Fuckin' Slayer. The two don't even compare (well, maybe Slayer in "God Hates Us All", or "Diabolous in Musica"). I mean, just listen!





Compared to:



FUCKIN' SSSSLLLLLAAAAYYYYYEEEERRR!!!!

This thread is saddening me.
I kid, I kid, it don't matter to me what band people prefer. It won't stop me breaking my neck to "Reign in Blood".

Blackout wrote:

Slay has melody! Here's reigning blood. Duh duh duh, da nuh nuh nuh, nuh nuh nuh, nuh nuh nuh! Duh duh duh, da nuh nuh nuh, nuh nuh nuh, nuh nuh nuh! Duh duh duh, da nuh nuh nuh, nuh nuh nuh, nuh nuh nuh! Duh duh duh, da nuh nuh nuh, nuh nuh nuh, nuh nuh naw! Duhdly duhdly duhdly duhdly duhdly duhdly duhdly duhdly duh nun nun now nuh nuh nuh!

On a serious note, I think we've had this conversation on the forums before, a melody is just about any piece of music. Riffs, vocal patterns, anything that uses notes and isn't atonal (Slayer's solos are admittedly pretty noisy) is a melody. However, let's not get into that argument. I would also like to say that people who say "Slayer makes the same album over and over again" don't seem to know what they're talking about. "Show No Mercy" owes a substantial debt to the NWOBHM, "Hell Awaits" featured way more complex arrangements, "Reign in Blood" shortened the songs, simplified the songwriting style, and sharpened the guitar tone, "South of Heaven" really slowed things down (for the better), "Seasons in the Abyss" was the sum of Slayer's parts up to that point, "Divine Intervention" featured a different guitar tone as well as some slight experimentation (mostly with Tom Araya's vocals), "Undisputed Attitude" is the punk cover album, "Diabolous in Music" is the nu-metal influenced one, "God Hates Us All" was a continuation of that, "Christ Illusion" was a slight return to thrash (although it had some pretty awful songs on it), and "World Painted Blood" is apparently a continuation of that, although I haven't bought it yet and can't say for sure.

TL;DR, people who say "all Slayer sounds the same" probably haven't actually listened to a lot of Slayer. This is not an attack on anyone specifically, just a defense against a more general opinion of Slayer detractors. Sorry if I piss anyone off with this post, but Slayer are one of my favorite bands, and I feel as if I've got to throw a more elaborated view out there.

JRA wrote:

enshinkarateman wrote: On a serious note, I think we've had this conversation on the forums before, a melody is just about any piece of music. Riffs, vocal patterns, anything that uses notes and isn't atonal (Slayer's solos are admittedly pretty noisy) is a melody. Yup, that was me. OP, you are a fucking idiot. You should be kissing enshin's ass for saving this miserable "too stupid even for Metal Sludge band X vs. Band Y" and turning into something useful. and Syd, last time I checked, you like Venom. There's no reason for you to not like Show No Mercy, or even Haunting The Chapel. As for the Morbid Angel comment, blow me.

Woah, woah, woah, man, can't we all get along? The hostility is unwarranted.
Actually, I was going to recommend Syd some "Show No Mercy", I think he'd enjoy that a lot more than later Slayer.

As for Pantera, my buddy actually bought a bootleg copy of their 2nd and 3rd albums while we were at Maryland Death Fest, and I'm pretty sure he's got a bootleg of "Power Metal". I personally only think "Power Metal" is any good, the other stuff isn't really my scene.
Captain, you are correct, Dimebag wasn't called Dimebag until "Far Beyond Driven".

JRA, 'tis all well, man, no need to be ashamed.

Syd Lexia wrote:

As for Testament vs. Exodus, It's hard for me to pick. I love pre-Low Testament. After that, they got kinda lame. The only Exodus album I have is Fabulous Diaster, which I love. I've been meaning to explore their catalog further, but I haven't. I guess I choose Testament by default. Hasn't Exodus gone through way more line-up changes than Testament?

Syd, I would highly recommend "Bonded by Blood":

It's pretty much one of the greatest thrash albums of all time, and to be honest, it and "Fabulous Disaster" are really the only Exodus albums you need, everything else is kind of "meh". Exodus has definitely gone through a load of lineup changes, and for the record, I say that Paul Baloff was their best frontman, even if he was a drunk and couldn't sing on key. He was one of those guys who lived and breathed metal, although he probably wouldn't like Syd. He used to go around cutting people's hair off if they liked hair metal! The new guy is a bit too modern for my tastes, although they were killer whenever I saw them live (and he's married to the guitarist for Coheed and Cambria's sister, as the latter told me when I saw the 'Heed).
Despite that, and despite my love for Testament, I've got to go with Exodus, just on the strength of BBB. I do love all eras of Testament, though, "The Gathering' is my favorite Testament album, actually. Steve DiGiorgio is on it, after all.