Slayer: Seasons in the Abyss [AMERICAN]

Why you'll love it

This remastered edition was prepared at Universal Mastering and comes with a printed insert. The album went gold in the US and Canada and has sold more than 813,000 copies in the US since SoundScan began.

This edition

• Remastered
• Printed insert

About the album

After the sprint of Reign in Blood and the heavier groove of South of Heaven, Slayer split the difference. Rick Rubin produced again, with Andy Wallace co-producing and mixing, and the band recorded from March to June 1990 at Hit City West, Hollywood Sound and the Record Plant in Los Angeles.

Tom Araya, Kerry King, Jeff Hanneman and Dave Lombardo swing between blinding speed and mid-tempo heft, and the lyrics trade demonic fantasy for real-world horror. "War Ensemble" opens at full gallop, "Spirit in Black" and "Blood Red" keep the pressure on, and "Temptation" has a happy accident at its heart: Araya sang it twice, once his way and once King's way, and when both takes played back together by mistake, King liked it so much it stayed.

The title track and "War Ensemble" earned Slayer its heaviest MTV airplay to that point. At 42 minutes it's also the longest album they ever made, which for Slayer counts as a leisurely afternoon.

Also at Kops: more Slayer on vinyl · browse Metal

Tracklist

Listen

On American Recordings (cat# B0018855-01), a reissue of the 1990 album.