Slayer
World Painted Blood

I absolutely have to say my piece. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is what I thought when I read yet another disarmingly positive review on this latest effort by the Assassins.

My introduction is certainly not benevolent, but are we really convinced that Our Artists, as we express our usual formal praises, are happy to flatter themselves after not even breaking a sweat to produce this miserable creature that does not even have an evil cover? I think, instead, they have a lot of fun watching our weak complicity. Because that's what it is: we don't have the courage to denounce a work published just because it says so in the contract. After all, it would be enough to look at the gestation period of the work, which contrary to what one might think doesn't even cover a thousandth of the time between the release of the previous work and the current one, but is a couple of months. This fact alone, in general, doesn't mean much, but judging by the quality of the album, I think it has something to do with it: after spending a good three and a half years on vacation enjoying their previous earnings and going on tour with Megadeth, whom they claim to hate, it's time to quickly fulfill the obligations on paper.

"World Painted Blood," my friends, is not the album I expected nor the one you expected, after the hellish fury unleashed in the last albums - even if in a manner not codified for Slayer, always the standard-bearers of the most aggressive and straightforward thrash - such weakness and apathy seem worthy only of the latest Iron Maiden (we won't even mention the Metallica).
Formally, we are dealing with a thrash album, but only formally, as the substance - if there is any - is something else entirely, perhaps akin to the emotion one might feel at an evening of ballroom dancing. But what kind of thrash is this? Leaving aside the predictability, the riffs sound like they were invented by a kid who has just formed his own personal band and is about to produce the first demo. Even the production seems like that of a debut demo: ARE YOU KIDDING WHEN YOU SAY THIS ALBUM'S PRODUCTION IS GREAT OR HAS AN EPIDEMIC OF STUPIDITY SWEPT OVER HUMANITY?

This isn't about a thrash band needing a raw, unpolished sound, but this production seriously undermines what could perhaps have been a half-decent album. If you're looking for an example of poor production that, however, ends up benefiting the expression of the music's rawness, see "Hell Awaits". Here, it is instead counted as one of the many shortcomings of this album.
Not to mention the judgments that have been made about Araya's voice, as if he had unleashed some sort of visceral sound, while it sounds to me like an old lady's croak.
As boring as the album is, it's equally tiresome to examine each individual track. I'll just say that in my opinion, the only gems (so to speak, the only tracks whose listening doesn't hurt the ears and doesn't make you want to never listen to Slayer again) are: the title track, "Hate Worldwide", and "Psychopathy Red" which even in its most banal predictability slightly raises the level of nastiness of this petty product.

SCORE: 4.5