After five years of relative silence since God Hates Us All, Slayer recently released Christ Illusion. Given their recent track record of albums I was a little hesitant to grab this straight up. In 1990 they released Seasons In The Abyss, which I think is the best mix of their aggression and good song writing. What followed though was a decent into experimentation and bad albums with Devine Intervention (the best of the mix), Diabolus In Musica, and God Hates Us All. So, what could the almighty Slayer come up with after a Tool-like break between albums?
Let me start off by saying this is a Kerry King record. Jeff Hanneman has contributed three of the ten songs, with King writing the rest on his lonesome. Those long time listeners of Slayer will know what this infers, as King is more inclined to write balls-out metal, while Hanneman has historically written songs that were somewhat more melodic and easy to listen to, especially in his solos in comparison to King. I was worried…Hanneman had been the composer of my favourite Slayer songs; Angel of Death, Postmortem, Raining Blood, South of Heaven War Ensemble, Dead Skin Mask, Bitter Peace (of which only Raining Blood had King involved). Not looking promising. Oh well, I thought, at least Ministry are back to form…
Not so, read on;
1. Fleshstorm
The album opens up with a high pitch noise building the atmosphere. What the hell is going to burst out of this sound I ask myself. Fleshstorm jumps out and grabs you by the throat with fast palm muted riffs. The chorus is the winner here with the bridge riff and drumming during the chorus proper. The solo is mediocre, bringing down the rating, but get through it for the great finish. A promising start… 3.5/5
2. Catalyst
Fast riffing and drumming on the toms opens this one up. Tom fires up some monotonous yelling which goes throughout, which I don’t like and prefer when he tones down the yelling and uses it for effect. King puts in a better solo in this one, and there is a good riff buried somewhere in the palm muting, but otherwise this one is forgettable. 2/5
3. Skeleton Christ
Arghhh, more palm muting! King, dammit! This song chugs along a little better than the last but after a while you want a real riff. At the end of the chorus’ Tom lets out a “HAIL SATAN!” which is a little corny. This song changes pace halfway through to speed up with some better guitar work and builds to a short solo. Another chorus, and then it slows back down to snail’s pace which is a little frustrating, it seemed like they were going to go beserk. A slow solo round this out, finally. 2.5/5
4. Eyes of the Insane
Finally a Hanneman song! Ahh, this is much better. Being a bit slower it has a definite feel of Dead Skin Mask or Devine Intervention. Tom uses different singing styles in this one, from deep talking, gruff “singing”, to yelling at impact points, which is effective. The soloing is the back-and-forth style between King and Hanneman, which when done well works, and is great in this. Good drumming and simple/effective riffs make this one of the highlights of the album. 4.5/5
5. Jihad
I first heard this when watching the terrorist video thing which was linked to a news post a few weeks ago. It did suit the song, but who the hell put it together!?! It starts with a strange highpitch riff which made me sit up and listen, very different to any other Slayer. This song is fast, fast guitars, fast drums, very fast vocals. There is a good break in the middle with a change of pace to break up the speed, then a good solo to bring the pace back up to hella-fast. The lyrics could piss a few people off, being about terrorism and killing infidels, but what it new with Slayer? The song ends with indistinct guitar and drum work and Tom speaking in his creepy tone. Another highpoint, and by the way the second Hanneman song. 4.5/5
6. Consfearacy
Back to some King-fueled madness. This song opens up with blunt guitar and drum hits, and then opens up into the speed-palm muting. This song has short solos scattered throughout, which break the song up, ie palm muting, really well and keeps it going, and the album for that matter. After the previous two this could have easily turned bad quick, but this song acts to inject some speed into the middle of the album. 3/5
7. Catatonic
A slow King song, hmmm, this could work. Some will disagree, but I really like this song. Some more great vocal work from Tom, this is how he should have sung Devine Intervention, you can hear him snarling through the speakers it is actually a highlight of the song. A great break in the middle with a good riff and fast drum work again on the toms just before the solo, which is broken in two parts by a halt in music, a lone guitar riff and wailing guitar over the top to lead into the second part. The whole band works well in this one, with all having a time in the spotlight. 5/5
8. Black Serenade
The third and final Hanneman song on the album, and no-one is perfect. This is just another fast Slayer song. The vocals are monotone through the verse, the riffs generic Slayer, the solos awful. Its not a Slayer album without a song like this. 2/5
9. Cult
This song starts with a quiet guitar playing a catchy little riff at a slower pace. The song opens out with some articulated higher pitch riffing and then chugs along for a little bit. Time for some speed, with the song proper starting. More controversial lyrics about Christianity might turn some off, with plenty of references to Jesus and there not being a crucifixion. Fast guitar work and double kick drumming thoughout to feed the Slayer fans, and cries of “666” from Tom again screams cheese, but that’s ok in small doses. Overall not a bad song, but not a lot to make it stand out. 3/5
10. Supermist
This song sounds like it was left off of God Hates Us All. There is a great riff in the middle of the song, but other than that it is straight up speed, and by the time I get to this I’ve had enough. A slow, heavy bit leads out the album with feedback at the close. 2.5/5
So, what is the wash up? I might recommend this album as somewhere for new listeners of Slayer to begin, but Seasons would be better. Slayer have regained some of their old form, but haven't produced a defining album. This would be very hard to do considering their old material. For me it lies somewhere between the old classics of Reign in Blood, South of Heaven, and Seasons in the Abyss, but well above their last couple of efforts.
Standout Tracks
-Fleshstorm
-Eyes of the Insane
-Jihad
-Catatonic
Why you should get it;
-Dave Lombardo back on drums putting in another great performance
-Tom Araya’s vocals in some parts are some of his best
-Speed
-Some nice riffage and some of the solos
-The standout tracks are some of their best work
Why you should avoid it;
-Inconsistent vocal performance (Tom is not the most renown singer though)
-Some poor songs, seemed to be rehashes of older material
-Better Slayer out there
