The unfortunate events of September 11th scared people; the irony of an album by Slayer entitled
God Hates Us All being released on the same date probably scared a whole lot more. This album is Slayer"s latest studio recording and does include the typical Slayer with enduring fast tempos, which dent hard into the genre of thrash, solid drumming, grinding riffs and Tom Araya's voice which still seems to pulverize. Encased in its ragged shell is typical Slayer, but in a heavier style, with a sound that reflects that of modern production to give a cleaner sound, that could have you most likely wondering whether you like it or not.
Bostaph drums, Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King detune their guitars, and Araya continues to play bass while screeching out vocals. Musically the album is intense from beginning to end. It's harsh, threatening, and like most other Slayer albums upholds a fast rhythm. Messy un-rhythmical solos that Slayer are renowned for still shine in most songs, the percussion while quite ordinary assembles itself well with the music, in reality if you enjoyed its two preceding albums then you should love this. Even some genuine Slayer fans should enjoy parts of this ear-ringing album. Surely for some hardcore fans it would sound very experimental, and at times un-Slayer-like, but overall it's what makes this album quite a pleasant listen, if that is the appropriate word to use.
The clever uses of all things that make Slayer do present themselves throughout the album. The beginning track
"Disciple" (excluding the track before it
"Darkness of Christ" as its simply a abrasive morbid intro movement) commences loud, power-chords backed by drums and then quickly into a blast-beat riff. A short yet very effective solo from Hanneman flavours the song, followed by a slow heavy interlude, while with all this happening anti-religious lyrics aid the song, and the whole album for that matter - in fact one could argue the album throughout has a concept that situates itself nicely next to its title.
The album shows many highlights such as
Disciple's intensity,
"God Send Death's" eary intro showing hints of
"Seasons in the Abyss", {1990},
New Faith's clash of rhythm and thrash and
Threshold's short yet explosive feel. Naturally, being experimental this album will have its lower points with songs like
Cast Down,
War Zone, and
Seven Faces, which don't show as much brilliance but ultimately the album is quite well produced musically and technically. Its a mixed bag of insanity which will definitely have some fans either loving it, or hating it.
Another highlight of the album is
"Bloodline". While this track resides dangerously close to complete mainstream metal compared to other tracks, it's still an impacting song that really does establish itself well. Its dark intro, and dramatic ending becomes an accent for the whole album. Most of the songs tend to compliment each other musically, technically and lyrically in a highly dramatic, powerful blitz.
Just as the dark colours of previous albums painted the picture for the music, here the song-writing is natural, flowing, painted with a rough vigorous texture. These textures conclude the album with the songs
"Here Comes the Pain" containing a good song structure and solos from both guitarists, and
"Payback" grinding a completely full-on throughout, which for the people who own the standard edition of the album would make quite an stunting ending. While both songs are quite different musically, they conclude the album very well, cutting into its cover deep and showing off that differing sound that Slayer use. It does at times slow its power with occasional symmetrical like formation for each song, however it proves itself quite worthy for the greater part of the time.
There are two other releases for this album, one including an extra DVD with bonus tracks and including the Bloodline video clip, and the other just including the bonus tracks
"Scarstruck" another powerful movement and
"Addict" with its haunting bass guitar intro. This album should show a variety of opinions from excellent to awful. Slayer do sound different but you decided whether it's for the better or worse. Their flexibility to produce a precarious album like this may cause some fans to loose interest, but it's their determination to at least record something which shows their complete evolution as a band that makes the album original and stand out from its two predecessors, which are much more undefined.
