Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss (1990)
1990 was a good year for metal. Perhaps one of the more memorable ones for my time listening to metal over the past 30 years. I spent hours as a teenager with this record and it remained my only exposure to Slayer for the best part of 3 years. As such, its an album that holds massive nostalgic value for me and whilst it will never rival South of Heaven or Reign In Blood as my overall favourites from the discography it does offer some quality tracks and is one of the few albums I can play through track by track in my head.
As has been alluded to in other reviews, this was probably the last great Slayer record. It it still had all the epic speed and intensity that had by now become standard offering for the group but it also offered real shows of maturity in terms of songwriting with a couple of tracks in particular standing out as picks from the record. To start with, opening track War Ensemble is a classic Slayer track, full of rampant urgency and pressing persistence. From the opening riff there's little time to draw breath and by the time it is over the doggedness of Blood Red continues the album's relentless opening salvo. To open an album with such a sense of cruciality is bold as there is no intro, no building of atmosphere, just straight up head off and shit down your neck intensity.
Things take a more atmospheric turn with the brilliant fifth track Dead Skin Mask, with it's spoken word dialogue uttered over a molesting and mauling riff. The child calling out towards the end of the track scared the living shite out of me as a teenager as the track played out a grisly homage to serial killer Ed Gein superbly. It remains one of my favourite Slayer tracks to this day for its fine mix of atmospheric horror and macabre storytelling.
Things get right back to the weapon's grade levels of intensity with the barnstorming Hallowed Point with riffs literally crashing in and taking the face off anyone in striking distance. For me though, after the catchy Skeletons of Society the album does go a little off the boil with Temptation feeling a tad clumsy in comparison to the rest of the tracks. After the evilness of Born of Fire we get to the crowning glory of the album as the title track makes for a momentous closing to the record with six and a half minutes of well constructed thrash metal that builds like a doom track to start before going off into a vast and familiar Slayer soundscape.
It really only is the small lull towards the end of the record that keeps that remaining half star off the rating here, otherwise this is a perfectly constructed and masterful thrash record that sometimes gets unnecessary bad press.