Forge Brief

Slayer

1981-2019; commercial peak 1986-1994 (Reign in Blood, South of Heaven, Seasons in the Abyss, Divine Intervention)

Theatrical, thrash-metal-extreme-metal, Huntington-Park-California — thrash metal as Huntington-Park-California-via-Slayer-school theatrical-thrash-metal ritual.

Forge a Slayer-inspired song How we score

Genres

thrash metalspeed metalextreme metal

Vocal character

Tom Araya: distinctive Chilean-American-accented theatrical-metal baritone with shouted-and-screamed delivery. Almost-yelled chorus delivery with extreme power; vibrato-controlled phrasing; theatrical-thrash-metal precision; extreme dynamic range.

Production markers

Rick Rubin / Andy Wallace productionthrash-metal + speed-metal + extreme-metal foundation (Kerry King + Jeff Hanneman dual-electric-guitar with extreme distortion + Tom Araya bass + Dave Lombardo drums + extreme-fast drum-pattern + tritone-interval melodic-pattern)multi-tracked vocal harmony stacks occasionallyreverb-light intimate vocal production with metal-loud room acousticslive-band foundation with thrash-metal arrangementAmerican Recordings / Def Jam sonic

Lyrical themes

theatrical-thrash-metal first-person storytelling (Raining Blood, Angel of Death, South of Heaven)observation of war + Holocaust + religious-iconography subject-mattercelebration of Huntington-Park-California + LA-thrash-metal origincelebration of metal-tradition + thrash-metal lineagetheatrical first-person dark-subject-matter storytelling

Signature moves

Kerry-King-Jeff-Hanneman dual-electric-guitar foundation with tritone-interval melodic-patternDave Lombardo extreme-fast drum-patternshouted-and-screamed chorus structureextended outro with shifting thrash-metal dynamics

Avoid — off-brand for this artist

EDM dropsrap features as dominantauto-tune as crutchcountry productionmodern-pop-radio polishlo-fi indie production808 sub-basstheatrical pop-vocal projection

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