Album review: Slayer - World Painted Blood
November 10th, 2009
Slayer World Painted Blood [American]
No band means so much to its fans more than Slayer. It’s true, and for good reason. They, er, slayed us in the ’80s with Reign In Blood and South Of Heaven, and finishing off the decade with Seasons In The Abyss in 1990, leaving a streak that was unparalleled in metal, especially in comparison to the Big Four (Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeth).
But once they got that out of their system, there was a reversal of fortune. The thing about metal though is that fans are lifers. And so even through their unsavoury second decade people were still screaming out “Slayer!” during songs from Diabolus in Musica. Let’s face it, the ’90s weren’t terribly kind to Slayer and yet it doesn’t seem to matter to the die-hards.
As the ’00s come to a close, Slayer have squeezed one more in to give us another trifecta. Both 2001’s God Hates Us All and 2006’s Christ Illusion brought back the band’s unrivalled intensity, but with World Painted Blood, Slayer have inched closer to reliving their glory years.
Where Slayer go right is in doing what they do best. The shredded riffs still give you that sinister adrenaline rush. The lyrics are still about their favourite topics - violence, war, politics and the evils behind religion. Their patented hybrid of punk and speed metal is executed with a perfect balance of lightning fast- and mid-tempos (see the aptly named “Public Display of Dismemberment”). And Rick Rubin oversees it all.
Having Dave Lombardo back again on drums obviously keeps the skins robust and bloody. But really, as Paul Bostaph proved when Lombardo took a leave of absence, who else could keep up with the double axe onslaught of Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman? In fact, Hanneman is the real star of this album. His contributions feel like the backbone for most of WPB’s success. Penning six of the album’s strongest songs, he’s responsible for the album’s most breakneck moments, most notably the ferocious punk-fuelled “Unit 731″ and “Psychopathy Red.”
Few artists can boast they’re still in their prime 27 years into a career, however, Slayer still sound like Slayer, which is essentially all anyone really wants. Sure, WPB doesn’t quite reach the heights of their reverenced trilogy, but it’s easily their best album since Seasons In The Abyss (that’s 19 years), and back on track to keep that godlike legacy of theirs intact. Can Metallica say the same for theirs?
Rating: B+
- Cam Lindsay
Tags: Metallica, Rick Rubin, Slayer, World Painted Blood
Posted on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 2:40 pm by Cam and is filed under Reviews, The New Music.
good review
band really is doing awesome the new album is still “slayer” and that’s all i care about.