"Seasons in the Abyss" - Slayer

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Also in honor of a recent passing, specifically Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman, I'll share my memories of the Slayer song "Seasons in the Abyss".

When the song and the album for which it was named was released in 1990, I had never actually listened to Slayer.  I was 11, and certain that listening to a band like Slayer would send me straight to hell.  I was actually afraid to discover such a band.  However, I listened to Z-Rock religiously at the time, and sure enough, "Seasons in the Abyss" was released to heavy rotation on the station.  The first time I heard it, I had no idea it was Slayer...remember, I had never listened to them at this point, so I just would not have known...and I really liked the song.  When the DJ announced that it was a new Slayer track, I was surprised that I had liked it so much and was even more surprised that I was not immediately possessed by demons.  I remember cranking my little beat up boom box every time it came on.

Years and years later, I was at a Faster Pussycat show at Hairy Mary's in Des Moines, Iowa.  I remember after the set, I and my friends Brenda, Melissa and Jeremy were sitting on and around the pool table talking to Chad and Danny of Faster Pussycat when "Seasons in the Abyss" came on over the PA.  I went, "yes!!! SLAYERRRRRRRR!" and my whole group looked at me strangely, as if they were REALLY surprised to hear me turn from happy-peppy-hair-metal girl to demon-possessed Slayer fan in the matter of a couple of notes.

I'm still sad that I've never gotten to see Slayer live.  I did go to one of the movie theaters that was broadcasting the same-day show of the Big 4 concert from Sofia, Bulgaria a couple of years ago, and I bought the DVD when it came out.  Slayer was the highlight of the show for me.  Anthrax, Megadeth and even Metallica were good, but Slayer blew them all away.

RIP Jeff Hanneman...thank you for the riffs.