Slayer - World Painted Blood

November 8, 2009

Reviewer: Jesse

Even though it’s been three years since Christ Illusion, it seems awfully quick for another Slayer album. This is the fastest they’ve released another album since the eighties and after waiting five years for Christ Illusion, I was fully prepared to wait another five or more for the next Slayer installment.  Drummers are generally the most impatient members of a band, so maybe Lombardo has been keeping everyone restless enough to not sit around for too long now that he’s back.  I know that it’s been several years since he re-joined, but it was something that I didn’t think I’d see again, so I’ll probably keep saying “now that Lombardo is back” for at least another album. We were teased with the song “Psychopathy Red” over a year ago so in perception, it seems even shorter of a wait since we’ve known it was coming.

World Painted Blood gives us many of the same aspects we’ve come to recognize Slayer for, post-Divine Intervention that is.  That’s right, anyone who’s hoping that this new album isn’t going to sound a lot like the past two will be disappointed and frankly, you need to just let that go.  Bands like Slayer just can’t do what they used to in the studio. Whether it be age or too many influences, you’d sooner get blood from a rock than another Reign in Blood.

So what aspects are these?  Tom’s bad vocals and incessant screaming for starters.  However, they did add a few wrinkles into the vocal department this time around.  There are a couple of spoken passages, most notably in the title track, which makes me wonder if they were trying to mimic the well-known ending to “Mandatory Suicide.”  He also has a moment of clean singing with a slight amount of harmony in “Human Strain“ which was a little strange to hear at first. But maybe the most exciting characteristic when it comes to Tom’s singing on World Painted Blood is the amount of groovy singing sections that are neither scream or clean that go along with the flow of the riff or the song itself.  They’re actually slightly reminiscent to the Tom of old.  And hey, hardly no swearing this time!  What a concept!

Another trait that I’ve come to expect from Slayer nowadays is the almost total absence of any memorable riffs, which is sad.  Slayer always had numerous songs on each album that were instantly recognizable for any number of reasons and a multitude of classics.  Since God Hates Us All, there have been none.  “Disciple” is the only one that comes close, but that’s a stretch.  Where is the “Angel of Death,” the “Black Magic,” the “Mandatory Suicide,” the “War Ensemble,” the “The Antichrist,” the “Hell Awaits,” the “Dead Skin Mask,” the “Ditto Head,” and on and on.  Where the hell are the classic songs or damn, song?  I’d be happy with just one!  They haven’t had that one great song in over fifteen years.  Even if the album is nothing but filler, if they had at least one song that could stand next to “At Dawn They Sleep” or even be the little brother to “Raining Blood,” we’d forgive them for the rest of the album.  The solos that were once an object of affection to the fans despite their wildly undisciplined nature have now just become tiring and obnoxious.  Without some good riff or melody to be the foundation of the song, the solos seem to come out of nowhere and proceed to go nowhere as well.

The only songs on World Painted Blood that are worth mentioning are the singles, which is disappointing but typical all the same.  “World Painted Blood” does a good job with a catchy riff and a good vocal segment like I mentioned above that saves Tom from himself and joined with the spoken section makes for a decent song. “Hate Worldwide” has a catchy chorus and is aggressive enough without being overly monotonous and the solos actually flow with the song.  “Psychopathy Red” probably only because of how wild it is and at this point, I just appreciate its weak attempt at trying to stand alongside something from Reign in Blood.  “Playing With Dolls” has a very accessible structure to it and is actually pretty damn cool if only because you can actually remember it after the album is over. However, as soon as you start to wonder why it wasn’t a single as well, you’ll notice that on the special edition, a bonus DVD is included with a twenty minute animated graphic novel based off of this song.  So basically, if the song is worth a damn, they weren’t going to try and hide it from you.  “Human Strain” would be a decent song if they hadn’t have copied the that same sharp-picking style from “Jihad” and “Snuff” would be okay if not for the horrible lyrics.

So there you go…  a new Slayer album that is probably better than anything since Divine Intervention, but still not inspired enough to reflect positively on their overall catalog. It was expected as much as it’s disappointing and I’ll no doubt shelve this without much thought.  See you in a few years Slayer when your next mediocre album comes out, just don’t forget to play my city.

Release Date: November 3rd, 2009
Label: American Recordings

TRACK LISTING

1.  World Painted Blood
2.  Unit 731
3.  Snuff
4.  Beauty Through Disorder
5.  Hate Worldwide
6.  Public Display Of
     Dismemberment
7.  Human Strain
8.  Americon
9.  Psycopathy Red
10.  Playing With Dolls
11.  Not of This God

Total playing time: 39:49

TO THE TOP

*By clicking "Submit" you agree to the following Terms of Use. You agree not to post any material that is obscene, slanderous, or threatening, or that may violate any law of your country of origin or the United States or of international law. Should you wish to restrict viewing of your email address by third parties, you must select "Hide My Email." You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Metal Psalter from any claims, actions, suits, damages, or other costs arising out of any breach of these Terms of Use.

*Comments: