Slayer - Undisputed Attitude
1996 Def American
by Horatio

Quick Summary:
Up until this recording there had never been any reason to doubt Slayer, the last of the big four left sticking to their thrash ideals.  During late 1995, Kerry King made murmurs of a possible metal covers album which would include covers by Rainbow, Deep Purple and Sabbath.  At the time it was a positive step considering how dead and buried metal was, but something went wrong and some time later Slayer announced it would be a punk covers album.  We all know why.  In 96 crap like Green Day, Rancid and Offspring were all the rage, as was pop punk in general.  This was Slayer's way of showing what 'real' punk was.  Truth is who ever cared about Minor Threat, GBH, TSOL or The Stooges?  Not I.  Nor I suspect your average metalhead.  Punk was selling.  Metal wasn't.  Slayer were faking their enthusiasm for punk, particularly Hanneman who in an interview rambled about the differences between Orange County punk and the New York scene.  You can't tell me Araya and King were into this.

Besides the covers there were three originals, two short Hanneman punk originals supposedly conceived in 1985 and a new track 'Gemini', your typical Slayer serial killer workout.  The emphasis was on the covers, and while fast, were not convincing at all.  Early 80's punk and hardcore had none of thrash's heaviness and usually contained obnoxious melody lines.  Nonsense like 'I Hate You' teetered on modern pop rock, sounding more like Nirvana than Slayer.  Hanneman's two originals were probably recorded on the spot in one take despite claims they were written for a side project.  Put simply, this album was and still is a disaster that made no sense to record except to cash in on the punk boom.  Who cares if this is what Slayer considered to be the real deal in punk?  This led to Slayer being banished from my walkman for a lengthy period.  Even the album title is misleading as it suggests punk had 'attitude', when opposed to metal it's for nerds.  What Judas Priest circa 1978 not bad enough for Slayer?  They have since recovered, but this stands as their 'Youthanasia'.

Website:  www.slayer.net

Song Summaries:

1. Disintegration/Free Money - Don't ask me who Slayer are covering in these tracks,  although I believe this is Verbal Abuse.  But do you really care?  D
2. Verbal Abuse/Leeches - Slayer had the good sense to keep the tracks short, any longer than two minutes and they were pushing their luck.  Even had these been originals they still would have sucked.  As stated punk has a certain melody that lacks menace and metal credibility.  D
3. Abolish Government/Superficial Love - It must have kept Hanneman awake at night, burning with hate at how Green Day sold ten million albums while TSOL lived in obscurity and poverty.  There can be few more revolting and humiliating moments in Araya's career than at this tracks conclusion when he snorts 'President Clinton can suck my motherfucking dick' in his most obnoxious punk drawl.  D-
4. Cant Stand You - The first of Slayer's punk originals and as crap as you might assume.  D
5. DDAMM - One minute of what is supposedly a Hanneman punk original but contains Slayer's usual thrash riffing and some punk segments that really offend.  D
6. Guilty Of Being White - More like guilty of being shite.  F
7. I Hate You - I remember two people sitting around a stereo wondering what this is supposed to represent.  Slayer going alt rock?  It couldn't be.  It might be a cover, but it's so drastically weak in terms of heaviness that these guys must look back in shame.  Even Nirvana were heavier than this.  F
8. Filler/I Don't Want To Hear It - Song is exactly what it reads.  F
9. Spiritual Law - According to Hanneman '(we) wanted to do this forever...lyrics sound like something we would have written in the early days'.  Funny, I don't hear anything about facing the slayer, a metal storm or the anti-christ.  Give up the act you liar.  F
10. Sick Boy - What a cornball riff at the start.  Sums up the entire shebang.  D
11. Mr. Freeze - Incredibly boring, the novelty having worn off, not that it ever developed.  D
12. Violent Pacification - Opens with a blast akin to grind.  But in its own way it isn't heavy.  Opposed to this 'Crionics' is a work of art.  F
13. Richard Hung Himself - Maybe Slayer should have hung themselves as they had to live with the fact they recorded this atrocity.  How do they sleep at night?  I suppose King has banned all questions pertaining to this.  F
14. I'm Gonna Be Your God - Slayer reworded The Stooges original which is called 'I'm Your Dog Now' or something.  Slayer probably said at the time The Stooges influenced metal more than Purple and that 'Raw Power' is one of the most brutal albums ever recorded.  Still however the Rolling Stone set refused to take them seriously despite King admitting to owning every Nick Drake album.  It would have been interesting to hear Slayer rework 'Speed King' or 'Stormbringer'.  The possibilities of 70's metal were endless.  What a blown chance.  F
15. Gemini - The only redeeming moment.  Keeping in trend with the sound of 'Divine Intervention', Slayer somehow contrived to construct a slab of typical serial killer metal that goes off the edge when things speed up at the end.  Why couldn't they just admit they were too lazy to record an album of new material at the time and just released this as a single and forgotten the whole cover aspect altogether?  B+

Average Song Rating:  F
Overall Album Rating:  F

Also be sure to read:
Slayer - Christ Illusion by Skin Splitter & Horatio
Slayer - Decade Of Aggression by Horatio
Slayer - Diabolus In Musica by Horatio
Slayer - Divine Intervention by Horatio
Slayer - God Hates Us All by Horatio
Slayer - Reign In Blood by Horatio
Slayer - Seasons In The Abyss by Uncle Meat
Slayer - Show No Mercy by Uncle Meat & Shev
Fantômas - Suspended Animation by Lamp
Grip Inc. - The Power of Inner Strength by Horatio
Straight To Hell:  A Tribute To Slayer by Shev

Discography (last updated 8.29.06):
Show No Mercy - 1983
Haunting The Chapel EP - 1984
Live Undead - 1984
Hell Awaits - 1985
Reign In Blood - 1986
South Of Heaven - 1988
Seasons In The Abyss - 1990
Decade Of Aggression - 1991
Divine Intervention - 1994
Live Intrusion EP - 1995
Serenity In Murder EP - 1995
split 7" with T.S.O.L. - 1996
Undisputed Attitude - 1996
Diabolus In Musica - 1998
Ubernoise:  The Interview - 1998
God Hates Us All - 2001
Soundtrack To The Apocalypse box - 2003
Christ Illusion - 2006
Cult 7" single - 2006
Eternal Pyre EP - 2006