I was definitely going to write about this record at some point because altho this is not a “real album” (favorite Slayer album would be Seasons), D.O.A. is my most listened to Slayer record. But now guitarist Jeff Hanneman has untimely departed and I need to write something now. This is not just any live record, it’s the greatest of greatest hits comps, which is why it was a favorite of high school road trips. On cassette, this album was blasted on repeat and was the soundtrack to what I’m simply going to call “shenanigans”. This would be when I was a Freshman and we would have school trips where they actually let Seniors drive. This can’t possibly still go on today, but I think some of the people responsible are still employed by the school system somehow so that’s all I’m going to say about that.

We don’t need to go all the way down Memory Lane, but while we’re there I’m guessing I first heard Slayer on Headbanger’s Ball: (yes, a wiki link for those not nearing death)

Seasons in the Abyss, a Hanneman composition, is not really a representative work. It’s a slow song, with a semi-melodic, weirdly catchy chorus.

The version on D.O.A, like almost all the songs on the record, is nearly the same as the studio recording. A testament (what other word could you use) to Slayer’s commitment to consistent quality (of their sort). The liner notes famously boast:

Unlike most other live recordings, this is Slayer completely “LIVE”. No overdubbing exists on this recording.

It might not be clear now why you would need to say this when there’s bootlegs of every show anywhere and bands no longer put out a double live record every five years, but in Rock History this kind of record was usually seen as a bit of a sham. Besides being a simple money grab by the label or an easy contract fulfillment on the band’s part, vocals and solos on these kinds of records were often redone in the studio, giving a false impression of what the band (and/or their recording equipment) was capable of live. This is especially important with a band like Slayer where technique is a lot of the point, obviously. On first listen, it’s pretty mind-boggling that they can play these impossible songs perfectly (only songs with added sound effects like Raining Blood and Dead Skin Mask are really different at all) but if you pay attention you can notice that they are in fact, humans. It doesn’t take away from the songs; you respect them even more for presenting the performance as is. This is a great live band.

However, I have not seen them live myself. So, now I will never see the original lineup of Slayer. I’m pretty bummed about this. I don’t know how else to say it. The band did not really inspire emotional closeness with its members. So much so, that I shouldn’t even refer to them in the past tense, as they will be continuing on with Gary Holt of Exodus. It won’t be the same, but it’ll still be a good show (unless you’re a fucking poseur) and I’ll still try to see it before the rest of the band dies. Er, I just mean, I plan on outliving them. I…don’t want them to die of course, but I mean…I will, hopefully. Who knows. I grew up loving these bands that I never even planned on seeing live really. These big bands were just out of my reach. I could see GWAR or whoever five times for the price of one of these big shows, and so it was. Then a couple years ago I figured, holy shit, half these dudes could die at any minute. I think it was when Lemmy admitted to still drinking daily and btw, he’s a diabetic! I searched for tix to their next show that day. That was top priority. Slayer was next on the list after Tom Araya’s neck surgery. I didn’t think one of their deaths was imminent, but they are starting to become less-abled. Can’t really headbang like they used to to. Can still play tho, and that’s what I want to see. Well, fuck. If they don’t get Lombardo back I don’t know if I will now. That’s life. Can’t do everything.

After that surgery, Hanneman got bit by a spider, which was bad. It got worse. Holt filled in. I waited.

Some people still seem to think that the spider bite killed Jeff. Uh…sure…might have been the last straw, but it’s like saying someone who had AIDS died of the flu. Not to really dwell on this cause I’m not anti-every drug or anything but get real. Unlike Lemmy, Hanneman did not really play up substance abuse as part of his ongoing persona—he seemed like a regular guy. He wasn’t a talker, he was a doer. Do he did. Don’t deny it is all. Let’s talk about something else tho. What about his old guitar with all the stickers? That was great. Got into the Dead Kennedys just because he had that sticker. Of course he also had the Nazi death’s head on there at one point, in the photos in this booklet he had already replaced it with a regular pirate skull & bones. I didn’t get a copy of this until the late 90s, ordered it from BMG or Columbia House I think, def worth it. There’s also older photos when the band was starting out when they had a lot of studded leather and nail gauntlets and shit like that. I thought it was cool that they just stripped out all that gimmicky shit. They even performed under simple, steady red lights, supposedly. I mean it’s cool when bands go all out with a bunch of nonsense but sometimes I think, “didn’t Slayer decide this was over 20 years ago?”

Slayer were (are) not Nazis or serial killers, or insane. I have mixed feelings about the metal scene in general what with the…occasional actual insane killer Nazis. People wanna call those guys “true” metal; I feel like those are the people that don’t get it. What if Steven King was really a killer clown or a not even a person but a kind of fog monster that turned people inside out? That…that would be pretty goddamn cool…but it wouldn’t have anything to do with his books, right? I remember in the car, in high school, hearing “I Am The Anti-Christ” for the first time. I was not that many years out of transferring from a Catholic school then and it seemed like the wrongest thing you could say in a song, it was so great. Then he gives the fucking speech to crowd:

Listen: you guys in the front here, you see someone going down, help ’em out, that’s what you’re here to do, help each other out.

Then of course it goes into WAAAAAR EENNNSEEEMBLEEE. I’m almost crying. That is “it”. Not…that, the whole thing, all of it. I think there’s another show ( shitty bootleg) where they say they don’t give a fuck and everybody should kill each other, but that was just the liquor talking. Get a sense of humor.

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