Slayer, Christ Illusion
Drummer Dave Lombardo is back. Larry Carroll (artist for Reign in Blood, South of Heaven, and Seasons In the Abyss) has done the cover art. Is it 1986 all over again? Unfortunately, no. No it’s not. Sure, Slayer‘s latest effort, Christ Illusion, is angry, anti-religious, and controversial, but the band can’t quite seem to capture the dark magic that their earlier work was veiled in. Fans will always want another Reign in Blood. Hell, who wouldn’t?! It will always be their best release, and remain a benchmark for all Slayer fans.
So what does their latest release have to offer for fans that have stuck with them for so long? Only their best release since Seasons in the Abyss.
Christ Illusion is a bit of a mix between God Hates Us All and Seasons in the Abyss with some Diabolus in Musica thrown in for good measure. There are plenty of teases to the more thrash oriented stuff of the band’s past, but they never really fully embrace it. Instead they transition back to the more methodical, chugging riffs of their later releases.
Flesh Storm
Lombardo’s pesence is immediately felt on the album’s opening track. With no disprect to those that filled his shoes in his absense, there is just no denying the need for him to be a part of this band’s sound. It’s simply not the same without him. This is one of the better tracks on the album. It’s got a quicker pace, riffs reminiscent of older material, and impressive soloing.
Catalyst
“Catalyst” starts off with some quick riffing and drums. This one could have been taken off of God Hates Us All and no one would have noticed.
Skeleton Christ
This one starts off with a slower, chugging riff and a slow delivery on Araya’s part. The chorus is alright, but could have been a bit quicker paced to give a bit more emphasis to Araya quickly shouting “Hail Satan.” There’s a riff just after the half way point that sounds like it could have come from Seasons in the Abyss.
Eyes of the Insane
Thick drumming and big riffs accompany Araya as he delivers the first few lines of lyrics. The chorus for this one is pretty sweet. Araya finally shows some urgency in his delivery that’s missing from the previous tracks.
Jihad
The most controversial track on the album thus far has lyrics written from the terrorist’s point of view. “Jihad” starts off with an interesting bit of guitar work. Araya has a quicker delivery with a bit of a flowing cadence to it. I could do without the muted, spoken delivery, but it makes for a nice build up to the end of the track.
Consfearacy
Now this is what I’m talking about. “Consfearacy” starts off chaotic and fast. It continues the pace through the full length of the song, only slowing down a bit at the chorus and primary solo.
Catatonic
Musically this one is defintely a hybrid of Seasons in the Abyss and God Hates Us All. It’s also one of the slower paced tracks on the album, plodding along in darkness for a majority of the track.
Black Serenade
I think if I had heard this one on Seasons in the Abyss, I wouldn’t have had a second thought towards it not flowing with the rest of that album. I think the only thing that would give it away would have been the solo — which is pretty kickass.
Cult
Finally… a few dark, twisted, and sick riffs from King and Hanneman. I would say that this is my favorite track on the album. It’s reminiscent of their older material, but with the newer edge of their later material.
Supremist
The final track on the album starts off with classic Slayer thrash. The band slows it down for the most part, but bring that bit of thrash in at a few points in the rest of the song. Lombardo hasn’t missed a beat (no pun intended) in his time away from the band.
~ ~ ~
We all know that this isn’t the Slayer of our youth, or that of your parents’ depending on your age. But with the full original line-up, it’s the best material they have released since 1990’s Seasons in the Abyss, which coincidentally was the last time they recorded as the original unit. Does that give too much credit to Lombardo. Maybe, but who cares, it’s a pretty good album.
Favorite Tracks:
Flesh Storm
Jihad
Consfearacy
Cult
Supremist
Additional Notes:
This is the first recording with Dave Lombardo on drums since Seasons in the Abyss.”