Ranking the Studio Albums: Slayer

Join host Pete Pardo and special guest co-hosts Brian Slagel (Metal Blade Records), Elliott Fullam (Little Punk People), and Steve Keeler (Rock Fantasy) as they rank the studio catalog of thrash metal titans Slayer! #slayer
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[@st3929]

1. Seasons in the Abyss 2. Reign in Blood 3. South of Heaven

[@robertheaney1685]

1 Reign in blood 2 Seasons in the Abyss 3 South of Heaven 4 Hell Awaits 5 Show No Mercy 6 Christ Illusion 7 World Painted Blood 8 Divine Intervention 9 Undisputed Attitude 10 God Hates Us All 11 Repentless 12 Diabolus in Musica

[@matthewlav1360]

Diabolous is good

[@nicholasstevenson7574]

I wouldn't even count Undisputed with it being a album of punk covers

[@lurcharoni]

1. Hell Awaits / Haunting the Chapel 2. Reign in Blood 3. South of Heaven 4. Seasons in the Abyss 5. The rest ... :)

[@jimmyvonesh3188]

I like that you have the young man's perspective also.

[@davidburns6284]

Reign in Blood will always be #1 for me. Absolutely flawless. Seasons, South of Heaven and Hell Awaits are all fantastic, but those have a couple of tracks that I may skip. Not the case with Reign in Blood. 28 minutes of perfection. No letting up at any point.

[@panoskarliotis382]

Slayer were SO good until the album Divine Intervention...then they tried to do other things, they tried to be made more "modern", but the results were disappointing for me at least...I didn't really like any of the albums that came after Divine Intervention...

[@panoskarliotis382]

And yes, Reign in Blood is my favorite album of them as well

[@georgegsroomofrock9868]

Top 6 1. Reign in Blood 2. Seasons in the Abyss 3. South of Heaven 4. Hell Awaits 5. Repentkess 6. Show no Mercy

[@stevenvalenti3722]

My top SLAYER albums are #1 - South of Heaven. #2 - Seasons. #3 - Reign in Blood. #4 - Hell Awaits. #5 - Divine Intervention #6 - Christ Illusion. That's it. all the rest or verygood albums in my opinion. but these or their greatest of all times. Verygood video Pete.🙂\m/

[@anthonyrivers1619]

Really dig your lineup! Like the love for Divine! That is a nasty sounding album!

[@neuroisis85]

Never understood all the hate for Diabolus, yea it's got a couple of nu metalish missteps but most of the album has a killer doom/groove vibe I really dig

[@caljerm]

Yeah - it's way better than all the albums that came after God Hates Us All. Deaths Head is a killer track

[@badwolfarchives3246]

Christ Illusion is a modern day metal classic! Great rankings guys.

[@NoineNoineNoine]

It's my #3

[@yehudajayce2722]

Instablaster...

[@careytamburrino746]

I Love Slayer!!! One of my 3 favorite bands ever!!!

[@joshualind437]

1. South of Heaven 2. Seasons in the Abyss 3. Reign in Blood

[@janpoelkamp4229]

That’s just so awesome... A young fan into the conversation as well as their first producer/Metal Blade figurehead, doing the countdown on their catalogue. Rock on, guys!!! 🤘

[@fogzax]

Voivod Ranking Yes! Will be looking forward to that one!

[@Danimal77]

1. South of Heaven (my favorite album by far) 2. Show No Mercy 3. Hell Awaits 4. Haunting The Chapel 5. Reign in Blood 6. Seasons in the Abyss 7. Divine Intervention 8. Diabolus in Musica 8. God Hates Us All 9. Christ Illusion 10. World Painted Blood 11. Repentless 12. Undisputed Attitude

[@SuperStrik9]

Divine Intervention is a great album.

[@keithshapland903]

never forget buying Hell Awaits back in 1985..A real WTF moment. So love the way the title track changes gear twice then full throttle, I had never heard anything like it, and I did have Venom's debut album. 1. Reign In Blood (saw them in 87 on that tour in Birmingham UK, they had the audacity to use Symptom of the Universe as intro music in Sabbaths home city. And I still have the T Shirt) 2. Seasons in the Abyss 3. Hell Awaits 4. Haunting the Chapel 5. South of Heaven

[@patk6669]

Where did the guy in the bottom left get that Number of the Beast poster? Looks gorgeous with the blacklight. Also, big props to the kid - he knows his stuff and is so young - Rock on brother!

[@fogzax]

World Painted Blood is a really underrated album imho - would make my top 5

[@petervanbuskirk500]

I Tried and could never get into that one

[@SuperClarky666]

Same here, played it non stop when it came out.im surprised some fans struggle with it.

[@eon14873]

The sound production is horrible imo

[@fogzax]

@@eon14873 I've only ever had it on vinyl - don't know if the master is different but it sounds pretty damn good

[@eon14873]

@@fogzax it's the guitar sound I don't like. Even the cymbals sound weird. Just my opinion though

[@HoosierDaddyDetailing]

First Slayer show I saw ,was on the Haunting the chapel Tour when I was 15. Cabaret Metro in Chicago about 300 in attendance. They played Necrophiliac which was super cool. I remember Hanneman peeing into a 5 gallon bucket on side stage and them drinking Budweiser 🍺 great memories!

[@anthonyrivers1619]

Friggin awesome!

[@donaldcady3839]

First time i saw them was at the Aragon. Ultimate Revenge tour.

[@coreyrapoza4234]

That wasn't budweiser they were drinking.

[@tonyjambor1984]

Great Show! My top 5 ranking: 1. South of Heaven 2. Reign in Blood 3. Seasons in the Abyss 4. Hell Awaits 5. Show No Mercy

[@zachhall8043]

That’s my top 5 as well just in a different order

[@Yuuzhanvon]

Slayer is garbage compared to Megadeth

[@troyv8302]

01. South of Heaven 02. Reign in Blood 03. Show No Mercy 04. Seasons in the Abyss 05. Haunting the Chapel 06. Hell Awaits 07. God Hates Us All 08. Divine Intervention All the rest can be mixed and matched as I don't find myself picking any of them up much. Not bad and loved seeing them done live and moshing it up to them; just not something that sticks out much. Great job guys, loved the rankings. Was great to hear some stories behind the scenes as well as getting a younger persons perspective on a generational band like SLAYERRRRRRRRRR!

[@troyv8302]

@@turdfurguson4451 Personally, I think God Hates Us All is a better album. Top to bottom it kicks ass and finishes with Payback, one of my favorite tunes by them. Add to the fact that I seen them 6 times on this tour, it became a favorite of mine. Great memories behind this album. As for Haunting the Chapel, might be an EP but it was where Chemical Warfare and Captor of Sin were introduced to us. Don't much care if it had 10 more songs or not, those are staples in a Slayer diet. I ranked them as I like them.

[@ilovevinyl620]

Here are my favourite Slayer-LP's: 1. South Of Heaven 2. Reign In Blood 3. Seasons In The Abyss 4. Show No Mercy 5. Hell Awaits 6. World Painted Blood 7. Divine Intervention 8. Christ Illusion

[@houseofclouse1509]

Masterpiece Tier: 1. Seasons 2. South of Heaven 3. Reign in Blood Excellent Tier: 4. Hell Awaits 5. Show No Mercy Great Tier: 6. Christ Illusion 7. Divine Intervention 8. Haunting the Chapel Ep Good Tier: 9. God Hates Us All Decent Tier: 10. Diabolus in Musica 11. World Painted Blood 12. Repentless

[@Gregbaltzer]

Christ IIlusion is their second worst album right after Repentless. It has all the proper Slayer ingredients except memorable songs(with the exception of Cult and maybe another). I can't make it through it without becoming bored. Then God Hates Us All is their third Worst. I'd put World Painted Blood as the best of the 2000's. And I think other than three good songs South Of Heaven is kind of a boring album. It's lifted up by South Of Heaven, Spill The Blood, and Ghosts of War, and a classic sound and production. But it was the first Slayer album that felt like it had filler on it for me. Seasons for me was the album where they peaked. They took basically took S.O.H. and sped it up a bit and wrote better songs.

[@jimmyjambhere]

Thanks for including Haunting The Chapel. It’s only an EP but I’ve always thought of it as their second album. That’s when they became more aggressive. I love all Slayer!!!

[@robhartley3011]

Well done guys, I have a Thing for south of Heaven, its a change for the speedy type of things they have done, the riffs are phenomenal and the singing from Tom is top notch.. Its my number one after that its all the classics ofcourse..

[@mikek8553]

I really don't listen to much metal these days. Was a huge Slayer fan for quite a long time. But I still to this day pull out "Hell Awaits" from time to time. Very progressive, almost like if Yes put out a thrash album.

[@pvdguitars2951]

Fantastic show. So good to see and hear the legendary Brian Slagel. The US heavy metal scene owes him (and Metal Blade) so much. Nr1 Show no mercy and South of Heaven (very different albums but amazingly strong song writing, top to bottom). Nr 2: Hell awaits and Reign in blood, their darkest, fastest and meanest two albums. The 2 albums that pioneered and forged the foundation of extreme metal.

[@mickshrimpton6494]

awesome stuff, guys. 1. show no mercy 2. south of Heaven 3. seasons in the abyss 4. reign in blood 5. hell awaits

[@wastelander1015]

One of the first extreme metal bands I heard. I'd rank their albums like this: 1. Hell Awaits 10/10 2. Reign in Blood 10/10 3. Seasons in the Abyss 9/10 4. South of Heaven 9/10 5. Show No Mercy 9/10 6. World Painted Blood 8/10 7. Christ Illusion 8/10 8. Divine Intervention 7/10 9. Diabolus in Musica 7/10 10. Undisputed Attitude 6/10 11. God Hates Us All 4/10 12. Repentless 4/10

[@rainbowmusic274]

Please rank the VENOM albums...my favorite band of this genre !

[@johnlucio195]

Hey guys, just wanted to say, I love your channel, and love these rankings, it's awesome seeing guys older and younger than me into the same music I love, up the irons!🤘

[@kellrok]

Hell Awaits is my favourite, and I think it's an absolute masterpiece. It sports brilliant use of reverb, and I love the way it seems to be 'bookended' by the fade in at the start and the fade out at the end. The lead guitar breaks sit perfectly in the mix too, I sometimes find Slayer leads to be a bit too spikey sounding when they are brought up in level up and sitting proud. And the artwork is awesome too, just to top it off..Hell awaaaaaaiiiiiiiitts!!!!!!!!!

[@alciovillalobos]

More Elliott on the channel please :)

[@scottthompson4193]

Diabolus is so gravely underrated, the speed, agression, and groove is amazing on that album!!

[@mitsosmitsos4940]

Great album!

[@L_S_23]

Yes, underrated indeed

[@IdiocyShow]

I agree, but if u listen to all the other Slayer albums it pales in comparison

[@Xxrocknrollgod]

, no

[@IdiocyShow]

@@Xxrocknrollgod yes

[@LuchaLibertaria]

Enjoyed the show! Since You've got Brian Slagel on the show how about Top 10 songs of Lizzy Borden and Malice, two great Heavy Metal bands that were on Metal Blade?

[@pvdguitars2951]

Fantastic suggestion!

[@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812]

Malice were kickass. And Lizzy Borden is awesome too. "Me Against The World"

[@v-guy2004]

My personal favorites: 3. Show No Mercy 2. Hell Awaits 1. Raining Blood.

[@wouterblieck1877]

Never understood the fuzz about Diabolus in Musica, great album!

[@brentrusche2056]

Pete, @littlepunkpeople is a great addition to your roundtable! Elliott is insightful for every album he ranks: Year Released, Musicians involved in the recording, Favorite Songs and why the album is important to him, personally...parenting done well! Although I don't own much of Slayer's later catalog, I thought 'Repentless' was awful due to the logy drumming by Paul Bostaph. The timing feels uncomfortable to the point where he is falling behind the beat rather than being on-top-or-ahead of it. Albeit an exception to the list, it found its way on there nonetheless and with that I mean, 'Live, Undead.' I think that is the best representation of that earlier material; it is more intense, visceral, stentorian and downright frightening. That said, here is my 'Top 5 Slayer' 5 - Seasons In The Abyss (Besides the title track and 'War Ensemble,' I thought the album was (overall) pretty "sleepy" with songs that didn't catch my attention...yet good enough to make my Top 5. 4 - Reign In Blood (Too short...I also own the copy on DefJam with 'Reigning Blood' botched by mastering gone awry. For years, I never knew where the song started and ended!) 3 - South Of Heaven (This was my first Slayer album I purchased on CD...#nostalgia. The title track, 'Ghosts Of War' and the artwork are enough for me to rank it this high) 2 - Show No Mercy (This bridged the gap between NWOBHM and extreme metal for me...Slayer at their most melodic and with songs that make it into their sets to this day!) 1 - Live Undead/Haunting The Chapel (Even though it was 1988 when I took the chance and purchased it, the cassette of the HTC EP was my first ever foray into "extreme/black metal"). I was scared beyond belief, but felt there was something worth mining. Due to its brevity, I was able to compute its raw energy and come to accept its horrorshow lyrics that ultimately influenced me to go back and purchase 'Show No Mercy.' Combined with 'Live Undead' there is no better combination than those two releases (Studio EP and Live LP)...kudos to @metalbladerecords I would be a fabulist if I said Slayer was an integral part of my adolescence...they were not. While, 'Live Undead' is still VERY nostalgic to me, I think it still ranks as the best representation of their early catalog. IMO, there is no better recording of 'Die By The Sword' than on 'Live Undead.' Cheers, B

[@claudiocury3306]

Its amazing that Steve Keeler is wearing Krisium tee! Cheers from Brazil! 🤘

[@jeffyoung2677]

I have to agree, there are NO bad SLAYER albums

[@marcelogutierrez1537]

Pete, the Slayer Felt Forum show was in 1988, for the South of Heaven Tour, not the Reign in Blood Tour, I was there, insane show, there tons of cops and bloodied people even before the show started, and then the sear cushions started flying

[@luciodellaporta7201]

Hell awaits 1, Show no mercy 2, Reign in blood 3, South of heaven 4, Live undead 5, Christ illusion 6, Divine intervention 7, God hate us all 8,

[@flash_goofed_1638]

My ranking (my favorite song on the album): 11. Repentless (Repentless) 10. Diabolus in Musica (Stain of Mind) 9. Christ Illusion (Cult) 8. Divine Intervention (Divine Intervention) 7. World Painted Blood (World Painted Blood) 6. Show No Mercy (Fight till Death) 5. God Hates Us All (God Send Death) 4. Hell Awaits (Hell Awaits) 3. Reign in Blood (Raining Blood) 2. South of Heaven (Behind the Crooked Cross; my favorite Slayer song) 1. Seasons in the Abyss (Skeletons of Society)

[@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812]

My favorite song by Slayer is Skeletons Of Society

[@w-james9277]

1. Seasons Of The Abyss 2. Reign In Blood 3. South Of Heaven 4. Hell Awaits 5. Show No Mercy 6. Christ Illusion 7. God Hates Us All 8. Divine Intervention 9. Relentless 10. World Painted Blood 11. Diabolus in Musica. The one that's truly diabolical!

[@brandonleblanc955]

This is a tough one, but I'll give it a shot! 1. Seasons in the Abyss 2. Reign in Blood 3. South of Heaven 4. Hell Awaits 5. God Hates Us All 6. Show No Mercy 7. Divine Intervention 8. World Painted Blood 9. Christ Illusion 10. Repentless 11. Diabolus In Musica I can't really rank an EP in an album list. If I was going to include the covers album it would be 9, just after World Painted Blood!

[@corazzellim]

HERE WE GO!!!

[@panoskarliotis382]

I have heard ALL their albums MANY times and after all these years and after all these listenings, Reign in Blood is still my favorite album of them...and it will always be

[@donkeydump63]

To the gentleman named Elliot: You pronounced the word psychopathy perfectly on the first try.

[@michaelcarver4632]

My top five :) 1. Seasons 2. Reign in Blood 3. Hell Awaits 4. Haunting 5. Show No Mercy

[@Morbidous]

Hell - Reign - South 10/10 Show - Seasons 9/10 Divine 8/10 God - World - Repentless 7/10 Diabolus - Christ 6/10

[@Freeskiingisdabest]

Show No Mercy is a truly great and catchy album from the very first to the last second. Hell Awaits comes in at 2nd, 3rd is Either Reign or South.

[@jimmyjambhere]

Hell Awaits, Reign, South & Seasons are my favorites 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@sidneyeubanks2201]

SLAYER - EVIL OF THE BIG 4 My Top 5 albums are 1. Reign In Blood 2. Seasons in The Abyss 3. Hell Awaits 4. South Of Heaven 5. Show No Mercy

[@oregonwoodelf]

Undisputed Attitude kicks ass! Yeah, obviously its a cover album and can't really be considered in this sort of list, but worth mentioning at least! I listen to it a lot more than their later albums in the catalog 🤘

[@NoineNoineNoine]

Agreed.

[@allenhousebjj2400]

Excellent episode!

[@planetbarrett6055]

My Top 12 Slayer Albums "SLAYER!!!!!!!!!!" 12. Undisputed Attitude 11. Diabolus in Musica 10. Relentless 9. Christ Illusion 8. God Hates Us All 7. Divine Intervention 6. World Painted Blood 5. South Of Heaven 4. Seasons in the Abyss 3. Reign in Blood 2. Show No Mercy 1. Hell Awaits I Have To Agree With Pete About Show No Mercy, That Album Got Me Into The Band.

[@Yuuzhanvon]

All trash. Slayer is like green day compared to megadeth.

[@jesserapkin2660]

Have the bootleg vhs of that Forum Reign show, from back before youtube existed haha. Reign and South of Heaven are tied for first with Seasons following shortly after.

[@diannecarpenter7718]

Thank you for your ranking of Slayer.🎤🎸🎵🥁

[@Drumdude74]

1. Seasons In The Abyss 2. Reign In Blood 3. South Of Heaven 4. Show No Mercy 5. Hell Awaits

[@gamleskalle1]

Shock! No reign in blood as nr. 1.

[@blackgatecomics]

Right!

[@janpoelkamp4229]

Reign In Blood is a classic, boundary-shifting album, but I like HA, SOH and SITA better.

[@michaelcarver4632]

Hey Pete, do you have any opinions on remasters vs original CD pressings? I’ve been recently getting into more physical media lately and what kicked it off is listening to the original Rust in Peace and realizing it sounds so much better than the remaster. Could be a good show if you’ve got opinions on this stuff...

[@winylowaryba]

Mine first listening of Slayer was "Hell awaits" in 1985 and i love it from the beginning. Then 1st album, but didn't like it maybe, because of very low quality bootleged tape. And even after "Reign" came in, the 2nd remain my favorite. I think first 5 albums it's a Slayer's classics.

[@under-one-flag]

Agree with Elliott for this one - Seasons

[@jimmyjambhere]

I have all those Super7 Slayer figures!! Love ‘em!!

[@matthewjachimiec]

1. Seasons in the Abyss 2. Reign in Blood 3. South of Heaven 4. Show No Mercy 5. Divine Intervention 6. Hell Awaits 7. Christ Illusion 8. World Painted Blood 9. Repentless 10. Haunting the Chapel EP 11. God Hates Us All 12. Diabolus in Musica

[@darlatidwell6255]

In tribute, I listened to a Raining Blood live version video and Angel of Death while watching/reading this.. (close caption). I wasn't that into Slayer back when my kids were little because their faces were like 😳😩😫. But now they like Slayer, hard rock, metal, thrash metal, etc. now that they're in their 30's. Great show. ✌️🤟

[@loganc1158]

13. Undisputed Attitude 2.5/5 12. Diabolus In Musica 2.5/5 11. Divine Intervention 3/5 10. Haunting the Chapel 3.5/5 9. Hell Awaits 4/5 8. Show No Mercy 4/5 7. Christ Illusions 4/5 6. Repentless 4/5 5. World Painted Blood 4/5 4. God Hates Us All 4.5/5 3. South of Heaven 5/5 2. Reign In Blood 5/5 1. Seasons In the Abyss 5/5

[@gregs8685]

1. Reign in Blood 2. Seasons in the Abyss 3 South oh Heaven 4. Show No Mercy 5. Haunting the Chapel 6. Hell Awaits

[@vladdrakul7851]

I think Pete went mad! South of Heaven #7?????????? HELLO! It could be their best. Certainly one of the top 3 along with Seasons in the Abyss and Reign in blood. Just the amount of KILLER GREAT songs. Yup Pete is CRAZZZZZZZY - But we love him anyway!

[@GMHG777]

I quit caring about Slayer after Seasons in the Abyss. I only went and saw them for the first time on the Repentless tour, which was kind of odd seeing as how got into them in the late 80's when South of Heaven came out. Would have liked to see them on the final tour, but of all the Big Four bands Slayer was always kind of my least favorite. 1 Seasons In the Abyss 2 Hell Awaits 3 South of Heaven 4 Reign in Blood 5 Show No Mercy 6 Haunting the Chapel Edit: Best line in the video: Pete picks South of Heaven at #7 and Brian says "What the Hell ?" That was hella funny !

[@helgaratbone1691]

Same with me. Dave leaving the band deflated their material quite a bit. However check out Christ Illusion. Only album by them I can listen to since Seasons in the Abyss. The band Algebra is my new Slayerish go to

[@elijahloveell8809]

Don’t have a full ranking yet but I agree with Pete wholeheartedly on South of Heaven. Good but not my favorite, especially because Reign In Blood still hits so hard

[@johnhavardvalebrokk6151]

1. South of Heaven 2. Seasons in the Abyss 3. Show no Mercy 4. Hell awaits 5. Christ Illusion 6. Reign in blood 7. Got hates us all 8. Dinvine Intervention 9. World painted Blood 10. Repentless 11. Diabolus in Musica

[@2kmetalhead]

My rankings for Slayer. Legendary band. 1) Reign In Blood 2) South Of Heaven 3) Haunting the Chapel / Live Undead 4) Seasons in the Abyss 5) Hell Awaits 6) Divine Intervention 7) Show No Mercy 8) Christ Illusion 9) God Hates Us All 10) Repentless 11) World Painted Blood 12) Diabolus in Musica 13) Undisputed Attitude I saw them in '86, '88 and '91. Every show was killer!

[@zanezeiter]

1. Reign In Blood 2. God Hates Us Hall 3. South Of Heaven 4. Diabolus (Yes I'm the one fan of that album haha) 5. Christ Illusion

[@johnkatsoudas4767]

I love all of Slayer's catalog but their first six albums are MASTERPIECES to me. My top six at the time would have to be. 6. South Of Heaven 5. Hell Awaits 4. Divine Intervention 3. Seasons In The Abyss 2. Reign In Blood 1. Show No Mercy

[@integrity101]

Slayer had a chemistry amongst the four guys that was magic. I like Bostaph but without the original lineup it just isnt the same. *FAVORITES* #1 Seasons In The Abyss *#2 Christ Illusion* #3 South Of Heaven #4 Reign In Blood #5 Show No Mercy #6 World Painted Blood #7 Hell Awaits #8 Haunting The Chapel ------------------------- #9 God Hates Us All #10 Divine Intervention #11 Repentless #12 Diabolous In Musica I dont understand lack of enthusiasm around Christ Illusion. i loved that album. Return of the original lineup and i thought they delivered big time. It was much groovier than usual, the solos were improved and Dave clearly inspired the band to be much more creative (see JIHAD). To me they picked up where they left off with Seasons. Its like loving Terminator but disliking Terminator 2. I just dont get it.

[@stewy62]

Nice to see so many comments ranking South of Heaven as Number 1. It was my introduction to Slayer so is special to me, I’ve read that Kerry King slags it off which I don’t get. But for me, it’s impossible to choose between Reign in Blood, South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss.

[@robertdavis5245]

Okay so being a Slayer fan here we go number one 1Reign in Blood 2 seasons in the abyss 3 show no mercy 4 South of heaven 5 hell awaits

[@mitsosmitsos4940]

Repentless is so heavy and great album!!!! blow me away! WE WILL MISS YOU SLAYEEEEEER!

[@thevomit5851]

7 - Show No Mercy 6 - South of Heaven 5 - Haunting the Chapel 4 - Hell Awaits 3 - Reign in Blood 2 - Divine Intervention 1 - Seasons

[@neugey]

13 - Repentless - No disrespect to Holt, but I didn't have much interest in post-Hanneman Slayer. Then I was put off by them releasing it on 9/11 and the marketing pizzazz. Haven't really listened to it or given it a chance. 12 - Diabolus in Musica - I like this record, but it was somewhat uneven and some of the tracks feel like lesser versions of Divine Intervention songs. 11 - World Painted Blood - There are about 4 tracks I really like, especially the title track which feels more lyrically relevant now with the pandemic. The remaining tracks feel marginal. 10 - Christ Illusion - Was very exciting to hear Lombardo back in the band. Good songs on it but I don't find myself coming back to it real often for some reason. 9 - Haunting the Chapel - Really like it, especially the title track, but since it's an EP not an album it gets marked down for my list. 8 - Divine Intervention - Songs were quite interesting and it showed a new side of Slayer. The main problem was it had to try to follow up Seasons in the Abyss. 7 - Undisputed Attitude - Slayer was the last of the 'Big 4' to cover punk material, and boy was it worth the wait. They blew everyone else away with their punk makeovers. Gemini is a great extra track, so doomy and cool. 6 - God Hates Us All - I had plans to head out with co-workers over lunch break to buy this record on release day. But 9/11 happened and I didn't end up picking it up until Friday. Never will forget the feeling of hearing Payback with the anguish of 9/11 still raw in the world. The album is too long, but the dark yet relevant worldview of strong tracks like Disciple and Cast Down help prop it up. 5 - South of Heaven - A great record, but I feel like it loses momentum midway on Side B until the great closer Spill the Blood comes on. Behind the Crooked Cross is a big favorite. I also give Slayer credit for tackling the abortion topic on Silent Scream. Dave's drumming is totally off the chain on this record, probably his best performance ever. 4 - Show No Mercy - A great rookie debut. The writing and performances are a little unrefined as Slayer is still trying to pin down their style. So there is a unique vibe and innocence about this record, especially on the opening track 'Evil Has No Boundaries', which became kind of a Diablo II anthem for me :). 3 - Reign in Blood - An iconic record, but not quite my favorite. Side B is really good though - especially the precise, controlled demolition of Postmortem! 2 - Hell Awaits - The most evil and Satanic album of the Slayer canon. This is where they really made their mission statement to be much more heavy and extreme than the other thrash groups. This is the album for the true Slayer fan, it's very endearing. Love Tom's bass performance on this one particularly. IMO Brian Slagel this was your finest hour - thank you!!! 1 - Seasons in the Abyss - This one clicks with me more than any of their other records. The lyrics are spot-on, socially conscious without veering too far into being political or protest music. Music is a perfect blend of ferocity and restraint. The title track IMO is the best song Slayer ever made and it was a stroke of genius to make it the final track. Like a great ending to a great movie.

[@troycleek3985]

I just recently bought Repentless and spent some time with it. I love it. Give it a chance. I miss Jeff too but Kerry knows what he's doing.

[@starchild6347]

Show No Mercy for me... I bought it here in the UK on import from a metal hang out called Shades Records.... I must have been one of the first guys in Europe to own a copy! Still have it... Metal Blade Records and the album cover were enough for me! Sx

[@OREGANOl0l]

This is by far my favorite group on this channel

[@kevinsnodgrass6222]

Reign in blood Hell awaits Seasons in the abyss South of heaven Show no mercy

[@SuperTugz]

My #1 is Show No Mercy. So many underrated gems on this record that were rarely a part of their livesets: Die by the Sword, Black Magic, Metal Storm/Face the Slayer, the title track Show no Mercy, and my personal favorite Slayer song: the criminally underrated Crionics! Besides a demo version or two, most of these songs were disappointingly not even included on Slayer's Soundtrack to the Apocalypse boxset with 4 or 5 discs. Show No Mercy, not the incredible production quality of Reign in Blood, probably even lacks the absolute 100% perfect bangers like Angel of Death, but overall my favorite thrash record by any of the big 4.

[@ΣΠΥΡΟΣΚΟΥΤΣΙΟΥΜΠΑΣ-ν8λ]

12. Diabolus in Musica 11. World painted blood 10. Repentless 9. Christ illusion 8. Divine intervention 7. God hates us all 6. Haunting the chapel 5. Show no mercy 4. Hell Awaits 3. Reign in Blood 2. South of heaven 1. Seasons in the Abyss

[@eon14873]

Top slayer albums for me 1 hell awaits, 2 reign in blood, 3 south of heaven, 4 haunting the Chapel, 5 seasons..., 6 show no mercy. Diabolis and world painted blood are definitely at the bottom

[@waedi73]

Great show ! Big surprise of the varieties ! It would be boring when all say Reign in blood ! I agree ! The newer albums are great but not in my top. 1 South of heaven 2 Seasons in the abyss 3 Reign in blood

[@brandonbelt5055]

Surprised no RiB at #1, but glad two of the choices were 'Show No Mercy'. That album has it's own charm and is frequently overlooked.

[@cjcal2674]

Love the video lads

[@gwts1171]

I think these are all pretty damn good. "Diabolus..." has some bad choices on it, but it's better than most other band's releases from that time. 13) Diabolus in Musica 12) Undisputed Attitude 11) Christ Illusion 10) World Painted Blood 9) God Hates Us All 8) Divine Intervention 7) Repentless 6) Haunting The Chapel EP 5) Seasons in the Abyss 4) Show No Mercy (Evil Has No Boundaries is still my favorite song of theirs) 3) Hell Awaits 2) South of Heaven 1) Reign in Blood Thanks, guys! I came back to edit my choices to include the EP after watching.

[@MrMusic193]

I listened to South of Heaven and Seasons of the Abyss this morning. Still haven't recovered from the gut punch metal mayhem.

[@damianczarnecki8775]

My rank: 1 South of Heaven 2 Seasons in the Abyss 3 Reign in Blood 4 Show No Mercy 5 Hell Awaits 6 Christ Illusion 7 God Hates Us All 8 Divine Intervention 9 World Painted Blood 10 Repentless 11 Diabolus in Musica

[@metalmat3651]

1, Seasons in the Abyss 2. South of Heaven 3. Show No Mercy 4. Reign in Blood 5. Hell Awaits 6. Divine Intervention 7. Haunting the Chapel And then the rest in any order except Diabolous in Music which is last

[@eslwgpg1226]

1. Hell Awaits 2. Haunting The Chapel 3. Show No Mercy 4. Divine Intervention 5. Seasons In The Abyss 6. God Hates Us All 7. South Of Heaven 8. World Painted Blood 9. Diabolus In Musica 10. Repentless 11. Reign In Blood 12. Christ Illusion

[@ingolfrvargr]

1. Hell Awaits 2. Show No Mercy 3. Reign in Blood 4. Haunting the Chapel 5. South of Heaven 6. Seasons in the Abyss I can't decide on the rest, apart from Diabolus which sits at the bottom. Also, Hell Awaits and Show No Mercy tend to switch places a lot, but they always have and most likely always will be my no. 1 and 2

[@anthonyrivers1619]

Damn good order there

[@trencher7]

Hell Awaits is tops for me but I had it on cassette and the production is already lacking. That's why I love those songs that are on Decade of Aggression so much more. And in defense of Diabolus, Bitter Peace is a great song.

[@kyle.sterritt]

1. Seasons in the Abyss 2. Show No Mercy 3. Reign in Blood 4. South of Heaven 5. Hell Awaits 6. Undisputed Attitude 7. Divine Intervention 8. Diabolus In Musica 9. Relentless 10. God Hates Us All 11. World Painted Blood 12. Christ Illusion

[@Eyes-Scream0213]

Here's mine: 1. Seasons in the Abyss 2. Reign In Blood 3. South Of Heaven 4. Hell Awaits 5. Divine Intervention 6. Christ Illusion 7. Show No Mercy 8. God Hate Us All 9. World Painted Blood. 10. Repentless 11. Undisputed Attitude 12. Diabolus in Musica

[@billvenner25]

Im with Pete. South of Heaven was huge let down. The vocals experimentation sucked. Ghost of War and Read Between the Lies are the best