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By Mark Cooper, Tuesday 15th August 2006 12.28pm (1372 views)
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It takes Slayer precious few seconds to prove why, for 25 years they have been at the pinnacle of thrash & heavy music.
‘Flesh storm’ opens their new release ‘Christ illusion’ and in traditional Slayer fashion devastates with its unapologetic anger and venom. Some of the songs on ‘Christ illusion’ were written at the ‘God hates us all’ stage and indeed, like the clues in a twisted serial killer case, not only do they connect with that era, but also the ‘Seasons in the abyss’ & ‘Reign in blood’ days. In many ways this album feels like stumbling on the lair where said psychopath has butchered his victims.
The key inspirations are in place here with swipes at organised religion (Cult, Skeleton Christ) and war (Eyes of the insane, Jihad) but all delivered with Slayer’s unique prose. ‘Jihad’ will immediately be singled out because of its viewpoint, but many may miss out on the quality of the song. ‘Angel of death’ also suffers from people misunderstanding its agenda.
With Dave Lombardo back in the fold the sound is set in concrete; it seems Lombardo just gets better and better - the quintessential thrash drummer has clearly explored his sound, playing with Fantomas & Apocalypica - and although he has not necessarily come full circle he has streamlined and perfected a sound he arguably created this time around only there are slightly different choices.
It can sometimes be hard to see Slayer as experimenting but with ‘Seasons…’ they slow things down, utilizing seven strings on ‘God…’ and here on ‘Christ…’ use slightly different momentums and playing techniques, not overtly but within their massive sound, solos going in different directions and the finger picked intro of ‘Jihad’ never radically changing.
The whole album moves along with a sure pace, with songs like ‘Catalyst’ and ‘Skeleton Christ’ rolling off Tom Araya’s forked tongue like they were Slayer staples, in the set since day one.
Araya’s vocal work is, as always, consistently disturbing with a underlying menacing tone and rather than scream he utters his diatribe to an altogether more sinister effect, that’s not to say that he doesn’t unleash- ‘Cult’ sounding altogether pissed off and anarchic, but always clear and driven.
Kerry King & Jeff Hanneman will forever be seen as the key guitar players in metal fraternity and their list of riffs which have been copied and admired continues to grow (‘Cult’ & ‘Catalyst’ will surely be learnt by aspiring players). It's King & Hanneman’s ability to cut through the bullshit and play exactly what is required to get the point across with an unfailing speed and accuracy that has seen them draw fans, that and the fact that Slayer have always been Slayer, never deviating from their goal to aggravate and disturb, proving there is no substitute with heavy music than unflinching, naked aggression.
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