Reviews list for Slayer - Repentless (2015)

I decided to, after listening to and reviewing Hell Awaits, jump ahead from 1985 to 2015, sort of like Marty, Jennifer, and Doc in Back to the Future Part II. So here I am reviewing their final album Repentless, which is also their only album without founding guitarist Jeff Hanneman after his untimely passing two years earlier. Also absent was their mighty drummer Dave Lombardo. Does this album work without them? Eh, not so much...

Jeff Hanneman was known for his creative thrash songwriting. He knew how to add in spooky experimentation to the band's songs, while the band's other founding guitarist Kerry King wrote the typical upbeat tracks. With King in full control of most of the songwriting in this album, you might think this would be full-on fast thrash.

You might certainly think that with the first few tracks offering a promising start, beginning with the intro "Delusions of Savior", which I think is actually a better title for this album than that of the next track. The actual title track really sums up humanity in a nutshell. Bad-a** thrash right here! "Take Control" has just what longtime fans expect from this genre, fast riffing and aggressive soloing. Then the songs after that is just low-tuned mid-tempo groove metal, unfitting for what I expect from this band.

However, one song "When the Stillness Comes" is a pleasant surprise. King tries to add in the earlier scariness, which isn't too bad. Fantastic riffing appears in the last minute. There really should've been more after that, like enough to extend the song by a couple more minutes, but no, it's just an abrupt anti-climatic ending. So sad... Fortunately, there's more speed in "Implode", which was oddly released over a year earlier. "Piano Wire", the only song in the album to be posthumously written by Hanneman, is different from the other mid-tempo tracks, but it's still stuck in the middle.

"Atrocity Vendor" is also thrashy yet uninspired. The album's true highlight for me is "You Against You", having the mighty side of thrash sounding as fresh and f***ing p*ssed they can be. "Pride in Prejudice" ends the album (and the band's discography) blandly with one more groove song, though slightly more interesting than the others.

Some songs in Repentless are quite enjoyable. Guitarist Gary Holt does some great soloing work as if he has learned from Hanneman himself. Drummer Paul Bostaph is also good, while not the same as Lombardo. King performs some of the greatest riffing in thrash. Tom Araya continues his experienced aggression in the vocals and bass. And while Repentless is not how I thought they would end it all, I recognize the earlier Hell Awaits as a classic essential enough for my potential in The Pit. So long, Slayer.....

Favorites: "Repentless", "Take Control", "Implode", "You Against You"