SLAYER - Christ Illusion

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Within seconds of `Flesh Storm' it was clear that Lombardo was back behind the kit and not only as competent as his last studio album with Slayer (Seasons in the Abyss) but had actually raised the bar.

Truthfully I loved Bostaph... I was sold from the `Killing Fields' intro and was quite sad to hear of his departure from the band. With all the hype of Lombardo coming back I was thinking this album would just be another `standard' modern Slayer album... Boy was I wrong! Lombardo used his time away from Slayer to become better grounded and gained much more `groove' in addition to his fantastic speed/thrash abilities. Playing with such greats as Fantomas (With Mike Patton), John Zorn and even Apocalyptica.

Christ Illusion is easily the most consistent album since `Seasons...' with not one bad song to be heard. Though Slayer may never again rival the Reign / South / Season Trilogy that does not make this a bad album by any means and to be putting out music this good (And this heavy!) after almost 25 years is a grand achievement by all rights.

In addition to the fantastic drumming of Lombardo, there is the skillful guitar work of King and Hanneman whose performances are amazing as always. Araya's voice is holding out quite well for a man his age and his Bass playing tight as hell!

Favorite Songs: Cult, Jihad, Supremist and Consfearacy

-4.5 Stars

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After 1990's classic "Seasons In The Abyss," Slayer parted ways with original drummer Dave Lombardo, and then (maybe coincidentally) proceeded to go downhill. 1994's "Divine Intervention," 1998's "Diabolus In Musica," and 2001's "God Hates Us All" were all decent enough, but no where near as novel or all around great as their earlier releases, and thus, Slayer lost some fans. Well, Lombardo returned to Slayer's live act a couple of years ago, and the band entered the studio last year with their original lineup for the first time in fifteen years, making some fans have a rekindled hope and high expectations for Slayer's tenth studio recording, "Christ Illusion."

"Christ Illusion" isn't a timeless classic like, say, 1986's "Reign In Blood," and it in no way reinvents the band or the genre. But it is, hands down, the fastest, most inspired, most powerful, and all around best Slayer release since the aforementioned "Seasons In The Abyss." Guitarist Kerry King (who wrote most of the album) could use a few new song ideas, but bare in mind that he has a reputation to live up to, so he can't drift too far from his famous subject matter.

The guitar shredding (done by Jeff Hanneman and the above mentioned Kerry King) is, as expected, fantastic. The riffs are smoking, the leads are lightning fast, and the solos are careening. Another area in which "CI" succeeds is in the vocal department, because frontman Tom Araya has improved his performance. His yelling is still kind of grating at times, but for the most part, Araya sounds more committed, a little more diverse, and all around much more listenable than he did on "God Hates Us All."

"Flesh Storm" and "Catalyst" blow the album's door open, and are about the fastest songs Slayer have written since the umpteen year old "War Ensemble." Both of these songs blindside the listener with brutal, blistering, insanely fast, dual guitar leads and two solos. Track three, "Eyes Of The Insane," slows down the album's pace significantly for a few tracks, but things pick up again for song number six, "Consfearacy," which is another blinding guitar onslaught.

"Skeleton Christ" is backed by punching, cascading riffs and a catchy, rhythmic drum beat, and "Catatonic" boasts crunchy, churning, lumbering power chords. But the album's best two songs are probably "Black Serenade" and "Cult." The former song effortlessly changes speeds as it segues from thunderous, pounding riffs to buzzsaw leads to wild, off-the-map solos. And the latter, "Cult," is another scorcher with stellar, remarkably fast drumming by Lombardo. It's also highlighted by some of Kerry King's most blunt and openly blasphemous lyrics to date (such as "Religion is hate/religion is war" and "I've made my choice...six six six!") These lyrics will undoubtedly get tattooed to your brain, whether you want them to or not, after just one listen. And finally, the set closer, "Supremist," is also of note because it features the first ever blast beats in a Slayer song.

Slayer are probably not going to make another indisputable masterpiece like their discs from the 1980's, but this album shows that they definitely still have some life left. If you gave up on Slayer in the early Nineties, it's doubtful that "Christ Illusion" will change your mind, but it will surely put a huge smile on every fan's face.

I am sorry, but most Slayer fans were dissapointed with the last two albums. The band strayed away from their signature sound in an attempt to modernize and to expand their fan base. With this album, Slayer have given up that false hope and returned to their roots. Unfortunately, this album still isn't all that great.

First the positive:

Most of the songs are fast and thrashy, and the missing-in-action leadwork is back. Tom screams about killing, war, and hating religion (all Slayer staples). There isn't too much new-metal incorporated into the album, although there is still some. They chose to use a bunch of leftover material from their early days. "Jihad" is a great modern-sounding Slayer song. Tom doesn't just scream curse words as lyrics as on "God Hates Us All". The biggest positive is that for the first time in fifteen years, Slayer has released an album that sounds like it was created by Slayer.

Now for the negative:

Tom is still doing the annoying punk thing he picked up when the band did "Undisputed Attitude". It's not like he was ever the greatest singer anyways, but this makes it worse. Kerry wrote most of the songs, so while they are fast, they really aren't all that great. Most of the riffs sound like inferior rehashings of older material. For instance, the opening riff of "Flesh Storm" is just a variation of the opening riff to "Angel of Death". While Dave Lombardo is an incredible drummer, he never did anything all that special with Slayer except play fast. Of course, Tom's bass playing is ever-absent. A few of the songs just drag on and on, and they get quite annoying. Honestly, this album just sounds like a collection of crappy B-sides from the past 15 years. It is 2/3 "Seasons" (the worst from this album)and 1/3 "God Hates Us All"(Perhaps the best from this record). All of this "Reign in Blood"-style talk is unfounded. It's not that fast, and one speed-metal riff does not mean that this album sounds like "Show No Mercy".

It is a thrash album. It does sound like slayer. Lots of crazy leads(actually, the leadwork is more structured than in the past, and in many ways better). Dave is back. If this album came out a decade ago, I would have cared. Not now. It just isn't good enough to be relevant. Too little, too late.

4.5 Stars out of 5

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Well, this is what any old school thrash fan has waited for. And they have got what they asked for. It's the first Slayer album with Dave Lombardo since Seasons in the Abyss (1990). Many fans consider this to be their best album since that album. Personally I cxan't say that cuz I also liked Diabolus and God Hates. Hell, I like every Slayer album (ok, I never really cared for Divine Intervention, to be honest), but a good album it is. And contrary to some morons, this is not nu-metal, and neither GHUA and DIM were. Those 2 albums were not exactly thrash due to the downtuned guitars but real metal they were. The only 2 bad things I can say about those albums are that the lyrics and the vocals were weak. But other than that they were great and unfairly criticized CDs. But on the other hand Chirst Illusion is REAL thrash, not nu-metal in any aspect. I mean, can nu-metal get so intense with a dual guitar shredding and an actual GOOD drummer? Also they classic Slayer lyrics are back, this is a anti-war and anti-christian/islam album, so... not for the easily offended. And it also has the hands down best production since South of Heaven. The bass here is also quite audible. But what really makes this album rule is the guitars. Kerry and Jeff have never played this good since the late 80's.

So, why not 5 stars? Well, it's not completely without flaws. I mainly have 2 complains here; a) For those who have missed the vocals on Hell Awaits, Reign in Blood, South of Heaven and Seasons, they are no different than those on DIM and GHUA (aside from the fact Tom doesn't use the F-word every 2 seconds), they're no too bad but I would be happier if they were rawer and angrier. b) The song 'Catatonic' is not too good. But besides, a near masterpiece. Everything here is amazing.

All the songs (except 'Catatonic') are good but my favorite is possibly the opener 'Flesh Storm' for the speed and solos. 'Eyes Of The Insane' is also very creepy. And I also like the 2 fan favorites 'Cult' and 'Jihad'.

So, it's not Reign in Blood, Hell Awaits or South of Heaven, but what is? This is one of the best pure thrash albums in years and one of my top 10 of metal in '06. Once you buy this, you'll foget all about the new stuff from Megadeth and Anthrax and don't get me started about those sellouts who put the middle finger to their old fans in 1991 (I think you know who I'm talking about).

UP THE IRONS!!!

I love Slayer and have for years however other then the first track on here, I just didnt feel it with this album. Alot of it just sounds fast for the sake of being fast..Where are those riffs that make you want to throw a relative from a ten story window? A joke folks but as much as some people on here whine about God Hates Us All, I find that alubm much more interesting then this one. People whine about how Tom's voice was "jarring" and "grating" on God Hates. Look if you want phantom of the opera go somewhere else. Tom isnt a singer but what I like about his vocals is the feeling behind them. He honestly sounds like someone in torment..screaming and not giving a damn what people think about it.. I respect the brutality of it, most fans do. Look if you like Slayer then buy this album..however I will have to agree with one of the above commentaries, Jeff needs to start writing some material again. I think he balanced Kerry out, so hopefully that will happen sometime in the future.