Subject:

 

After six long years since their World Painted Blood album, Slayer released Repentless on September 11.  This video for the title track is their first video off the album.

 

Lifespan:

 

4 brutal minutes, 37 blood soaked seconds

 

The body:

 

A prison break turns into a scrum of blood and violence, as Slayer plays the song in the yard.  It gets really ugly.  No further explanation needed.

 

Dissection:

 

Holy smokes is this video insane.  I run a horror site, and violent images occasionally accompany the writing.  That said, this is the first time I’ve ever felt the need to put up a NSFW warning.  This is a bloodbath at the core of pandemonium, with throat slashing, weapon use and toward the end a beheading.  Slayer wanted to say with this video, “Hey we’re back, and don’t worry, we haven’t gone soft.”  And they’re Goddamned right.

 

 

 

 

I’m surprised at just how much I love this video.  Outside of the old MTV clip for “Seasons in the Abyss,” Slayer’s video catalogue has been pretty awful.  I always got the feeling that King, Hanneman and Araya didn’t pay much care to the visuals, so they left them in the hands of people not quite as brutal.  But not “Repentless.”  This time, they got the right guy in B.J. McDonnell, the director of HATCHET III.  With Felissa Rose as a producer, several horror actors came on board, including Derek Mears, Tyler Mane, Sean Whalen and Danny Trejo.  With that cast and crew behind it, the “Repentless” video doesn’t pull any punches.  Bodies fly all around as prisoners smash each other in the clip.  At the epicenter, Slayer thrashes through the song fearlessly, with Araya screaming the band’s creed.  The blood flows freely, and finally, for the first time since 1990, a video has done justice to a Slayer song.

 

 

 

 

“Repentless” is the perfect song to match with the images.  The lyrics, which discuss the band living a repentless (sic) life as they assault the stage worldwide, encompass their world view:  it’s an angry place, and the only way to survive within it is to return hate with full-on hate.  It’s the pure essence of Slayer.

 

 

Postmortem:

 

 

Cause of death—  Every form of weapon a prisoner can get his hands on.  As for Slayer, you can never kill them.  After all, Evil never dies.

 

Interment instructions— “Live fast, on high/  Repentless, let it ride.”  Follow Araya’s advice and keep this video on your Youtube playlist.

 

 

 

View the body

 

 

 

-Phil Fasso