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Rating: I'll come clean right away: this is a (non) review by a fanatic dedicated to fanatics. A major event, this latest (hopefully not final) LP in the history of the L.A. Ripper: after years of rotating drummers (in order: Lombardo-Scaglione-Bostaph-Dette-Bostaph-Lombardo), it seems, and this is indeed big news, that for once there's no other change on the spinning stool. Why? Let's go in order.
1993: Lombardo gets tired of just drumming and forms Grip Inc. (to drum, but with more finesse). Bostaph fills in as best he can for the mournful absence. Meanwhile, Lombardo plays for Testament and leaves; Bostaph, envious, joins Testament and leaves, but when returning to Slayer, Tom Araya tells him, "I'm sorry, my friend is back, we don’t need you anymore, thank you and goodbye." Present day: Lombardo plays boldly in the quartet, Bostaph is semi-unemployed. A mechanism reminiscent of the musical chairs game, where at the end of the music, someone always ends up on the ground.
"World Painted Blood" came out in 2009, it has a very raw production, songs averaging 3-4 minutes, a thrash that retains little of the glimpses of modernity from "Diabolus In Musica"/"God Hates Us All," and still dirties the feral sound of the previous "Christ Illusion." Guitars screeching strangled notes, a voice perfectly suited to the various declaimed expletives. A genuine drum base rounded out by a noisy and battered bass. A good dose of darkest melody is presented with the chart-breaking single (not really...) "Beauty Through Order," but "Psychopathy Red" and the concluding "Not Of This God" remind us why this band is remembered: to strike the instinctive chords of the listener. But we know well enough, there's no need to talk about it.
However, I must make a note: I expected the group, after years of apprenticeship, to finally arrive at quarter-hour suites, with the mellotron caressed while a female voice dances on gentle guitar notes. Unfortunately, these hopeful expectations of mine have been largely disappointed, having to settle for brutish and barbaric verses like "Vulgar Display Of Dismemberment."
But I'm counting on it, the next album will be a concept with references to Miles Davis and kraut-rock. For now, the rating is 5.
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Other reviews
By olifs89
An album not absolutely necessary.
On an album with eleven tracks, five or six are salvageable—a clear sign the band is nearing retirement.
By emandelli1
The album is a sonic assault that begins with the very first song.
Slayer fully returns to the violent and precise thrash of the golden era.
By lanardistkrieg
Slayer has never known compromises.
The album starts very well; the opening track is immediately engaging, flowing riff after riff while Tom Araya screams horrifying and apocalyptic verses.
By Francis Araya
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.
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?
By massimosh
Not a masterpiece, like the pre-2000 albums, but a good work.
Dave Lombardo remains a monster on the drums.
