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Slayer - Christ Illusion
American Recordings - August 8th, 2006
By Brandon Strader
Slayer is back with their first release featuring the original lineup since Seasons In The Abyss. Sounds promising, right? The band was lucky enough this time around to go that extra step in making concepts and artwork that are offensive to Christians and Muslims alike. Thus, they have received a lot of free publicity, and as everyone already knows, all publicity is good publicity. The Christians are outraged because of the picture of Christ on the cover, which is especially odd because I don't quite recall Christ looking like a zombie with his arms cut off, and featuring a pirate eye patch. Just like in the case of "The DaVinci Code" protests, the protest against Christ Illusion actually makes the Christian community look bad. I haven't heard any Muslims complaining really about the song "Jihad", but the Catholics are trying to work in the Muslims' defense, which is downright retarded. I can hear their protests now, "Hey! That song is offensive to Muslims because the radical terrorist Muslims are using it to kill Americans in the name of Allah, yet a true Allah would never allow the innocent murder of people, as the Qu'ran states harsh punishments for murder. So like, stop it dudes. And really, with all the hiding in caves, when do they have time to properly perform Wudu out in the desert? Really, I ask you this!" The album has actually been taken off shelves in Mumbai due to Christian group protests, and the bus bench advertisements in Fullerton have been removed. So much for freedom of speech, and the religious groups still have too much pull in government and society, but they ended up doing more good than damage for Christ Illusion, so congratulations.
A squealing guitar sound fades in the introduction to this modern thrash album, and the chaos soon ensues. The fast tremolo thrashing of the guitarists is here, and as enjoyable as ever. Araya's vocals are still that distinct monotone yelling, yet they seem a bit hollow and the treble is up a notch so that they can cut through the mix better, I suppose. You can't even tell what the guy is saying most of the time, except when the chorus breaks in. The percussion is slightly less chaotic in the chorus, and the vocals are a tiny bit more melodic as they actually stay on key with the progression instead of just being maniacal yells. The guitar shred solos are still as great as ever, and they cut loudly through the mix. "Flesh Storm" is an enjoyable tune with plenty of headbanging. "Catalyst" continues from there with more thrash tremolo riffing and yells. The solos in this song, and throughout the album, are really great. They seem to just hit as many notes as possible in a short amount of time with not so much focus on staying within the specific scale. The bad part of Slayer shows it's head near the end of "Catalyst" with a horrific near-rap-metal vibe that makes me want to puke. "Eyes Of The Insane" has the more modern Slayer sound with a slower tempo, more coherent rhythms, and 'melodic' vocals. It seems like a song you'd hear on the rock radio station, with the ideal time of 3:25. It's got a cool wah-wah guitar solo which is always good, though. "Jihad" is another more modern-sounding track, with a catchy lead and a slower disharmonic rhythm that leads into a much faster verse / chorus arrangement. It's a bit too chaotic for the radio, yet it still holds the ideal time of 3:32. The percussion is awesome and the bass drum has the perfect amount of click and body to sound natural yet still pummel hard enough, and the drummer whips out the double bass pretty dang fast.
A lot of the songs are short, in the 3 and a half minutes range for a total time of 38 minutes. There isn't really anything as memorable as "War Ensemble" or "Raining Blood" from the first few listens, but I'm sure if one had the patience they could listen to it over and over, and over until they really love it for what it is. Even the more catchy moments don't seem so bad along the rest of the album, as there is a lot of thrashing, and you will bang your head so much to this that you might have a neck injury. Christ Illusion is good, and with the added controversy or Christian and Catholic protests, this album could really go far... that is, unless the manage to shut up the band and have the albums removed from shelves, which is really unlikely. It's a great day for thrash and an honorable attack against those who would diminish free speech.
7.5/10
UM's Review Rating Scale
Official Slayer Website
Official American Recordings Website
American Recordings - August 8th, 2006
By Brandon Strader
Slayer is back with their first release featuring the original lineup since Seasons In The Abyss. Sounds promising, right? The band was lucky enough this time around to go that extra step in making concepts and artwork that are offensive to Christians and Muslims alike. Thus, they have received a lot of free publicity, and as everyone already knows, all publicity is good publicity. The Christians are outraged because of the picture of Christ on the cover, which is especially odd because I don't quite recall Christ looking like a zombie with his arms cut off, and featuring a pirate eye patch. Just like in the case of "The DaVinci Code" protests, the protest against Christ Illusion actually makes the Christian community look bad. I haven't heard any Muslims complaining really about the song "Jihad", but the Catholics are trying to work in the Muslims' defense, which is downright retarded. I can hear their protests now, "Hey! That song is offensive to Muslims because the radical terrorist Muslims are using it to kill Americans in the name of Allah, yet a true Allah would never allow the innocent murder of people, as the Qu'ran states harsh punishments for murder. So like, stop it dudes. And really, with all the hiding in caves, when do they have time to properly perform Wudu out in the desert? Really, I ask you this!" The album has actually been taken off shelves in Mumbai due to Christian group protests, and the bus bench advertisements in Fullerton have been removed. So much for freedom of speech, and the religious groups still have too much pull in government and society, but they ended up doing more good than damage for Christ Illusion, so congratulations.
A squealing guitar sound fades in the introduction to this modern thrash album, and the chaos soon ensues. The fast tremolo thrashing of the guitarists is here, and as enjoyable as ever. Araya's vocals are still that distinct monotone yelling, yet they seem a bit hollow and the treble is up a notch so that they can cut through the mix better, I suppose. You can't even tell what the guy is saying most of the time, except when the chorus breaks in. The percussion is slightly less chaotic in the chorus, and the vocals are a tiny bit more melodic as they actually stay on key with the progression instead of just being maniacal yells. The guitar shred solos are still as great as ever, and they cut loudly through the mix. "Flesh Storm" is an enjoyable tune with plenty of headbanging. "Catalyst" continues from there with more thrash tremolo riffing and yells. The solos in this song, and throughout the album, are really great. They seem to just hit as many notes as possible in a short amount of time with not so much focus on staying within the specific scale. The bad part of Slayer shows it's head near the end of "Catalyst" with a horrific near-rap-metal vibe that makes me want to puke. "Eyes Of The Insane" has the more modern Slayer sound with a slower tempo, more coherent rhythms, and 'melodic' vocals. It seems like a song you'd hear on the rock radio station, with the ideal time of 3:25. It's got a cool wah-wah guitar solo which is always good, though. "Jihad" is another more modern-sounding track, with a catchy lead and a slower disharmonic rhythm that leads into a much faster verse / chorus arrangement. It's a bit too chaotic for the radio, yet it still holds the ideal time of 3:32. The percussion is awesome and the bass drum has the perfect amount of click and body to sound natural yet still pummel hard enough, and the drummer whips out the double bass pretty dang fast.
A lot of the songs are short, in the 3 and a half minutes range for a total time of 38 minutes. There isn't really anything as memorable as "War Ensemble" or "Raining Blood" from the first few listens, but I'm sure if one had the patience they could listen to it over and over, and over until they really love it for what it is. Even the more catchy moments don't seem so bad along the rest of the album, as there is a lot of thrashing, and you will bang your head so much to this that you might have a neck injury. Christ Illusion is good, and with the added controversy or Christian and Catholic protests, this album could really go far... that is, unless the manage to shut up the band and have the albums removed from shelves, which is really unlikely. It's a great day for thrash and an honorable attack against those who would diminish free speech.
7.5/10
UM's Review Rating Scale
Official Slayer Website
Official American Recordings Website
