3 out of 5

Label: Metal Blade

Producer: Brian Slagel

Man, don’t tell high school me that I’m rockin’ Slayer albums now.  I don’t think I’d be able to gracefully explain it to my indie rockin’ self.

Slayer’s debut disc is a half and half mix of standard thrash and then WTF this came out in ’83??? thrash with intense breakdowns and neck-breaking drums.  The jaw-dropping solos and non-stop beat are pretty consistent, but the line is drawn between your standard ‘riff with breakdown and here’s a chorus’ attack – ‘The Antichrist,’ ‘Black Magic’ – and then tracks that mix in some hardcore stop-on-a-dime changes plus structural shake-ups that honestly stand the test of time – the awesome ‘Die By the Sword’ and the shifty ‘Tormentor.’

I’m sure the lyrics about Satan and death were all the whazoo back in the day and were probably a bit more effective live, blended with whatever wacky imagery was being flashed about to freak you out, but it’s pretty cheeky to modern ears – gang vocals shouting ‘evil’ together on the opening track, for example, isn’t going to scare me much anymore.  But though it wasn’t intended as silly, a reason it’s tolerable – and still rocks – is because the band was going for a feeling and not really trying to get you to worship the devil.  So it lacks the over-wrought nonsense of death metal and works, overall, to create a vibe.  You can allow for some of the chuckles (and Tom Araya’s occasional high-pitched vocals) as elements of 80s metal.

But all in all, it holds up amazingly well, and still shocks with the talent behind the thrash.  Slagel’s production – I don’t know what version I’m listening to, remastered or whatnot – also keeps up with the times, getting a pretty raw sound.  It has the tinny distortion of 80s metal, but it’s not washed out – the drums and vocals sound crisp and the solos ring out.