If Testament were shocking, then Slayer were like a lightning bolt to the brain. The scream at the beginning of this song, the fact that it's about The Holocaust, the noise....
This song is still controversial to this day and to be honest it's still pretty indefensible, especially subject-wise. Slayer flirted with Nazi imagery, and some of the members of the band have said some controversial things. I think that as a teenager who was immersed in war (my reading material was Warlord, Commando and Battle comics, spending Sunday afternoons watching 633 squadron and The Dambusters) I was perhaps lacking the critical faculties to realise that it wasn't cool to sing about death camps in a way which seemed if not glorifying then rather un-critical.
Still, Slayer fucking rocked*. They were the only one of the Thrash bands I was into who never sold out, never stopped playing rough brutal metal and Angel of Death, along with the whole Reign In Blood album (which pack in 10 songs in a punk-rock 35 minutes) is still a cool listen, even if some of the lyrics did make me laugh out loud when I was compiling this list.
I've perhaps been a bit unfair on the whole metal scene in these last few entries. I loved it as a teenager, and it set me on the path to discover all sorts of other music, made me realise that the tribal nature of genres is essential in forming an identity as a person (especially as a teenager)
It's just that it all seems a bit, um, silly in retrospect, a genre that seems designed to be grown out of once you leave puberty - looked back on fondly for sure, but the simple fact is, once you've heard Reing in Blood and Kill 'Em All, as a genre there really is very few other places to go
Of course if anyone disagrees with me, and want to point me in the direction of some more current metal then I'd love to hear it, and my inner awkward teenager would be eternally grateful...
*Yeah, that's right, I totally swore....
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