What The Hell Happened To... 01.07.08: Slayer - Divine Intervention

Posted by Dan Marsicano on 01.07.2008

This week, Dan Marsicano continues his four part series about the "Big 4" of thrash metal in the 1980's with Slayer's Divine Intervention. How did Slayer adjust to the 1990's? Click inside to find out!

The Introduction

Holy crap! It's a new year and a whole new edition of What The Hell Happened To! It's the first edition of 2008 and I'm excited about the future. People seem to be digging what I'm doing with the column and I will continue to burrow deep into band's catalogues to find the albums you may have forgotten about…or wanted to forget about.

I hope everybody had a nice break away from work/school/whatever. Personally, being a college student, I'm still on break. I'm not bragging or anything, but it's nice to sit on my ass and listen to music and write all day instead of worrying about an upcoming test or paper.

Anyway, onto this week's topic, which is a continuation of a four part series. For anybody who missed last week's edition, I have decided to start a four part series detailing four albums by the "Big 4" of thrash metal in the 1980's. I'm talking about Anthrax, Slayer, Megadeth, and Metallica.

Last week, I detailed Anthrax's State of Euphoria. If you skipped last week, here the link to the article: What The Hell Happened To…Anthrax-State of Euphoria. This week, I'm looking into a band that defines thrash metal…or speed metal…or death metal. Whatever way you look at, Slayer has affected metal music forever. Any concert you go to, no matter who the band is, will have at least one guy yell "SLAYER!" randomly for no reason. What other band has fans like that?

I'll answer that for you; none! Now, even though Slayer has influenced countless bands and fans, their creative output hasn't always been consistent. I'm talking mainly about the 90's, where the band petered off with a couple of mediocre records in a row and slowly diminishing sales. 1994's Divine Intervention had good sales, even reaching #8 on the Billboard 200 charts, but the fans and critics were becoming a bit reserved about the band. The album seemed to be forgotten in later live Slayer shows, with the exception of "Dittohead."

So what went wrong for this extreme four piece from California? Why is Divine Intervention not given much respect compared to their other albums? Well, these questions can be answered in today's edition of What The Hell Happened To!




The Band

Tom Araya-Vocals, Bass Guitar
Jeff Hanneman-Guitar
Kerry King-Guitar
Paul Bostaph-Drums

The Track Listing

1. Killing Fields-3:57
2. Sex, Art, Murder-1:50
3. Fictional Reality-3:37
4. Dittohead-2:30
5. Divine Intervention-5:33
6. Circle of Beliefs-4:29
7. SS-3-4:06
8. Serenity in Murder-2:36
9. 213-4:51
10. Mind Control-3:04


The History

Dave Lombardo (Drums), Kerry King (Guitar), Jeff Hanneman (Guitar), and Tom Araya (Bass, Vocals) formed the band in 1981 in Southern California. At first, they were a cover band playing local clubs, using a satanic image, which included pentagrams and make up. The band was originally named Dragonslayer before shortening the name to Slayer. Slayer was able to get an original song, "Aggressive Perfector" on the Metal Massacre III complication. The band was signed to Metal Blade records right after the song was put onto the complication.

The band self-financed and finished their first album, Show No Mercy, in December of 1983. It was rushed to the shelves and released in the same month. The production wasn't great, but the album sold a lot and the band got a reputation for their image and the lyrics about hell and Satan. The band tour quite heavily behind the album and, eventually, the band went back into the studio to record Hell Awaits.

1985's Hell Awaits would prove to be the band's most progressive work, with three of the seven songs over six minutes long. A year after its release, Reign in Blood came out on Def Jam Records, which the band signed to shortly after the release of their second album.

Unlike Hell Awaits, 1986's Reign in Blood was all about short songs that were as fast as a band could possibly go. The whole album with 10 tracks was only about 28 minutes and cemented the band as a force to be reckoned with in the metal community.

1988's South of Heaven would show the band slowing their tempo down a bit with more melodic singing instead of constant yelling. The album divided fans, but would later turn out to be a favorite among Slayer fans. Seasons in the Abyss, released two years later, would turn out to be their most successful album and the title track would become a huge hit on MTV.

Not everything was perfect in Slayer though. In 1992, the band experienced their first line up change, with Dave Lombardo leaving the band due to personal conflicts. He had left the band back in 1986, but it was only for a few months. Tony Scaglione took Lombardo's place while he was gone. This time, though, Lombardo would leave for over ten years. Former Forbidden drummer Paul Bostaph would join the band. However, the band disappeared for a while and returned with 1994's Divine Intervention.


The Analysis

Slayer was the second metal band I got into (Metallica being the first). I remember picking up Reign in Blood for the first time and being blown away at its speed and aggression. Slayer is a band that did a lot for metal, arguably more than any of the other "Big 4" bands.

Divine Intervention was the third album I had heard from the band and the best way to describe the album is "Reign in Blood and Season in the Abyss mixed in a big bloody blender." The band was going through a tough time, with their original drummer gone and metal being pushed into the underground by the grunge scene. Like I said earlier in the column, the album did quite well for the time period, going to #8 on the Billboard charts. However, Divine Intervention would fade away from the minds of Slayer fans and even Slayer themselves pushed the album to the background in the 2000's, content with playing the "classic" tracks from the first five albums. So let's take a closer look at the album that brought Slayer into the 90's (not including Season in the Abyss, for all of you crazy fact checkers out there).

No matter what criticisms came Paul Bostaph's way, and there were a lot considering he was replacing the ungodly Dave Lombardo, the fact remains he knew how to play the drums. He shows off his skills with a quick, yet brutal drum solo to start off "Killing Fields." The song takes its time to build, sounding like a mix of "Jesus Saves" and "Season in the Abyss." "Killing Fields" is not the fastest song Slayer has ever done, but it is plain old thrash metal with some rapid fills from Bostaph and a solo that harkens back to the Show No Mercy days.

"Sex, Art, Murder" is like a 90's version of "Piece by Piece." It is the shortest and fastest song done since Reign in Blood and is the closest sounding song to this album on the whole album. Also, in an interesting fact, it is only one of a few Slayer songs to not have a solo in it. The other ones? I'll let you guys figure it out…

"Fictional Reality" keeps the speed going, but has a bit of a groove to it, more so than any Slayer song had ever had before Divine Intervention. I have to say, Bostaph's kicks my ass with that double bass work. He just constantly pounds the shit out of them. I like the nod to "Criminally Insane" in the middle melodic/breakdown section as well. "Dittohead" is the fastest song on here, just beating out "Sex, Art, Murder." This song hits you like being smacked in the head with a brick dropped from the Empire State building. It's that crazy; I'm surprised the band can keep up with Araya's vocals. The guitar solos are perfect as well, basically being a bunch of random notes stringed together, which is exactly what "Dittohead" should have in it.

The title track is the longest song on the album and the one that will have memories of past title tracks dancing in your head (I'm talking about "South of Heaven" and "Season in the Abyss," for those unaware). The song is the ultimate mood builder, taking its sweet time. Some clean guitars are even implemented, which is surprising for Slayer to use. Of course, since this is Slayer we are talking about, once the song hits the 1:45 mark, all hell breaks loose. The song continues to skim the line between speed and a crushing mid-paced tempo. The title track speaks of religion and the lack of a God; more specifically, not being able to "look at God's face."

"Circle of Beliefs" experiments with distorted vocals, which would become popular with later albums (God Hates Us All springs immediately to mind). However, they don't distract from the music itself, which is all about three speeds. Fast, faster, and fastest. The four solos emphasize this point, all of them Shredding 101 for new guitarists.

"SS-3" is a controversial track for Slayer, but they seem to have one or two every album anyway. "SS-3" is the license plate number of assassinated Nazi officer Reinhard Heydrich's car. Obviously, Germany didn't take kind to that song. That's another story for another time though; let's get back to the analysis. "SS-3" continues the mix of classic Slayer sound and a more groove-oriented sound. "Serenity in Murder" has the band experimenting yet again with clean vocals that have this Alice in Chains feel to it. Multiple vocal tracks are used, which is one of the reasons why this song hasn't been played live ever, to my knowledge. The song is catchy and the vocals are interesting, to say the least, and the song ends on a fast and satisfying note.

"213" is the dark horse of Divine Intervention. What do I mean? Ask any Slayer fan about this album and most of them won't have anything nice to say about the song. Why? There could be many reasons. It could be the slow pace, the clean acoustic guitars, or the strange section where Araya goes, and I quote,

"I need a friend
Please be my companion
I don't want to be
Left alone with my sanity."

Yeah…kind of strange lyrics, especially for Slayer. Personally, I enjoy the track, as it shows a band trying new things. You have to give them credit for that, at least. I wish the band used clean acoustic guitars more often, as I think, when used properly, they can really heighten the atmosphere and foreboding mood.

"Mind Control" is fast and unforgiving, which is how every Slayer album should end. There's nothing that really needs to be added to this song. Its insane, will make you bang your head until your neck gets sore, and should not be listened to while in the use of a motorized vehicle.

Tom Araya plays the bass…enough said about that. His vocal work is not as good as it was in the 1980's, but compared to later releases, he sounds great. Araya experiments with spoken sections, distortion, and multiple vocal tracks, which range from solid to idiotic.

Jeff and Kerry make a hell of a guitar duo, and while they are starting on their downslide when it comes to quality solos and riffs, they still pull out a few quality ones throughout Divine Intervention. Finally, Paul Bostaph is the MVP of the group, stepping up to the plate and hitting a home run. Bostaph pulls out one of his best performances of his career, at least until Exodus's Shovel Headed Kill Machine.

Divine Intervention is the best Slayer album released in the 1990's, and if it wasn't for Christ Illusion, would be their last great one as well. The album has flaws, and the band's experimentations with their sound don't always succeed, but the band crafted an album that was uncompromising. Slayer would not cave in to any of the music trends during the 1990's (well, at least until Diabolus in Musica, released in 1998) and that takes a lot of balls. So for that, I compliment Slayer on an underrated classic in their extensive catalogue.

By the way, before I finish up the analysis, I have one thing to say. The cover art is absolutely awesome and one of their best, but then again, it is Slayer we are talking about, so the cover art usually kicks ass anyway.


The Conclusion

Well, I hope you all enjoyed part two of the four part series on underrated albums by the "Big 4" in thrash metal in the 1980's. I also want to thank the comments to last week's column, which had a few interesting stories. You can send me comments on the bottom of the page and I want to hear from you guys. Let me hear any questions, stories, etc.

Next week, in part three of the series, I'm looking at Megadeth and one of their albums. I usually give an interesting hint at this point, but I don't have one this week. I'll let you all try to figure it out for yourselves. No, its not Risk, for those who are wondering. That would just be too damn easy. So, until then, keep rocking and putting those devil horns in the air!