Album
Seasons in the Abyss
Seasons in the Abyss is Slayer's fifth studio album, released on 9 October 1990 through Def American Recordings. It was recorded between March and June 1990 in Los Angeles, across Hit City West, Hollywood Sound and The Record Plant. At 42:27, it is the longest record in their catalogue.
It follows Reign in Blood (1986) and South of Heaven (1988), and critics have set it alongside both. It also marks the end of an era, as the last album with the full original line-up, including drummer Dave Lombardo, until he came back for Christ Illusion in 2006. It reached number 40 on the US Billboard 200 and went gold in the United States and Canada, which makes it a good place to hear Slayer's thrash at a settled, confident stage.
Seasons in the Abyss on Riffology
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Seasons in the Abyss: tracklist, credits and charts
10 tracks · 42:30Tracklist
- 1War EnsembleJeff Hanneman and Tom Araya4:52
- 2Blood RedJeff Hanneman and Tom Araya2:48
- 3Spirit in BlackJeff Hanneman and Kerry King4:07
- 4Expendable YouthKerry King and Tom Araya4:10
- 5Dead Skin MaskJeff Hanneman and Tom Araya5:20
- 6Hallowed PointHanneman, King, Araya3:24
- 7Skeletons of SocietyKerry King4:41
- 8TemptationKerry King3:26
- 9Born of FireJeff Hanneman and Kerry King3:08
- 10Seasons in the AbyssJeff Hanneman and Tom Araya6:35
- Produced by
- Rick Rubin, Slayer, Andy Wallace
- Recorded at
- Hit City West, Hollywood Sound Recorders, The Record Plant, Hit City West, Hollywood Sound, and Record Plant, Los Angeles, California
- Recorded
- March–June 1990
- Mixed by
- Andy Wallace
- Engineered by
- Andy Wallace
- Label
- Def American Recordings
- Length
- 42:30
Singles
- “Seasons in the Abyss” · 1990
- “Spirit in Black” · 1990
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 1990 | 18 |
| US Billboard 200 · 1990 | 40 |
| Irish Albums (The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) · 1990 | 10 |
| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) · 1990 | 12 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums · 2006 | 16 |
| German Albums · 1990 | 19 |
| Austrian Albums · 1990 | 29 |
| Swedish Albums · 1990 | 47 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 1990 | 58 |
| Dutch Albums · 1990 | 69 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Canada | Gold |
| United States | Gold |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
67.5
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
4.7k
ListenBrainz listeners
104k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
36k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 9 October
Every year →
More from Slayer
Full discography →
Show No Mercy
1983
Haunting the Chapel
1984
Live Undead
1984
Live Undead / Haunting the Chapel
1984
Hell Awaits
1985
Reign in Blood
1986
South of Heaven
1988
Decade of Aggression Live
1991
Divine Intervention
1994
Undisputed Attitude
1996
Diabolus in Musica
1998
God Hates Us All
2001
Soundtrack to the Apocalypse
2003
Christ Illusion
2006
World Painted Blood
2009
Repentless
2015
The best of 1990
All of 1990 →
The Razors Edge
AC/DC · 1990
Rust in Peace
Megadeth · 1990
Cowboys From Hell
Pantera · 1990
Facelift
Alice in Chains · 1990
39/Smooth
Green Day · 1990
1985-03-15: Kabuki Theater, San Francisco, CA, USA
Metallica · 1990
No Prayer for the Dying
Iron Maiden · 1990
Live at Pompeii
Pink Floyd · 1990
TYR
Black Sabbath · 1990
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin · 1990
Slappy EP
Green Day · 1990
Empire
Queensrÿche · 1990
More on Def American Recordings
The label →Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 9 October 1990 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 9 October 1990 | |
| Wikidata | 9 October 1990 | |
| US release | 9 October 1990 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 9 October 1990 | earliest UK or European date |
31 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | XE | American Recordings | 886971288421 | other |
| — | BR | Def American Recordings | 731458679820 | other |
| — | XW | American Recordings | 0060254757974 | other |
| — | XW | American Recordings | 0602547579737 | other |
| — | CA | Def American Recordings | 77749757708602 | other |
| 1990 | DE | Def American Recordings | 042284687126 | other |
| 1990 | CA | Def American Recordings | 075992430722 | other |
| 1990 | US | Def American Recordings | 075992430715 | other |
| 9 October 1990 | XE | Def American Recordings | 042284687119 | original |
| 9 October 1990 | CA | Def American Recordings | 77749757708602 | original |
| 9 October 1990 | US | Def American Recordings | 042284687126 | original |
| 9 October 1990 | US | Def American Recordings | original | |
| 9 October 1990 | US | Def American Recordings | 075992430722 | original |
| 25 October 1990 | JP | Def American Recordings | 4988011323379 | other |
| 1991 | XC | Popron Music | other | |
| 21 October 1993 | JP | Def American Recordings | 4988011338236 | other |
| 1994 | US | American Recordings | 075992430722 | other |
| 1994 | DE | American Recordings | 0731458679820 | other |
| 1994 | XE | American Recordings | 743212485028 | other |
| 24 March 1995 | JP | American Recordings | 4988017054574 | other |
| 1998 | US | American Recordings | 074646940723 | other |
| 12 March 2002 | US | American Recordings | 731458679820 | other |
| 5 June 2002 | JP | American Recordings | 4988005302298 | other |
| 2006 | XW | American Recordings | 5051011603822 | other |
| 2006 | XE | American Recordings | 5051011603822 | other |
| 25 August 2006 | AU | American Recordings | 9325583039126 | other |
| 24 July 2007 | US | Sony BMG Music Entertainment | other | |
| 24 July 2007 | US | American Recordings | 886971288421 | other |
| 10 December 2013 | US | American Recordings | 602537467914 | other |
| 13 December 2013 | XE | American Recordings | 0602537352258 | other |
| 2018 | XE | American Recordings | 602537352258 | other |
Cover art sources
itunes · native: native 1500x1500
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| itunes ✓ | 1500×1500 | native: native 1500x1500 |
| coverartarchive | 1400×1400 | upscaled |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |