Slayer Drops Their New Christmas Album!
Unlike many bands that diverge onto paths of radical reinvention, Slayer has stayed true to its roots while still managing to put out a very original record. Christ Illusion will not disappoint the die-hard Slayer fan. Of course, it has Tom Araya’s monotone yell, Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman’s collaborative guitar work and Dave Lombardo’s long-missed drumming, but it also has some different characteristics. The guitar playing is the most apparent aspect of Slayer that has grown with age and experience. On certain songs King sticks with his usual short and fiery solo but on others like “Consfearacy” and “Jihad” he sounds like he’s been studying Tom Morello. “Jihad” opens up with guitar noises that Slayer has rarely experimented with and ends with a creepy spoken word part through a megaphone. On “Supremist” King even foregoes the abrupt Slayer halt and instead ends on a 30 second feedback outro reminiscent of Nirvana.
For this record Slayer took some of their old techniques and made them even better. The band has always had unbelievable intros that get you ready to thrash and the multiple part intro lasting 1:20 on “Cult” could be their best one yet. It starts mellow and climactically builds to classic mach speed Slayer. If you’re looking for pure evil don’t think that Slayer will let you down there either. This record’s unsettling title and controversial artwork by Larry Carroll of Reign in Blood, South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss will not disappoint. Slayer usually runs like a train, heavy but predictable. This record sounds like the soundtrack to war; just as heavy but chaotic and fierce. For Christ Illusion, Slayer took what they know their fans love and added even more fire to make a standout record in their repertoire.
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