Prog musicians offer a Christmas take on Slayer's Seasons In The Abyss

In what must be one of the unlikeliest mash-ups ever, prog musicians from Dream Theater, Haken and Protest The Hero have delivered an alternative Christmas version of Slayer's 1990 song Seasons On The Abyss! You can watch the hilarious video below.

Seasons Greetings In The Abyss by 'Sleigher' ( we see what they did there!) features Haken guitarist Charlie Griffith's and drummer Raymond Hearn, the latter playing tuba! Protest The Hero singer Rody Walker provides vocals and Dream Theater's Jordan Rudess adds keyboards. There are also appearances from Cradle Of Filth's bassist Daniel Firth and Inhuman Condition drummer Jeramie Kling.

It's the brainchild of artist and illustrator Dan Goldsworthy (Accept, Alestorm and Sylosis) who, along with Griffith's has re-written the lyrics and also plays guitar.

“Injecting this song with some Christmas cheer worked better than any of us expected!," says Griffiths. "Apparently Jeff Hanneman loved Christmas, so hopefully he would approve of our tribute and I hope we help to spread some musical merriment during yet another Christmas of uncertainty in the pandemic abyss. Thanks to all the guys for joining in with the fun and to Scott Atkins for mixing! Eternal gratitude to the all the members of Slayer and we wish everyone a Merrytory Yuletide!"

Jerry Ewing

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.