May 28, 1996 - Undisputed Attitude

A week after my last release and almost two years since "Divine Intervention", Slayer released their seventh album "Undisputed Attitude" on May 28, 1996. This is almost entirely a cover album as the only original song is the final song on the album. Slayer cover almost entirely hardcore punk songs on this album and I had never heard of most of the bands that they cover, although guitarist Kerry King says these songs helped to shape Slayer into the thrash metal band we love today. Let's check out some Slayer covers!

The first two tracks are both covers of Verbal Abuse, starting with "Disintegration/Free Money" and the first six songs on the album are all under two minutes long! The hardcore punk style fits Slayer pretty nicely as there are some blistering-fast guitars and quickfire yelling vocals. Tom Araya plays some great speedy bass on this opener as well and while this is not tour typical Slayer, they do a pretty good job of still sounding pretty sweet. Up next is "Verbal Abuse/Leeches" and it shows a glimpse of some slower punk, but it's still mostly some really fast hardcore punk with speedy stuff by King and Jeff Hanneman. Track 3 is a T.S.O.L. cover called "Abolish Government/Superficial Love" and Paul Bostaph shows off with some pretty nice fast drums in this one. The guitars aren't typical Slayer speed, but things sound pretty punk-y and it's hard not to headbang along. It has a hilarious ending as well as Araya says "President Clinton can suck my motherfucking dick". The next two tracks are both covers of Hanneman's first band Pap Smear, starting with "Can't Stand You". Araya spits out some really fast vocals on this one and despite being only a minute and a half long it has a fast opening, a slow middle part, and then a fast ending, not too bad! Track 5 is even shorter at just a minute long and "DDAMM" stands for drunk drivers against mad mothers. It opens with a super fast verse, is mostly a cool little guitar solo by Hanneman, and then wraps up with another verse. All in one minute, and it was a cool song too! Up next is a Minor Threat cover (the first band I've actually heard of!) titled "Guilty Of Being White" which is certainly an odd song name. The music is some pretty fast punk stuff that sounds pretty good, but it's kinda hard to get behind a song where he yells that title so many times. Track 7 is the third Verbal Abuse cover on the album and it's called "I Hate You". This one has some much simpler music than anything else we've heard and the chorus is actually kind of bland! The guitar solo however, is anything but: it's pretty fuckin' sweet! The next track is another Minor Threat cover titled "Filler/I Don't Want To Hear It" and it's way better than that first one with some unrelenting guitars and drums for the whole two and a half minutes. This is the kind of punk I can get behind, and more like actual Slayer, which is definitely a good thing! Track 9 is a D.I. cover called "Spiritual Law" and it's the first song to reach the 3 minute mark! They alternate between a fast verse with some cool guitars and a slower chorus and you can guess which part I liked better. Thankfully there was more of the faster stuff and I didn't even notice the "lengthy" time. Up next is a Dr. Know cover titled "Mr. Freeze" and it has another fast-paced punk-y main riff. They break down nicely into a slower chorus and there are even a couple short guitar solos, both if which are pretty cool. Track 11 is a cover of D.R.I. called "Violent Pacification" and they kick right into a relentless riff with some pretty fast guitars. After a couple very quick verses they slow things way down for a very simple and long chorus. They build back up to the fast riff, only for the song to end. The next track is "Richard Hung Himself", another cover of D.I., and Araya's vocals are not really sung, more like talked loudly, and that's not the way I want Tom singing. It's still a decent song, but it's one of my lesser ones as I found it not very exciting. Track 13 is kind of more like a parody than a cover with Slayer changing some lyrics of The Stooges "I Wanna Be Your Dog" to become "I'm Gonna Be Your God". The song is led by a fairly simple riff, but I'm sure the original version wasn't this heavy. Slayer's lyrics are very vulgar and sexual and this is another one for me that is decent, but there's not a lot going on other than a short guitar solo. The final song on the album is the only original Slayer song and it's called "Gemini". At just under five minutes long it's also by far the longest on the album and it doesn't really fit the punk vibe of the rest of the album honestly. It's driven by a slow but still plenty heavy main riff with Bostaph delivering some nice drum fills. They speed up briefly in the middle, but most of this a slow headbang that is solid, it just doesn't seem like it fits here.

That is the end of "Undisputed Attitude" and I thought it was an interesting cover album for sure. These songs are hardcore punk and definitely not our typical thrash metal, and Slayer do a wonderful job for sure, but I definitely prefer their usual thrash style over this punk style. King and Hanneman are still playing some pretty fast guitars throughout though and I was definitely headbanging to most of the songs. I don't think it comes anywhere close to "South Of Heaven" though so this cover album will have to settle for the new bottom rung on the ladder. I look forward to their next studio effort and getting back to some good old Slayer.