196953-slayer-cast-the-first-stone-audio

Slayer – “Cast the First Stone” (audio) (Singles Going Steady)

Metal greats Slayer offer up a brand new single, "Cast the First Stone", in partnership with Adult Swim.

Paul Duffus: Only two original members left, but the fire remains undimmed. “Cast the First Stone” is relatively mid-tempo for these heroic warlocks. Over the years they have been up, they have been down, but they have never backed off. And so it continues. This compares favourably with their past. [8/10]

Adrien Begrand: It’s easy to slam Kerry King and Tom Araya for continuing Slayer in the wake of Jeff Hanneman’s death and the acrimonious split with drummer extraordinaire Dave Lombardo. But as their recent tours have proven, they couldn’t have found a better pair of replacements in Exodus founding guitarist Gary Holt and returning drummer Paul Bostaph. Still, all the pressure has been on King; whether or not 11th album Repentless would succeed all depended on just how on top of his game King is. The man can be a lazy songwriter, and the dynamic that he and Hanneman shared on so many albums is now gone. However Repentless is a very strong album, not so much a major statement but rather an assertion that this band can still sound awfully potent on record. “Cast the First Stone” might not be the speedfreak that we’re used to from the thrash innovators, but it’s a very effective mid-album breather. Like the classic “Dead Skin Mask” it shows that the power of Slayer — and heavy metal for that matter — isn’t so much derived from extremity as from supremely executed discipline. They might only have two original members left, but Slayer still sounds as commanding as ever. [7/10]