OVER SLAYER’s 30-plus years rippin’ and tearin’, it’s safe to say they’ve stuck to their guns more than any other group in thrash metal’s Big Four. Megadeth, Anthrax, and Metallica, at some point in their careers, have each bowed to trends, been manipulated by a slick producer, or succumbed to the siren song of passing fads. Slayer has stayed raw, fast, and mean since their inception, holding onto a legion of rabid fans, and clutching their metal cred tightly to their chest.
Kerry King, Slayer guitarist and one of the band’s two remaining founding members, agrees… kind of.
“Not to ruffle any feathers, but that’s a statement that anybody can make. And since you made it, I can agree with it and it wasn’t my statement,” he says, cackling heartily. “When thrash was an infant, we were helping create that scene. We were all fans of it. Back then, we weren’t trying to be something we were not. If a band—be it Anthrax, Megadeth, or Metallica—decides they wanna try something else, that kid inside [of them] that is the reality of [themselves] is being pushed away. You gotta try and be something you’re not. We have always made a conscious effort not to do that. We’re all metal kids.”
Since Slayer has never backed down, their most recent release, Repentless, fits right in with the rest of their discography. It doesn’t sound like Reign in Blood or South of Heaven because that era, while the most important in their career, has long passed. What it does sound like is a band that can still write furious, hard-nosed metal despite being in the twilight of their career. Slayer’s attack is a bit more measured than their earlier work, but it still packs the same punch.