Album Alert: Slayer - Repentless

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Slayer released their newest album on September 11 of 2015.  I got my hands on it, listened to it a few times and have some first impressions.

Overall, the album is slightly above mediocre.  I hate to say that, I really do, but the truth hurts.  This article is less of a review and more of a "what I wish it could've been."

A few years ago Jeff Hanneman passed away and Slayer struggled with the idea if they should continue writing music.  Tom Araya wanted to stop, but Kerry insisted they push on.  I think that's what Jeff would've wanted anyway.  After all, when Metallica bassist Cliff Burton died in a tragic bus crash, Metallica put out ...And Justice for All.  Which, in my own personal opinion, ranks as one of the better, if not best, Metallica albums.  The songs were heavy, the riffs were in your face and James Hetfield just sounded pissed off on every track.  

I was expecting the same from Slayer on this album, but unfortunately I didn't get it.  I think if Jeff would've died when Slayer was young and in their twenties, this would've been a crazy album.  There would've been added anger to an already angry band.  But now, in their fifties, Slayer just sounds depressed after losing a close friend of over 30 years.  The album seems a little void and empty.

Sure, there are classic Slayer riffs and solos, but nothing is too memorable.  I can't think of a single track that I went back and listened to again immediately after it finished.  If this was an album dedicated to Jeff, they fell a little short.  All Repentless really made me do was want to go back and listen to their classic albums, maybe throw on Reign in Blood or Seasons in the Abyss and remember the days of Jeff.

Below you can check out a track and judge for yourself.  If anything, they are still Slayer.  Their sound hasn't changed, but now they are just a bunch of 50 year old metalheads instead of the angry 20 year olds they used to be.