When JR dumped this on my lap I must admit I was somewhat skeptical. Let’s face it – Slayer’s recent releases haven’t been exactly Earth shattering. For a while it seemed as if Tom Araya’s vocal ability had been reduced to mindless, juvenile shouting – all sense of nuance lost in the repetitive yelling. Uninspired lyrics and stilted, jarring and increasingly noisy riffs were painfully reducing this once awesome band to a cliched parody of itself (KISS anyone?). After enjoying “Slayer, the Musical“, I was wary of polluting my memory of this great band with some new abomination. I needn’t have worried…
The title track opens not as a sledgehammer to the face but a whisper in the ear. An incessant, insistent whisper like a schizophrenic’s shadow that rapidly builds to a rapid-fire rhythm – the jagged riff underscored by an almost tribal drum beat. The band use tempo changes to great effect in this song, with such a surfeit of memorable riffs that one wonders whether the guys have drained their creative cup dry before the second track even begins. Thrash, mosh, doom – its all there.
“Angels fall. Wings of fire, crucified. Terrorising man – brutal world.”
The production values are excellent and the guitar sound is just so sweet (never heard that word in a Slayer review before!). Its no wonder that “World Painted Blood” is the third single cut from this release.
The album proceeds through the well executed if more mundane “Unit 731″ – fairly typical Slayer thrash before landing on “Snuff” – where, despite an opening that had me thinking “oh no”, those sweet guitars are put to great effect in the chorus with its arabic-influenced flourishes – an excellent counterpoint to the frantic verses. This is followed by the fine melodic dirge “Beauty Through Order”. Tempo changes again don’t fail to loosen those stiff neck muscles.
The album is peppered with little nods to their earlier discography – from the fade-in opening that reminds of “Hell Awaits” to the start of “Psychopathy Red” with its overtones of “Evil Has No Boundaries”.
The second single “Hate Worldwide” I found slightly disappointing – not in and of itself – its a capable rendition of a representative Slayer track – but its not the standout that I expected from a track chosen as a single. Then again – in these days of iTunes – who actually buys singles?
“Human Strain” takes us back into a more measured pace with its eery spoken interlude – the repeating single guitar notes overlayed by a far more engaging Araya vocal delivery. This is followed by the anthemic “Americon” telling the story of recent American history through the prism of cold, hard reality.
“It’s all about the motherfucking oil. We gotta shove the flag upon each soil.”
“Psycopathy Red” is the first single to be released from the album and is a classic Slayer track by any definition. Breakneck, melodic thrash of the finest sort let down slightly by – (I hate to say it) – too much yelling. Tom dude, give it a rest – we know how to work a volume knob and we CAN FUCKING HEAR YOU, OK?! Sheesh, give your vocal chords a break and maybe you’ll be able to get through a gig without so many “guest” vocal appearances.
Anyway, Its clear that the band have made a conscious decision to introduce more melody into their work. This is borne out by Dave Lombardo who virtually admits that Tom’s recent vocals have been alienating long time fans.
“[Tom's] vocal melody and singing approach is very listener-friendly — not in a way where people are going to say, ‘Dude, they went commercial.’ No way. It’s just more melodic. People are scared of the word melody because maybe it sounds like a happy word. But you can have very dark, extreme music with melody. It’s not something to be afraid of.” – Dave Lombardo.
Rounding out this delivery we have the excellent “Playing With Dolls” and “Not Of This God”, and we’re reminded once again just how good these musicians are. While the album does not quite reach nor exceed their early string of classics (from “Show No Mercy” through to “South Of Heaven”), it is certainly a great step back in the right direction, reflecting the band’s choice to develop the songs in the studio as opposed to their recent efforts where the albums have been fully formed before they started recording. And though Tom still shouts his way through numerous verses, the times he doesn’t remind us just how effective his voice can be. Tom – if you’re out there – we love you man – just ease up a bit. Your songs will be better for it.
