ShockHound

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  ShockHound 4 of 5

  
  

  To answer two most pressing questions right away: Yes, WORLD PAINTED BLOOD sounds like a Slayer album; and yes, it's (mostly) really friggin' awesome. The legendary thrash quartet's first album in three years may be less varied in terms of tempos and riffs than 2006's CHRIST ILLUSION, but it's also rawer, more savage and more pissed-off - all of which come as welcome developments for a band that has been accused at times in recent years of "phoning it in." Advance singles "Hate Worldwide" and "Psychopathy Red," which sounded punchy but incomplete on their own, now make perfect sense when juxtaposed with equally pugnacious tracks like "Public Display of Dismemberment" and "Americon." Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman's guitar solos are still as batshit crazy as ever (check out the dual leads on "Snuff" or "Hate Worldwide"), and Tom Araya still sounds like he just finished killing a medium-sized mammal with his bare teeth, but it's Dave Lombardo who really gives WORLD PAINTED BLOOD its force, drive and character with his inventive playing. The only weak spot on the entire album is "Playing with Dolls," which sounds like a cast-off from former tourmate Marilyn Manson's notebook; thankfully, "Not Of This God" redresses this misstep by closing the album in appropriately scorching and sacreligious fashion. — Dan Epstein

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  t-bone 5 of 5

  
  

  When Dave Lombardo rejoined Slayer, fans* had hoped that meant the next Slayer album would be an experience along the lines of Seasons in the Abyss or Reign in Blood. What they got instead was Christ Illusion, an album full of rehashed riffs, barked vocals and sluggish tempos. Christ Illusion came across as a bunch of tired old men forcing themselves to sound like Slayer, almost to the point of parody. Needless to say all but the most die-hard Slayer fans were disappointed. Well those fans can now rejoice, because World Painted Blood is the return to greatness Slayer fans needed. It has an old-school thrash feel to it, a punk vibe, and a raw attitude that keeps it fresh and fast. It definitely doesn’t sound like a band going through the motions. Tom Araya has shifted vocals back somewhat to the evil wail he used on the bands older thrash albums. This shift back in vocal styling is just as brutal as the barking vocals that dominated the bands last few albums, but is not nearly as boring. There is also the edition of discernable melody in some of the songs, but don’t let that scare you off, it’s not the cheesy melodies a lot of modern-metal-bands** have adopted. One of the key elements that made early Slayer sound so good is that, despite his large drum kit, Dave Lombardo played like he was in a punk or hardcore band. His frantic, fast pace is one of things that enabled Hanneman and King to stand out as guitarists, they had to play fast to keep up. That drum style was missing from Christ Illusion, it sounded like Dave was trying to be a metal drummer, and not remain true to his style. On this album has Dave returned to his natural styling and it makes a world of difference. Looking at the liner notes you will notice that over half the songs on World Painted Blood were written by Jeff Hanneman. If you look back through their catalogue you will see that is the case with Slayers best albums, while the bands worst albums have songwriting dominated by King. Is it that Slayer is better when Jeff Hanneman contributes the majority of the music because he is the better songwriter, or is it that the more songs he brings to the studio the more it inspires Kerry King to step up his game and write better stuff? Obviously no one outside of the band can answer this question, but it is something fans will be debating until the next Slayer album comes out. * for the purpose of this review Fans refers solely to T-Bone and select people T-Bone discusses Slayer with. ** for the purpose of this review modern-metal-bands refers to Killswitch Engage and other bands who have lead singers that switch between growling and singing like a Backstreet Boy

Yesterday

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  Tool purchased this item

2 months ago

• 

  hgrace purchased this item

4 months ago

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  t-bone 5 of 5

  
  

  When Dave Lombardo rejoined Slayer, fans* had hoped that meant the next Slayer album would be an experience along the lines of Seasons in the Abyss or Reign in Blood. What they got instead was Christ Illusion, an album full of rehashed riffs, barked vocals and sluggish tempos. Christ Illusion came across as a bunch of tired old men forcing themselves to sound like Slayer, almost to the point of parody. Needless to say all but the most die-hard Slayer fans were disappointed. Well those fans can now rejoice, because World Painted Blood is the return to greatness Slayer fans needed. It has an old-school thrash feel to it, a punk vibe, and a raw attitude that keeps it fresh and fast. It definitely doesn’t sound like a band going through the motions. Tom Araya has shifted vocals back somewhat to the evil wail he used on the bands older thrash albums. This shift back in vocal styling is just as brutal as the barking vocals that dominated the bands last few albums, but is not nearly as boring. There is also the edition of discernable melody in some of the songs, but don’t let that scare you off, it’s not the cheesy melodies a lot of modern-metal-bands** have adopted. One of the key elements that made early Slayer sound so good is that, despite his large drum kit, Dave Lombardo played like he was in a punk or hardcore band. His frantic, fast pace is one of things that enabled Hanneman and King to stand out as guitarists, they had to play fast to keep up. That drum style was missing from Christ Illusion, it sounded like Dave was trying to be a metal drummer, and not remain true to his style. On this album has Dave returned to his natural styling and it makes a world of difference. Looking at the liner notes you will notice that over half the songs on World Painted Blood were written by Jeff Hanneman. If you look back through their catalogue you will see that is the case with Slayers best albums, while the bands worst albums have songwriting dominated by King. Is it that Slayer is better when Jeff Hanneman contributes the majority of the music because he is the better songwriter, or is it that the more songs he brings to the studio the more it inspires Kerry King to step up his game and write better stuff? Obviously no one outside of the band can answer this question, but it is something fans will be debating until the next Slayer album comes out. * for the purpose of this review Fans refers solely to T-Bone and select people T-Bone discusses Slayer with. ** for the purpose of this review modern-metal-bands refers to Killswitch Engage and other bands who have lead singers that switch between growling and singing like a Backstreet Boy
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  thenorthforkkid purchased this item
• 

  Corvette78 purchased this item
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  ShockHound 4 of 5

  
  

  To answer two most pressing questions right away: Yes, WORLD PAINTED BLOOD sounds like a Slayer album; and yes, it's (mostly) really friggin' awesome. The legendary thrash quartet's first album in three years may be less varied in terms of tempos and riffs than 2006's CHRIST ILLUSION, but it's also rawer, more savage and more pissed-off - all of which come as welcome developments for a band that has been accused at times in recent years of "phoning it in." Advance singles "Hate Worldwide" and "Psychopathy Red," which sounded punchy but incomplete on their own, now make perfect sense when juxtaposed with equally pugnacious tracks like "Public Display of Dismemberment" and "Americon." Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman's guitar solos are still as batshit crazy as ever (check out the dual leads on "Snuff" or "Hate Worldwide"), and Tom Araya still sounds like he just finished killing a medium-sized mammal with his bare teeth, but it's Dave Lombardo who really gives WORLD PAINTED BLOOD its force, drive and character with his inventive playing. The only weak spot on the entire album is "Playing with Dolls," which sounds like a cast-off from former tourmate Marilyn Manson's notebook; thankfully, "Not Of This God" redresses this misstep by closing the album in appropriately scorching and sacreligious fashion. — Dan Epstein