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Nearly 30 years
into their career, Slayer is still going strong. Those that
need proof need only take a listen to the band’s newest
release, World Painted Blood, a release that continues
a creative rebirth for the band that started with 2001’s
God Hates Us All.
Let’s just get the inevitable comparison out of the
way. No, World Painted Blood is not another Reign
In Blood. Or South Of Heaven. Or Seasons
In The Abyss. Instead, World Painted Blood is
sort of an amalgam of Seasons In The Abyss’
varied song structure filtered through the hardcore inspired
production of their 90s work.
The album starts with the “Angel Of Death”-style
title track, which starts with a blistering riff, slows down
with Tom Araya’s spoken word middle eight before cranking
things back up to Mach 5 for the finish. “Unit 731”
and “Psychopathy Red” are classic Jeff Hannemann-penned
thrashers, while “Snuff,” “Hate Worldwide”
and “Not Of This God” are Kerry King’s odes
to murder and religion. The best tracks are two South
Of Heaven-style numbers, the delightfully creepy “Beauty
Through Order” and “Playing With Dolls.”
Araya shows off his range with these songs, alternating his
morbid, serial killer singing with his usual tortured yell.
Unlike 2006’s Christ Illusion, which had a
fairly narrow lyrical focus on religion and war, World
Painted Blood is more varied. Topics include crematoriums
(“Unit 731”), snuff films (“Snuff”),
genocide (“World Painted Blood”), serial killer
Elizabeth Bathory (“Beauty Through Order”), dismemberment
(“Public Display of Dismemberment”), disease (“The
Human Strain”) and torture (“Playing With Dolls”).
No wonder Fangoria gave this album four stars. The
only misstep is “Americon,” which tries to make
a big statement about the U.S. and its lust for oil.
One thing I’ve enjoyed about Slayer’s last few
releases is that they’ve been able to give fans what
they want, while expanding and varying the formula. To me,
Slayer is thrash metal’s answer to Motorhead. A band
that has hit on a sound that is unique to them and nobody
else can do as well as they do. The fact that Slayer has always
come up with new ways to present their trademark sound is
a testament to this band’s underrated ability as songwriters.
World Painted Blood is supposedly the first of Slayer’s
final three albums. If this record is any indication, it looks
like they’re going to go into the grave kicking and
screaming.
®2009 Live-Metal.net
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