This month’s Classic Albums Column focuses on Slayer‘s Seasons In The Abyss. Mars Attacks Podcast episode 68 features comments from Gene Hoglan, Alan Tecchio, Dave Reffett, Jon Leon and Giovani Durst of White Wizzard, author Martin Popoff, Mitch Lafon of Pure Gain Audio, Andrew from Metal Assault, and Roch from Radioactive Metal. As we established with the previous podcast we also discuss why this album was selected. You will find the podcast at the bottom of this post.

Remember that you can go here index page to find out further details on everyone involved in the column.

Here are the written comments that were submitted:

Dan Lorenzo – Well I’ve been awake for 25 straight hours as I just flew home from Italy. So let me throw on some Slayer so I can stay awake a bit longer. Slayer to me, are one of the most consistent bands with the most integrity. I would put South of Heaven and Reigning Blood at the top of their output, but I am listening to Seasons right now for you Victor. War Ensemble is classic Slayer, particularly the break at 2:35. Blood Red is bad ass. The opening of Dead Skin Mask is pure evil. The title track is probably the 2nd coolest intro they ever wrote. When I first heard it I actually thought it was Trouble! Great production, great performances, a bit more melody/singing from Tom than previously, but another classic by….SLAYER!!!

Jon Leon – The finest hour of Slayer in the charts. Rick Rubin and the band dumbed down the sound JUST enough to crack Slayer in the Billboard top 100. Slayers best will always be Reign in Blood though….seriously. Show no Mercy also pisses on this album. So does South of Heaven. Then again…only Master of Puppets can even hang with those 3. Slayer are THE masters of thrash PERIOD.

Erik Kluiber – Born of Fire!

Ricky Armellino – This record ruled.

Mitts – An improvement in the thrash department from South Of Heaven. After Reign In Blood, South Of Heaven seemed like someone pulled the emergency brake. Seasons brought back the pace.

Scott Middleton – Most people will hail Reign in Blood as Slayer’s best record, but I had Seasons first, and really, this has all the best songs. The title track is certainly the catchiest and most hook laden Slayer has ever been. This is the Slayer sound perfected. Evil melody, brutally heavy, frightening lyrics, and terrifying artwork make this the quintessential Slayer record.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaar!!!

JL – Slayer have always been the exception. They have a lot of what I hate in other bands and yet how they present it they make it undeniably attractive. This album is a demonstration of full-fledged fierceness, from the very beginning “War Ensemble” it is clear exactly what you’re getting yourself into.

Fer Fakyea – Well, what to say about the legendary Slayer? Their career spans nearly 30 years and with 10 albums behind him, all heavy and known for their uniquely characteristic “speed metal”. Seasons In The Abyss is composed of long, elaborate songs, combining speed with half time playing, that helped drive the band to the monster career they are today. The album isn’t as fast its two predecessors, but it’s definitely a very complete and extreme album that brought us classics like “War Ensemble”, “Dead Skin Mask” or one of his most emblematic yet perhaps less know tracks due to how stylistically different it is, would be the title track, “Seasons In The Abyss”. I honestly would not recommend the disc to someone who had never listened to Slayer, but it is an album that any fan of the band should have in collection.

David Lozano – Dead Skin Mask is the first song I ever heard by the band, as a result I have special attachment to this album. Great album that came out during such hard times.

Chris Shrum – A piece of metal art from a deep, dark place.

Mikey Pannone – The first time I heard this album, I had to check my skull to make sure it was still intact…it wasn’t. That’s all I have to say. None more evil than the almighty SLAYER!

Sean Bryant – So evil!! there were a few tapes that I had in my VW bug and those were Slayer, Seasons, Led Zeppelin Houses of the Holy, and probably Lenny Kravits Let Love Rule, all of which got significant amount of play time. I can say that when Seasons came out, I was certain that they were products of an under-worldly creation, especially when you heard the demonic chords of the title track and that first drum roll. My steering wheel was certainly abused by the pounding out of the drums while blasting this, windows down, rolling through the Mormon neighborhoods. 666!!

Will Carroll – I never understood the popularity of this album. Aside from the two video songs (War Ensamble, Seasons In The Abyss) its pretty generic. The follow up (Divine Intervention) blows doors over this one This is my least favorite Slayer album not counting anything after Divine..

Steve Smyth – Slayer really grew into something with this album, I think. Lots of powerful compositions, great ensemble playing from the team of Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, Dave Lombardo and Tom Araya. Every song is a favorite of mine, I can’t pick favorites when it comes to Slayer! Ha ha!

David Ellefson – We did a lot of touring together during this time period and I personally liked that Slayer was doing more than just playing fast. To me, this album showed a lot of maturity in their song writing and broadened their scope of world views, which Thrash fans love.

Domonic Rini – Seasons In The Abyss is a natural progression for Slayer. This one really, in my eyes was one of the heaviest ones they put out. With tracks of “Skeletons of Society” and the title Track “Seasons In The Abyss” it made you want to break something whenever you heard it.

Niek – I love this album for only one reason: the title track! What a delicious piece of ass! For a band that spent 99.9% of its career on making lightning-fast but not all too intelligent Thrash, the song Seasons in the Abyss is an absolute masterpiece. And it would have been for any other band too. The long-stretched tension-building intro has a habit of making me very impatient, in particular because I know what’s coming. But never is what’s coming so amazing as when you’ve listened to the intro in full. When the main riffs breaks loose, there’s no helping the headbanging. The progression of chords and vocals in the chorus is tasty as bacon. But the best things in the whole songs are the heroic drum fills by Dave Lombardo and the characteristic tearing-up-the-sky guitar solo by Kerry King (still with hair) and Jeff Hanneman.

Jason Bittner – Just spent the last 5 1/2 weeks on tour with Slayer watching them every night…Still one of my favorite bands ever and they still crush every night! Seasons- not much need to be said about this album- its my favorite!!! Well maybe “Reign” is, but this is damn close!

Davish G. Alvarez – This is my favorite Slayer album, we’ve been talking about covering the title track live. The song is unbelievable, and is possibly my favorite by the band. When this album came out I was listening to a lot of Mercyful Fate, I was looking to discover something new, and you hear that song how it builds, little by little, how the arpeggios come in, and the song keeps building, to me it’s the perfect song. They were playing the song live while we were opening up for them, and I watch them do the song, and get almost like a holy shit type feeling. You see them play the song, and the guitar parts aren’t that complex, but it’s the entire composition, the whole package, how it builds, and changes, and then the end, just an awesome song.

Erun Dagoth – This album really blew my mind. When I started listening to extreme metal I started with Life And Death and Show No Mercy by Slayer. I started listening to them in like 91, so by that time they had release a bunch of albums by then. I started listening to every album Show No Mercy, Hell Awaits, all the way up to this album, and again, it just blew my mind. The album has a certain feel to it, a certain atmosphere that sound super satanic, especially the title track. At the same time I started discovering bands like Venom, and Bathory, and things of this nature, and it was like a extreme metal boom time for me. Then they put out Diabolus In Musica and it was the last album of theirs that really blew my mind. After that, things just weren’t the same, the band had changed. And a lot of people had criticized them over Divine Intervention because they had slowed down a little, but it still sounded really cool to me, it still had the same appeal.

Keith “Keefy” Chachkes – When the bands from the 80s Thrash scene era continued releasing albums into the 90s, and interesting split occurred among people. Many bands tried to shift with the already changing times in music to get further away from labels like Thrash or Speed Metal. Other bands were changing more naturally on their own, modernizing the sound of what had been a sub-genre with a growing cult following and making it more successful overall. SLAYER’s Seasons In The Abyss set a bench mark for the old-school American bands, which is saying a lot since both MEGADETH and ANTHRAX released great albums in the months prior to its release. Yes, there were unhappy fans griping that the totality of “Speed Metal” days of the band were lost to the past. Critics and fans that didn’t like South of Heaven, didn’t say they loved SITA when it was new. People were finding fault with a more grown up, better songwriting band that was trying to stay true to who they were and still progress further out. As it turns out SITA is one of the most complete and solid of the DAVE LOMBARDO albums, with better production, memorable riffs, sick solos and batshit insane, yet smart lyrics. “Dead Skin Mask” was even said to be a sellout by some at the time, but is one of the most enduring cuts by any band of the time. “War Ensemble” was a throwback to the early days of the group. Other tracks like “Spirit In Black”, “Expendable Youth” and “Skeletons of Society” have so much balls and groove to them, it’s tough to believe people at the time said they were lame. The title track is a masterpiece all on its own. Personally, I count SITA as one of the top four SLAYER albums ever and it still sounds fresh and vital to me today as when I first heard it.

Bruce Moore – I am a huge fan of Slayer especially their earlier material like Show No Mercy and Hell Awaits. Seasons In The Abyss is a mixed bag for me while it contains some of my favorite all time Slayer tunes War Ensemble”, “Dead Skin Mask”, and “Seasons In The Abyss other songs just fell flat for me and did not get my blood flowing.

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This month’s Classic Albums Column focuses on Motley Crue‘s Shout At The Devil. Mars Attacks Podcast episode 56 features comments from Glen Drover, Gene Hoglan, Jon Schaffer, Alan Tecchio, Dave Reffett, author Martin Popoff, Mitch Lafon from Bravewords, Mark Strigl from Talking Metal, and John from Iron City Rocks. As we established with the previous podcast we also discuss why this album was selected. You will find the podcast at the bottom of this post.

Remember that you can go here index page to find out further details on everyone involved in the column.

Greg Prato – Shout At The Devil: The last album Motley Crue released that I can still somewhat stomach. They seemed to totally lose their minds after this album – bad glam metal, lame songs (“Girls Girls Girls”), idiotic behavior. Not a fan at all. But circa 1984, the Crue was one of my favs, and ‘Shout’ and ‘Too Fast’ were constantly being listened on my Sony Walkman. After that? No thank you.

Dave Starr – Don’t get me started…. Everyone had this record when it came out, but I always though these guys were way over rated.

Dan Lorenzo – Most bands first albums hit you the hardest. Shout At The Devil was Motley’s 2nd cd but it is STILL my favorite. I am not a fan of much of the Crue’s music that followed “Shout”. Yeah, each cd had a couple great songs, but Shout At The Devil is easily their best. And for some reason, other than Judas Priest, I’ve seen Motley more than any other band-because it was ALWAYS about more than just the music. Nikki Sixx has always described Motley Crue as a pseudo “punk” band. I worship Nikki…but have no clue what the hell he is talking about. I am in no means an expert on punk music….but I am pretty sure Motley has NOTHING to do with punk. Ok, so they stole the riff for “Ten Seconds To Love” from one of the best cds ever ( The Plasmatics Coup De E’tat), but this is glam metal with dropped tuning. The title track and “Bastard” are stunning. And I’m only slightly embarrassed to admit that “Too Young To Fall In Love” gets me EVERY time I hear it on Sirius/XMs “The Boneyard”. Pure pop genius. Mick Mars deserves so much more credit than he gets. As simple as Motley’s music sounds Mick has some tricky moves on this cd. Vince’s voice was already done by the time he left the studio after this…but I’ll still go see them every time they pass through NYC.

Jon Leon – Solid album. The Crue are an attitude band and sell a look. They are the KISS of the 80′s…they have not really aged well though with the material that followed this album. They have lost me over time. As a kid I would rock this one hard and it has some great hooks by Mick Mars who is one of the most under rated guitar players in metal. He really had a cool tone and vibe that made those first 2 crue albums hold up. I would say after this one I would not ever seek out a later release when I am buying vinyl, and I have no desire to see them live. I would have loved to have seen the 84 tour with OZZY though.

Metal Mike – Killer album. Shout At The Devil has modern Black Metal roots all over it whether people are aware if it or not. Songs rock and you are listening to a real band, raw in the studio as you see them on the streets. I miss that sometimes. Crue is bad ass.

Erik Kluiber – The first 2 albums were their best, and then some good radio hits afterwards. Too bad they couldn’t keep the fire.

Phil Rind – They’ve got the looks that kill!

Ricky Armellino – Motley Crue was a big inspiration to me. After watching some of their tv special I just looked at my guitar and was like “maybe hip hop would be a more fitting place for my ideologies”. I literally had rape fantasies about these mongrels.

Mitts – This is definitely the most metal record this band ever released. The pentagrams and occult theme were a little goofy, but the songs are classic.

James J. LaRue – I was into ‘metal’ as a kid, and I did not include Crue, Poison, Warrant, etc in my collection as they were too glam and not really virtuosos, but the hooks were just too catchy on this one and it won me over. Which means it’s damn good. People from all walks of life know these songs. When I see old footage from those days, Crue were obviously there early in that scene and their live shows at the time were insane. You could say it was very derivative of a Kiss show, but more evil and satanic with all the pentagrams. A way heavier image than the music called for. They were on fire, literally, back then.

Kevin Estrada -Motley was one of the local bands in Los Angeles that I was lucky enough to have followed since their beginnings. Too Fast For Love was a great set-up and showed that Motley Crue was a serious force to be reckoned with. But Shout At The Devil was the TNT they needed to explode. The writings were on the wall when Motley Crue performed at the US Festival in 1983 – they were up against major metal bands with huge followings (Judas Priest, Van Halen, Scorpions, Ozzy, etc) – and Motley Crue outperformed most of these bands, while at the same time blowing away the audience and locking in 200,000 new fans. The band’s song writing had matured greatly with Shout – songs like Knock ‘Em Dead Kid, Red Hot, Looks That Kill and Too Young To Fall In Love display this maturity. But overall, it was Motley Crue’s hunger for success that wrote that album and broke that band. It was Magic and all the pieces were there.

Scott LePage – This album came out around the time I started playing covers in my first real band. Of course we covered Red Hot and Shout at the Devil. Great heavy driving songs. Probably one of the only “hair band” albums that I got into.

Jim Florentine – My fav Crue album

Gonzalo Leiva – I first heard of the band when Girls, Girls, Girls came out, at the time I went back and discovered their previous album (Theater Of Pain), and they instantly became one of my favorite bands. Shout At The Devil was even better, with its raw sound, and solid songs that fit really well with the band. Also, tracks like the intro In The Beginning and God Bless The Children Of The Beast give the album a special atmospheric touch. My favorite tracks on the album are Red Hot, Too Young To Fall In Love, Shout At The Devil, Danger (among others), also their cover of Helter Skelter is pretty good as well.

Sean Bryant – Oh, wow. While I as in grade school this album came out. We had to write a story in class and mine started out with walking up to a friends house and hearing the opening track “in the beginning”. In the story I remember how cool and frightening I wanted to make it feel. I really don’t think the teachers and the kids, in a SLC class really appreciated how dark my story was. That is all I remember to the story. So it goes.

Will Carroll – The last great Crue album which is kinda sad considering its only their second. This album was my soundtrack for 1984. They took KISS and added fake Satanism and buckets upon buckets of sleaze and I ate it up. Mick Mars’ guitar tone makes this album and let’s face it, at the time nobody looked cooler.

Steve Smyth – I was big on Crue for the first 2 albums, and this one to me defined them in many ways. Their sound was much tighter, and the songs were strong. Red Hot, Bastard, Danger and Shout stood out to me as strong songs, and showed the writing strength of the band, as well as chops of Tommy Lee and Mick Mars.

David Ellefson – In some ways Motley played up the Satanic image more than most and the mainstream bought it. This album was just heavy enough to be loved by the metal heads and just mainstream enough to loved by all.

Chad Bowar – The Crue’s second album saw them refining their sleazy Sunset Strip glam metal, although the sound was still pretty raw. “Looks That Kill,” “Too Young To Fall In Love” and the title track were successful singles, and they also did a cover version of the Beatles’ “Helter Skelter.” Commercially it also did rather well, peaking at number 17 on the album chart. It symbolized the sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll vibe that the ’80s were all about.

Shawn Duncan – I enjoyed this CD when it came out. Motley Crue mixed Metal with glam rock and nailed it. From Shout at the Devil to Looks that Kill this album opened the door for an entire genera of music! You cannot deny the impact of this record.

Jason Bittner – Shout at the Devil was the best album by Motley hands down! At the time they kicked ass, I loved this record, and I was a big Tommy Lee fan when I was a kid (it was 1984 and I hadn’t discovered thrash just yet) of course years later when I met the guy, it was such a letdown that I can sum it up in one word…. A great art rock band from the 90′s – TOOL!!!!!

Scott Thompson – When someone mentions Shout At The Devil my mind always goes back to 1983 practicing in the garage and jamming on the title track. Our guitarist at the time happened to also be a very busy coke dealer and would invariably be late for practice…in his garage. There was this always eager Tommy Lee wanna be that lived next door and would take the opportunity to come over and try to sit in. So I would take the guitar, the drummer would take bass and “Tommy Junior” would hop on the kit. Problem was he only knew the opening part so the whole thing would be him playing that part accompanied by Tommy inspired stick twirls. As pointless as it was it did provide some humor while we waited for the guitarist to show up.
Sadly I don’t think that kid ever had the innate sense to explore the rest of the album. That boy missed a aural feast. This was a still hungry Crue with all the swagger of “Too Fast” but having the benefit of a better budget and some nicely gelling song writing chops.

Let’s start with the cover, I bought this bad boy on vinyl and that black cover with the pentagram was not be ignored. I will admit that a few months later I was also lured into buying the picture disc of Helter Skelter. Most people bought that disc because it was at the time their only way to hear the Leathur Records mixes of a two songs off of “Fast”. That wasn’t the appeal to me since I already owned the original Leathur version. I bought it on the strength of the tunes on “Shout”. I was just caught in the momentum.

To this day the tunes from this album continue to be the cornerstone of any Crue show. It’s almost guaranteed that they are going to play Looks That Kill , the title track, and at least one more. Even though Vince’s voice ain’t what it used to be these tunes always rock balls live.

No matter what else they release I think this album will remain the blueprint of what is considered the Cure sound. Even the title track from their latest release harkens back to “Ten Seconds ‘Till Love”.

There will always be the contingent that will say the Dr. Feelgood is their definitive release but for those of us who bought this own when it first came out, there’s no other Crue release that will ever come close.

Kirk Windstein – Shout At The Devile had a huge impact on me…at the time it came out, I already had Too Fast For Love. S.A.T.D. was much more abrasive sounding, and also took their look a few steps further!

The songs are very strong, and this record, in my opinion, encompasses everything Motley Crue are. It’s the perfect “Cure” record, and the last to still feature their “fuck the world” punk side! I give it 10/10 for sure…a record I never turn off when it’s playing!!!

Jorge Salan – They’re a great rock band, the issue I have is that they have some hits that I can’t profess to really liking, the chick thing, the being on the beach thing, is sort of on a different wave from where I’m at. That said, once Bob Rock got a hold of them things went to a different level, especially a song like Kick Start My Heart, which is such a great song, or something like Sticky Sweet, all of those songs, and actually that album (Dr. Feelgood) is more of my thing.

Domonic Rini – 1983, in my eyes the strongest push for thrash and the evolution of the big hair days. MC grabbed a record deal with Elektra and put this release out with Producer Tom Werman. It really showed in the production that this band could take their music to new levels and really make them musicians. Shout At The Devil really hit a chord in peoples heads and the youth ate it up. With an evil surrounding feel to this release they were able to really pull it off.

Doug Gibson – “Shout At The Devil” is classic Crue at their best. Not only does the album still stand the test of time, but it’s the best defense against the haters who try to lump the Crue in with lighter hair bands and claim they’re not metal.

The podcast portion can be streamed or downloaded from here:

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This month’s Classic Albums Column focuses on Judas Priest‘s Painkiller. Mars Attacks Podcast episode 54 features comments from Doro Pesch, Glen Drover, Gene Hoglan, Jon Schaffer, Alan Tecchio, Dave Reffett, author Martin Popoff, Mitch Lafon from Bravewords, Mark Strigl from Talking Metal, Anirudd “Andrew” Bansal from Metal Assault, and John from Iron City Rocks. As we established with the previous podcast we also discuss why this album was selected. You will find the podcast at the bottom of this post.

Remember that you can go here index page to find out further details on everyone involved in the column.

Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal – I’m a long-time fan of Priest, going back to Rocka Rolla and Sad Wings, they were cool, bluesy, but also melodic and composed, harmonies everywhere, such a great band. From there they got heavier and more intense with each album. They really ripped your head off at moments with Painkiller.

Greg Prato – Painkiller: Although not my all-time fav Priest album (a two-way tie between ‘British Steel’ and ‘Screaming for Vengeance’), it was a great to see the Priest return full-on with ‘Painkiller,’ after a few missteps during the late 1980′s. Rob Halford’s vocal performance throughout the album showed once and for all that he is unquestionably one of metal’s greatest singers (I’d say he and Ronnie James Dio are at the top of my list).

Dave Starr – I love JP, but this is not one of my favorite CD’s from them. I do love several tracks though: “Hammer and the Anvil”, “A Touch of Evil”, and “Hell Patrol”.

Dan Lorenzo – When I was a in high school my favorite bands were Kiss, Cheap Trick, AC/DC and Aerosmith. By the end of high school Kiss was getting cheesy and I discovered Judas Priest. I’ve seen Priest live more than any other band. I saw them as recently as two weeks ago. I even saw them twice with Ripper. Right before Painkiller came out I was “over” Priest. The song “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin” kinda ruined the whole vibe for me. It’s not even a bad song and I LOVE the rest of that cd. But moms now “liked” Judas Priest and I was getting more into Slayer etc. I’ll never forget the first time I heard the title track from Painkiller. I was working on writing the early NON-FICTION material and I thought I knew what was cool and what was not. Dave Holland’s weak drumming was gone and a monster named Scott Travis was now on the throne. Damn. Glenn/KK/Rob, Ian…you got me again. Painkiller is kick ass. I even love the more commercial “Touch of Evil.”. Priest were back on the right track and they have stayed that way. I’ll always cite “Hell Bent For Leather” as my favorite…but Painkiller was a very welcome surprise and a return to form.

Peter Ellis – My favourite Priest album and in my opinion the very best album they ever made. By the time Painkiller came out both KK and Glen Tipton had really matured as guitarists and had started introducing lots of different sounds and new elements to the band’s music and of course this album features some of the very best performances in Rob Halfords storied career too. Also the addition of Scott Travis on the drums proved to be one of the best decisions the band’s ever made and personally I wish they’d done this a lot earlier as I think that Travis sounds like the natural successor to Les Binks and I’ve always believed that bringing Dave Holland in held the band back and put limitations to their style that wouldn’t be there with a more competent drummer.

Jon Leon – Judas Priest gave everyone what they wanted with this album. Scott Travis on drums along with the thrash movement inspired a new direction. It is classic priest but heavy as hell and at a million miles an hour. No Parental Guidance type songs here. Less catchy and more balls out. It was the exclamation point that rounded out and finalized the legacy of the great Judas Priest. I saw the tour as a little kid and they opened with Hell Bent for Leather -it was insane.

Metal Mike – I love this record. It set a blueprint for some many other bands to follow. Bands are still trying to rewrite Painkiller every year, but we all know that there is only one Metal God.

Erik Kluiber – Saw this tour with Megadeth and Testament. Unfortunately, my neighbors who gave me the ride hated priest and forced me to leave once they took the stage.

Ricky Armellino – Always loved the Priest. Just never a reason not to listen to them, ever. Unless you need a break to listen to Dio but you could always just do what I did and play both simultaneously.

Mitts – Judas Priest meets double-bass. The cornerstone heavy metal band added a much needed dose of modern drumming to their sound. Great riffs, too. A punch in the face record, redemption for the band that made “Turbo”.

Chris Tsangarides – What can I say about a record that I made without sounding like a complete ego maniac! But this record is one that I am very proud of on many levels. I was in 7th heaven during this project. It is one of the most cohesive and focused Heavy Metal albums in my humble opinion of all time. We set out with the objective of making a great recording and that’s how it came out. It is so hard to get clarity in the sound when the tempos are so fast but because of the great arrangements between the instrumentation we managed to achieve this. It also inspired a whole slew of bands to carry on in that tradition of Power/Speed Metal.

Raul Galvan – This album along with some of Manowar’s work is what I consider to be the top of the mountain for heavy metal.

JL – Another classic, from one of those bars that oozes smoke, alcohol and metal. Tipton and Downings had their axes sharpened like knives, but nothing cut through more than Halford’s voice. From the album cover, to the song titles, there is nothing more metal than this album, not even if the sky opened up and a downpour of knives ensued!

Gonzalo Leiva – A very powerful album, the opening track makes you say wow after the first listen. The rest of the album is also good, containing some very heavy and technical drumming from Scott Travis. Painkiller is a punishing track, but you also have tracks like Nightcrawler, Between The Hammer And The Anvil, A Touch Of Evil, and Hell Patrol (just to name a few). These tracks make this album a must have for any rock or metal fans.

David Lozano – One of my all time favorite albums, I think it is of utter importance that it finds its way into any metal fan’s album collection. I still think this album is a head of its time, case in point, I still hear bands implementing things in their music that Priest did on this album.

Sean Bryant – I had seen quite a few Priest concerts growing up. One I remember mostly was during Turbo Lover Tour. Bunch of friends and I went to the Salt Palace in SLC. This was the first time I had heard a band blowing the power at a large venue. I always looked forward to him driving his motorcycle out onto the stage. With this album in particular, the only thing that comes to mind is when drinking at the Anchored Inn and Shana from Bad Dream ran down the stairs while she was dj’ing. She insisted that we do shots throughout the song!! Needless to say, my pain was killed that night and many after that.

Will Carroll – A very important album. Not only for JP but also for Heavy Metal in general. It extended the lifeline of metal for a few more years until metal was nearly wiped away in the early/mid nineties. A favorite JP album for many and I can totally see why. My favorite is Sin After Sin.

Steve Smyth – Oh HELL yeah! The mighty Priest delivered the goods after a disappointing few previous records. I loved it when Scott Travis joined them, and Glenn and KK got up some new chops, as Halford delivered the goods in songs like All Guns Blazing, Nightcrawler, Hell Patrol, Leather Rebel, and the title track! One of my favorites from the mighty Priest!

Jon Bodan – This was the album that got me into Priest, before that I had come up on some glam like Skid Row and from that got into bands like Metallica and Testament. So I heard these guys on a compilation CD and was like “where have I been”? Halcyon Way used to tease the song “Painkiller” at the end of our set but we could never be bothered to learn the whole thing, haha. But the best story with this is that one time I was with our old singer Sean at this Korean karaoke bar, and all these people were singing these Korean pop ballads….so I went over and signed him up to do “Painkiller”. It was hysterical, everyone there was like “What the hell????” Classic.

Domonic Rini – Rob Halford really shows his vocal prowess in this effort. Some of his greatest tones on any Priest albums are found in this one. I think with Painkiller, Judas Priest was really trying to see how metal they can be and it really shows.

Shawn Duncan – Awesome, Love Painkiller!

Wayne Findlay – Painkiller…Wow, what a killer intro with Scott Travis at his best.
I was blown away when I found out he got the drummer position for Priest. He was great in Racer-X and when he joined Priest, it took them in a whole new direction. This album just brought it to a whole new level for Priest.

Tim Ripper Owens – Great cd. Really brought the Priest back to form, and that was with a lot of help from Scott Travis. WOW, he was just amazing and gave them the spark they needed! But everyone was on their Game. Amazing guitar playing, Bass playing and Singing!! P A I N!!!!!!

Jason Bittner – Priest’s best album hands down- the guitar work got amazingly better from Ram it Down to PK!! Obviously the BIGGEST improvement was adding the mighty Scott Travis to the band! I got PK on tape for Xmas in 1991, and refused to leave my basement that day for family affairs until I had that intro learned and down!! And I succeeded too!! Many many years later Scott and I are friends and I actually bought his old kick drum road case off him back in 2004- he still asks me about it, and yes I still have it- gonna be sad to see this band actually say “farewell”. Priest rules!!

Anthony Esposito – Monster cd,
hello Scott Travis……from the opening sound making his arrival noted. He is a monster drummer. We played a show with them in Los Angeles right after this (album) was released.
At soundcheck, while Priest was up onstage George quietly turned to me and said “Ant, we are gettin blown away tonight.” The title cut and A Touch Of Evil are my favorites (on the album). Rob’s voice is amazing as usual.

Kirk Windstein – It was a welcomed surprise after the disappointing RAM IT DOWN record. PAINKILLER is an over the top, pure metal masterpiece! Great riffs, solos, and of course, vocals. Halford earns a 10 out of 10 for his work! Actually, all the members do, and the addition of Scott Travis was the icing on the cake. In my opinion it should have been the follow up to DEFENDERS…Judas Priest (The Best Heavy Metal Band Ever), were at their finest on this classic! Thanks for the Metal, Gentlemen!!!

Jose Izquierdo – I discovered Judas Priest with this album. I mean I had heard songs, but I really didn’t know people that where in tune with the band, and could hook me up with a tape of their songs. There wasn’t really a radio station in Albacete (Spain) that played Judas Priest either. Someone gave me a copy of the album, and of course after that I started really looking into their music.

David G. Alvarez – I remember seeing Painkiller, Jugulator, and a video compliation, I believe it was called Metalworks, I don’t exactly remember. But and then saw images in Rockarolla, and thought to myself, I think I bought the wrong tape. I saw that hats, and everything else they were wearing and though it was something else. My favorite track off of the album is Metal Meltdown, it’s obvious they made a serious changes to their sound, especially with the guitars. They changed from very melodic playing to sweep picking, and they returned with their own proper sound. Scott Travis also gave a big push to the band, a lot of energy.

Jorge Salan – I really like this album, but I have to say that Stained Class is my favorite album by the band. A track like Exciter is one of those that really inspired me, it’s a classic. I think the redone version from Hero Hero, I don’t remember if it was a compilation, or if it was all new tracks, but it had Victim of Changes, which I think is just ridiculously good. I really like Painkiller, but I’ll stick with those two I mentioned.

Militia – A great album through and through! Killer songs loaded with all the best elements of

Priest:

Halford’s vocal performance is enthralling- an uncanny balance of raw aggression and operatic precision. Lyrics that are borderline Shakespearian. Artwork, imagery and storytelling of creatures and monsters that create its own heavy metal mythological world. Guitar tones and riffs that singe your fuckin ears. Drums that relentlessly beat your brain into a bloody pulp. And that signature Priest groove that keeps it all together is so addictive…

Some of my favorite Priest songs are on here: Hell Patrol, Nightcrawler, Metal Meltdown, Between the Hammer and the Anvil and the ultimate metal anthem as well as one of my favorite songs to sing- the PAAAAINKILLAAAAH!

Chris Howorth – This is such an incredible album, and its arguably the heaviest priest album of all time! The title track pretty much sums the whole thing up, starting with Scott Travis ripping drum intro and non stop double bass, and Tipton and Downing turned the gain knob to ten and shredded their asses off from start to finish, I always loved Judas Priest but this album got brownie points for being extra heavy right at the time when grunge and all that crap was getting popular. This album is a lesson in real metal, pay attention all you trend following scene metal bands!

Remember that you can go here index page to find out further details on everyone involved in the column.

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This page will serve as the index for the Classic Albums Column, you read a comment and want to know who that person is, where you can listen to their music, how follow them on twitter, Facebook, etc., come here to find all of the pertinent links associated to each of the posters.

Ted Aguilar – Guitarist for Death Angel
Official Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
Wikipedia

Alex – Co-founder of Dose Of Metal
Official Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
YouTube

David G. Alvarez – Guitarist for Angelus Apatrida
Official Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
Wikipedia

Vinny Appice – Drummer for Kill Devil Hill, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell and Dio
Official Web Site
Official Kill Devil Hill Web Site
Official Black Sabbath Web Site
MySpace
Wikipedia

Ricky Armellino – Lead singer of This Or The Apocalypse
Facebook
MySpace

Steve Banks – Guitarist, lead singer and synth programming for The Freeze Tag Assassins
Facebook
MySpace
ReverbNation

Aniruddh “Andrew” Bansal – Editor In Chief and host of Metal Assault
Official Web Site
Facebook
Twitter

Chris Barnes – Lead singer of Six Feet Under formerly of Cannibal Corpse
Official Web Site
MySpace
Wikipedia

Charlie Benante – Drummer of Anthrax and S.O.D.
Official Web Site
Official Anthrax Web Site
Facebook Charlie Benante Fan Page
Facebook Anthrax
Twitter Charlie Benante
Twitter Anthrax
MySpace Anthrax
Wikipedia

Chris Biermann – Guitarist, bass player, drum programming for The Freeze Tag Assassins
Facebook
MySpace
ReverbNation

Jason Bittner – Drummer of Shadows Fall
Official Web Site
Shadows Fall Web Site
Facebook Jason Bittner Fan Page
Facebook Shadows Fall
Twitter Jason Bittner
Twitter Shadows Fall
MySpace Jason Bittner
MySpace Shadows
Wikipedia Jason Bittner
Wikipedia Shadows Fall
ReverbNation
YouTube Jason Bittner
YouTube Shadows Fall

Jon Bodan – Guitarist of Halcyon Way
Official Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace

Chad Bowar – Editor In Chief About.com Heavy Metal
Official Web Site

Sean Bryant – Bass player for Hull
Official Web Site
MySpace

Will Carroll – Drummer for Death Angel
Official Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
Wikipedia

Keith “Keefy” Chachkes – Journalist at Metal Army America
Metal Army America Web Site

Metal Mike Chlasciak – Guitarist for Halford and Pain Museum former member of Testament and Sebastian Bach
Official Web Site
Twitter

Richard Christy – Drummer for Charred Walls Of The Damned, formerly of Death and Iced Earth
Official Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace

Chris Czynszak – Host / Producer of The Decibel Geek Podcast
Official Web Site
Facebook

Erun Dagath – Guitarist of Crystal Moors, Bassist and vocalist of Moonshine, and Briargh, owner/producer of Khazad-Dûm Studio
Official Web Site
Crystal Moors Official Web Site
Moonshine Official Web Site

Glen Drover – Guitarist of The Glen Drover Band, formerly of Megadeth, King Diamond, Eidolon and touring guitarist for Testament
Official Web Site
Wikipedia

Shawn Duncan – Drummer of DC4
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
ReverbNation

Niek Elfreink – Editor In Chief of The Death Metal Baboon
Official Web Site
Facebook

David Ellefson – Bass player for Megadeth
Official Web Site
Official Megadeth Web Site
Wikipedia

Peter Ellis – Lead singer of Monument and formerly of White Wizzard and The More I see
Facebook
Monument Facebook

Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth – Lead singer of Overkill and The Cursed
Official Web Site
Facebook
MySpace
Wikipedia

Anthony Esposito – Bassist for Ace Frehley and Pisser, formerly of Lynch Mob
Official Ace Frehley Web Site
Facebook Ace Frehley
Facebook Pisser
Twitter Ace Frehley
MySpace Ace Frehley
Pisser ReverbNation

Kevin Estrada – Photographer / Director
Official Web Site
Blog
Artist Direct

Fer Fakyea – Editor in chief Fakyea.com
Official Web Site
Facebook

Wayne Findlay – Guitarist / Keyboardist for Michael Schenker Group, Slavior and No Sky Today
Official Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
Reverb Nation

Jim Florentine – Comedian, co-host of That Metal Show
Official Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
YouTube

Raul Galvan – Bass player and lead singer of Emboque
Official Web Site
Facebook
MySpace
Wikipedia

Joel Gausten – Writer / Author former drummer of Electric Frankenstein, The Undead and Pigface
Official Web Site
MySpace
Louder Than Hell
Glory Is Noise
Lulu

Doug Gibson – Founder, Owner & Programmer of Metal Underground
Official Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
YouTube

David Gonzalez – Guitarist of Face The Void
Facebook

Jane Alisabeth Grey – Lead singer of The Greatest Fear
Official Web Site

Aaron Griffith – Co-host of Iron City Rocks Podcast and editor of Signal To Noise
Iron City Rocks Official Web Site
Signal To Noise Official Web Site
Iron City Rocks Facebook
Iron City Rocks Twitter
Signal To Noise Twitter

Grover XIII – Editor In Chief at The Number Of The Blog
Official Web Site

Dustin Hardman – Web Promotion Manager for Frontiers Records US
Official Web Site

Gene Hoglan – Drummer of Fear Factory, Dethklok and Zimmers Hole formerly of Strapping Young Lad, Testament and Dark Angel
Official Web Site
MySpace
Wikipedia

Chris Howorth – Guitarist for In This Moment
Facebook
MySpace

Mark Hunter – Lead Singer of Chimaira
Official Web Site
Facebook
MySpace
Chimaira Twitter
Mark Hunter Twitter
You Tube
Wikipedia

Jose Izquierdo – Bassist for Angelus Apatrida
Official Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
Wikipedia

Don Jamieson – Comedian and host of VH1 Classic’s That Metal Show
Official Web Site
Wikipedia

JL – Guitarist of Wayne
MySpace

John Katic – Co-host of Iron City Rocks Podcast
Official Web Site
Facebook
Twitter

Bat Kinane – Guitarist of Glyder
Official Web Site
MySpace

Erik Kluiber – Guitarist of Gyspsyhawk formerly of White Wizzard, Overloaded, Scattered Hamlet and Shotgun
Facebook
MySpace

Raul L.R. – Guitarist of Marlenne
Official Web Site
MySpace

Mitch Lafon – Senior Writer and Photographer at Pure Gain Audio.com formerly of Bravewords.com
Official Web Site
Twitter

James J. LaRue – Lead guitarist of Vindicator, formerly of White Wizzard and Holy Grail
Facebook
MySpace

Gonzalo Leiva Palacios – Drummer of Encrucijada
Official Web Site
MySpace

Jon Leon – Bassist of White Wizzard
Facebook
MySpace
Wikipedia

Scott LePage – Guitarist of The Freeze Tag Assassins and Hades
Facebook
MySpace
ReverbNation

Dan Lorenzo – Guitarist of Hades, Non-Fiction and The Cursed
Official Web Site
MySpace

David Lozano – Guitarist of Propaganda
Official Web Site
Facebook
MySpace

Big Mario – Lead singer of Hell’s Fire
Facebook
MySpace
YouTube

Scott Middleton – Guitarist of Cancer Bats
Facebook
MySpace
Wikipedia

Militia – Lead vocalist for Judas Priestess and Swear On Your Life
Official Judas Priestess Web Site
Official Swear On Your Life Web Site
Facebook Judas Priestess
Facebook Swear On Your Life
Twitter Judas Priestess
Twitter Swear On Your Life
MySpace Judas Priestess
MySpace Swear On Your Life
YouTube Judas Priestess
ReverbNation Judas Priestess
ReverbNation Swear On Your Life

Mitts – Guitarist of Madball
MySpace
Roadrunner
Wikipedia

Bruce Moore – Host of Brutally Delicious
Offical Website
Facebook

Vince Neilstein – Editor In Chief Metal Sucks
Official Web Site

John Nymann – Guitarist of Y&T
Official Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
Wikipedia

Tim “Ripper” Owens – Lead Singer of Charred Walls Of The Damned, Beyond Fear, Dio’s Disciples and Yngwie Malmsteen, formerly of Judas Priest and Iced Earth
Official Web Site
Official Ripper Owens’ Taphouse Web Site
Twitter
MySpace
Wikipedia

Mikey Pannone – Drummer of Benedictum
Official Web Site
Facebook
MySpace
Wikipedia

Ted Parsons – Drummer of Necessary, Jesu and Teledubnosis formerly of Prong
MySpace
Facebook
Necessary MySpace
Jesu MySpace
Teledubnosis Official Web Site

Dani Perez – Drummer of Khael formerly of Skizoo, Saratoga, and Stravaganzza
Official Web Site
Facebook
MySpace

Doro Pesch – Lead singer of Doro
Official Web Site
Wikipedia

Ken Pierce – Editor In Chief of Piercing Metal
Official Web Site
Official Blog
Facebook
Twitter

Chris Poland – Guitarist of Ohm and Ohmphrey formerly of Damn The Machine and Megadeth
Official Web Site
Wikipedia

Martin Popoff – Writer / Author
Official Web Site

Pest – Lead singer for Gorgoroth
Official Web Site
Facebook
MySpace
Wikipedia

Greg Prato – Writer / Author
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
UGO
LuLu Store Front
Amazon

Aquiles Priester – Drummer of Hangar formerly of Angra
Official Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
Wikipedia

Domonic Rini – Program Director And Host of Maximum Threshold Radio
Official Web Site
Facebook
Twitter

Dave Reffett – Guitarist and lead singer for Shredding The Envelope
Official Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
Wikipedia

Phil Rind – Lead singer and bass player of Sacred Reich
MySpace
Wikipedia

Etan Rosenbloom – Writer / Author for Decibel Magazine, MetalSucks.net
Official Web Site
Facebook
MySpace

Richard Royuela – Back Ground Noise Artist Rep and writer for Rock Hard Magazine
Official Web Site
MySpace

Angel Rubin – Lead singer of La Hermandad formerly of Agdar
Official Web Site
Facebook
MySpace
YouTube

Jorge Salan – Guitarist for Jeff Scott Soto, his solo band Jorge Salan and formerly of Mago De Oz
Official Web Site

Brian Saunders
Official Web Site

Jessie Sanchez – Bassist of Bonded By Blood
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
Wikipedia

Ron Scalzo – producer, lead singer and keyboard player of Return To Earth and Q*Ball
Metal Blade
Return To Earth Official Web Site
Return To Earth MySpace
Return To Earth Facebook
Official Web Site
YouTube
Twitter

Jaye Schwarzer – Bass player of Cancer Bats
Facebook
MySpace
Wikipedia

Chris Shrum – Bassist of Benedictum
Official Web Site
Twitter
MySpace
Wikipedia

Steve Smyth – Guitarist of Forbidden, Sweet Leaf, Firehead and The EssenEss Project formerly of Nevermore, Vicious Rumors, Dragonlord and Testament
Official Web Site
Official Forbidden Web Site
Official The EssenEss Project Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
Wikipedia

Dave Starr – Guitarist/Bass Player Wildestarr formerly of Vicious Rumors
Official Web Site
Facebook
MySpace

Mark Strigl – Host/Co-host of Talking Metal, Talking Rock and The Mark Strigl Show
Official Web Site
Twitter
MySpace
YouTube

Jandro Storm – Drummer of Storms To Come
Official Web Site
Facebook
MySpace

Karl “Inski” Szulik – Guitarist of Divine Ascension
Official Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
ReverbNation

Alan Tecchio – Lead singer of Autumn Hour, Hades, Non-Fiction formerly of Watchtower and Seven Witches
MySpace
Official Autumn Hour Web Site
Autumn Hour MySpace

Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal – Guitarist of Guns N Roses and of his own band Bumblefoot
Official Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
YouTube
ReverbNation
Wikipedia

Seth Thacker – Guitarist of Straight Line Stitch
Facebook
MySpace
Wikipedia

Scott Thompson – Co-Host of Focus On Metal
Official Web Site
Facebook

Chris Tsangarides – Writer / Producer / Engineer / Mixer
MySpace
Wikipedia

Victor Valera – Drummer of Angelus Apatrida
Official Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
Wikipedia

Tommy Victor – Guitarist/Lead Singer of Prong, Guitarist of Danzig and Ministry formerly of Rob Zombie
Official Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
Wikipedia

Luke Wenczel – Drummer of Divine Ascension
Official Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
ReverbNation

Owain Williams – Guitarist for Xerath
Official Web Site
Facebook
MySpace
Wikipedia

Kirk Windstein – Guitarist and lead singer of Crowbar, guitarist of Down and Kingdom Of Sorrow
Official Crowbar Web Site
Official Down Web Site
Facebook Down
Facebook Kingdom Of Sorrow
Twitter Crowbar
Twitter Down
Twitter Kingdom Of Sorrow
MySpace Crowbar
MySpace Down
MySpaceKingdom Of Sorrow
Wikipedia Kirk Windstein
Wikipedia Crowbar
Wikipedia Down
Wikipedia Kingdom Of Sorrow
ReverbNation Kingdom Of Sorrow

Clay Winthrow – Guitarist of Vangough
Official Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
Vangough MySpace

Steve Zing – Bassist of Danzig and lead singer of Marra’s Drug formerly of Samhain, Son Of Sam and The Undead
Official Web Site
Twitter
MySpace
Wikipedia

During this episode we bring you two interviews, one with Chris Howorth from In This Moment, and another with Patrick Kennison from Heaven Below. During Chris’ portion we discuss the making of In This Moment’s latest album Star Crossed Wasteland, what it has been like to tour with the likes of Ozzy, Dave Mustaine, being part of Talking Metal on Fuse, and his feelings towards Maria Brink’s involvement with such things as the Hottest Chicks In Metal, and what affect, if any, it has on the band. During Patrick’s interview portion we discuss his former band Union Underground, what it was like to put Heaven Below together, working with Ben Moody, and some misconceptions people may have about artists whose songs are frequently used on TV.

During the episode you’ll hear the following songs in this order:

Heaven Below – Heartbreaker
Union Underground – Across The Nation
Heaven Below – When Daylight Dies
In This Moment – The Gun Show
In This Moment – Just Drive
In This Moment – The Great Divide

Topics discussed include:

Warped Tour, Mayhem Fest, Blondie, Nine Inch Nails, Prince, Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie, Chimera, Stone Sour, Union Underground, Heaven Below, Dave Mustaine, Megadeth, Schecter Hellraiser, EMG Pick Up, Krank Amps, Dunlop Pedals, In This Moment, The Dream, Star Crossed Wasteland, Chris Howorth, Kyle Kontiel, Jesse Landry, Trent Reznor, Hottest Chicks In Metal, Maria Brink, Talking Metal On Fuse, Blake Bunzel, Ernie Ball, Pantera, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Lacuna Coil, Blondie, Disturbed, Lincoln Park, Drowning Pool, Static-X, Ozzy Osbourne, Countdown To Devil, Reworking The Devil, White Stripes, Cher, Peavy, B.C. Rich, Coal Chamber, Korn, Marshall, VHT Pitbull, TC Electronics G-Force, Lexicon MPX2, Ozzfest, Marilyn Manson, WWE, Ben Moody, Motorhead, Bob Dylan, Chris Isaak

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