Marking the end of Slayer's unholy trinity, Seasons in the Abyss is quite possibly Slayer's best album. While the other two albums in the trinity, Reign in Blood and South of Heaven, are no slouches either, Seasons in the Abyss is much more mature than either of them. While Reign in Blood is the popular choice for favorite Slayer album, for me, that album's shorter length (under thirty minutes)is what keeps it from being my favorite. At forty-two minutes, Slayer gets more time to stretch out and make things interesting. But at the same time, Slayer addressed one of the biggest complaints that some people had with South of Heaven; not as many fast songs as on Reign in Blood. So, Slayer starts this album off with an absolute riff-er of a track, War Ensemble. Dave Lombardo's insane drum fill in the middle of this track is almost worth the price of admission alone. But this album is filled from top to bottom with great tracks, and has it's own great creepy trilogy in Spirit in Black (which starts slowly before exploding into speed metal ecstasy), Expendable Youth (and it's creepy lyrics), and Dead Skin Mask (just creepy, period). Having wrapped up side A in a supremely satisfying manner, side B also contains plenty of winners. We get another slice of fiery thrash with Hallowed Point and then the stomping opening to Skeletons of Society. Temptation (NOT A COVER) and Born in Fire are both fast, but Slayer saves the best for last with their title track, which encapsulates everything that the band has learned up until this point. If introducing someone new to Slayer, I'm not sure I would recommend this album first. I would still recommend Reign in Blood first, simply because of the fact that that album's concise nature will help them get acclimated to the insanity that is Slayer. But if they do end up liking Slayer, then they HAVE to give this album a listen. In my opinion, it is Slayer's finest hour.
Favorite Tracks: 1. War Ensemble 4. Expendable Youth 5. Dead Skin Mask 7. Skeletons of Society 10. Seasons in the Abyss