BEST SLAYER ALBUM: DIVINE INTERVENTION or UNDISPUTED ATTITUDE?
As any metal fan with functioning ears and discerning taste knows, Slayer are one of the most overrated bands of all time. Sure, they have some great songs, but the vast majority of their catalog is boring, generic filler. For example, I am not sure why Reign in Blood is considered such a classic when there are only two good songs on it. I mean, if “Angel of Death” and “Raining Blood” were released as the two sides of a 7″, it would probably be the best record ever released, but they decided to sandwich a bunch of crappy, lifeless songs between them for some unfortunate reason. And don’t even get me started on how tepid and uninteresting their next few records are… In fact, looking back over the past 25 years or so, it is clear to me that Slayer’s best album is a tossup between two of their mid/late 90s releases that go largely unnoticed: Divine Intervention and Undisputed Attitude.
Winner: DIVINE INTERVENTION
On the one hand we have 1994’s Divine Intervention, which marked the debut of Paul Bostaph on drums and a return to the ferocious, blistering thrash that made everybody like Slayer in the first place. Around this time, pretty much every hardcore band other than Mouthpiece was doing their best to sound like Slayer, and in my opinion this album was a very succinct reminder that hardcore kids should not try to play metal. Divine Intervention is the 90s metalcore album that every shitty band on Victory and New Age wished they could make, and if you ask me, it might be Slayer’s best.
“Dittohead” is one of the best hardcore songs ever written, despite being a tribute to Rush Limbaugh #1994
“Killing Fields” sounds like some post-Earth Crisis metalcore band that would have been on leading independent music retailer VICTORY RECORDS — like Morning Again if they actually knew how to play their instruments
Second place: UNDISPUTED ATTITUDE
The other lost classic in the Slayer catalog is Undisputed Attitude, in which the band made a lot of uptight punk rockers angry by covering punk legends like DI, TSOL, DRI, and other bands with 2-4 letter acronyms for names. Much like Suicidal’s Deja Vu EP, it is awesome because it shows you what many classic punk/hardcore songs would sound like if the bands could actually play and had a decent budget. Don’t get me wrong, I love filthy, lo-fi production as much as the next guy (the Crossed Out/Man Is The Bastard split 7″ being the ultimate example), but most of the bands they covered were just trying to be metal bands, so they didn’t sound good with shitty production.
Remember when everybody got butthurt because they changed the last line to “Guilty of being RIGHT,” and they were convinced that Slayer were a bunch of Nazis despite the obvious fact that Tom and Dave are not white??
Slayer’s version of “Memories of Tomorrow” is much better than Suicidal’s own “metal version” of the song (from “Still Cyco”)
Runner-up: GOD HATES US ALL
While overall this album is hit-and-miss, it is notable for taking the best parts of nu-metal and combining it with the best of generic thrash. I know everybody hated it at the time, and I can understand why, but I think the album is much better than people remember, especially when compared to snooze-fests like South of Heaven (note: while I definitely think South of Heaven sucks, it does have the single best Slayer song, “Silent Scream“)
“Disciple” has a groove that makes u bounce ta this
What do u think??? Which is the best Slayer album, Divine Intervention or Undisputed Attitude?? Is “Silent Scream” the most underrated Slayer song of all time? Will they ever record another song as pissed off and brutal as “Dittohead”? Do u think Ian Mackaye cried himself to sleep while cradling a Noam Chomsky book in his arms when he heard their versions of Minor Threat songs?????
-Sergeant D.
