the guys in the band can't still make other music or be involved in the business to some capacity. The Pantera guys all seem to be doing fine in their respective groups, so why not Slayer?

Slayer has been dead to me for a long time.

The band from Haunting the Chapel to South of Heaven may very well be among the greatest bands in metal to ever exist. I even have them above Judas Priest. The only two bands at their apex that outshine prime Slayer are Maiden and Sabbath.

Edit: Bathory vs. Slayer would be a good conversation, but in terms of influence Slayer probably would win

They should continue. Don't know what it'll sound like, though. Will Holt be a full-time member? Will it be chugga all the way (Holt, errr) or a return to basics which is what everyone's waiting for and, thus, is the apt commercial move.
I'm curious about their new album.

Definitely. I was pretty stoked to hear that Steve Souza is officially back in the band replacing Rob "the Angry Redneck" Dukes. It's probably too greedy to expect another Temple of the Damned, but I can still hope.