SLAYER’S WORLD PAINTED BLOOD: IT’S AS THOUGH KERRY KING STILL HAD HAIR
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 10:00am by Axl Rosenberg
The metal community has been using the phrase “It’s their best album since…” a lot as of late. As though spurred on by the nineteen year old kids who now play the music they created better than they do, the Elder Statesmen of Thrash – or EST – have been enjoying a renaissance.
But here’s what sets Slayer apart from the pack: while you could certainly say that “World Painted Blood is Slayer’s best album since Season in the Abyss” and be telling truth, you could have said “It’s their best album since Seasons in the Abyss” about any album since Diabolus in Musica and been telling the truth. Slayer didn’t only just recently get awesome again – they really never stopped being awesome, despite what the scene snobs might have you believe.
But World Painted Blood finds Slayer sounding even more like the band that created the Holy Trinity than Christ Illusion did, so people are even more excited about than they were about that last offering. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
‘Cause when you get right down to it, Diabolus and God Hates Us All (the latter being the high point of the Lombardoless years) are only missing a few key elements from the Reign South of the Abyss era – namely, production that was little lighter on the reverb than most metal records, and Dave Lombardo, who is only, y’know, possibly the greatest drummer in the history of metal.
Obviously these are not insignificant details, though. It’s not like King and Hanneman ever forgot how to compose Slayer songs – they’re not that other famous songwriting duo from the EST – but Lombardo’s drumming always feels so feral and alive, he makes Slayer sound as though they might completely fly off the rails at any moment. He’s what gives them that primal sense of punk. That’s why – and I say this will all due respect to Paul Bostaph – songs like “Disiciple” sound even better when played by Lombardo.
So, at its best – which is usually at its fastest – World Painted Blood really does sound like it was recorded by a Kerry King with hair. There are a lot of traditionalist old school scorchers (”Unit 731,” “Snuff,” “Public Display of Dismemberment,” “Not of This God,” and “Psychopathy Red,” which is probably still the best song on the album) and some moodier, more Hellish tracks (”Beauty Through Order,” “Human Strain,” “Playing with Dolls”), something that’s kinda in-between like on Seasons (the title track), and even one flat-out hard rock anthem that I’d argue actually breaks the mold just a little bit without turning into “Fuel” (the catchier than swine flu “Americon”). And it’s all a shit load of fun to listen to.
That’s not to say that World Painted Blood is perfect. It took me a few listens to get used to Tom Araya’s near-rapping on “Dolls,” for example, and the lyrics are occasionally a little too self-conscious in their effort to prove that Slayer are still a rebellious band. But that’s a problem that’s been plaguing the group for awhile, and I’m not even sure that “plaguing” is the right word – I mean, these guys were never exactly delicate lyricists, and I imagine nine out of ten people don’t see anything even mildly funny about Araya yelling “Hail Satan!” on Christ Illusion. So Blood’s imperfections seem pretty forgivable, especially if we grade the band on a curve with their peers.
So, no, this band has not really changed all that much, and, yes, we are basically praising Slayer for being Slayer. But that’s because, as I said before, Slayer really never ever sucked. Like AC/DC, it’s totally cool for Slayer to just do the same thing over and over, because they’re really, really good at it, and never let their audience down. And World Painted Blood should make that audience happier than ever.
(four outta five Kerry Kings with Hair)
-AR
Awsome album, i really like the last few slayer albums but this one seems like a return to form for them. Its slayer sounding like proper slayer again.
I love Slayer…but I can only listen to them for so long and then I just can’t stand it anymore…I need some variety!!!!!!!!! IMHO
My brother and I refer to that as “Yngwie Malmsteen syndrome”. Its fucking GREAT for a while…but a whole album is just way too much. Unless we are referring to Reign in Blood, of course. Thats only like 25 minutes fer chrissakes.
Yep…that would be it…lol
and no, Reign in Blood is fucking awesome….
Funny to see KK with hair XD .album rules y quiero una novia Dominicana :P
Yo tabien XD
I laughed every time Tom yelled out “Hail Satan” on Christ Illusion.
I’ve never even heard the song, and I laughed just reading it.
Just listen to the album. You’ll hear it a few times.
But he made his choice. It was 666.
I’m kinda half disappointed by the album. Great ideas, awesome drumming, but nothing memorable. Plus, Araya’s screaming is more boring than ever, and Kerry King solos are baaaaaad.
Ha Lombardo the best drummer ever, funny
Hairy Kerry King
How fair of a review can this be with Ads for the album plastered all over the site? You are reviewing something you are getting paid to advertise. Just saying…
It’s Google advertising that ties ads to content of the article. They have no control over the ads.
That’s not the point. When a site advertises something that they review they are usually
compelled by the advertiser to give it a good – awesome review.
http://www.gamespot.com reviews videogames. There was a reviewer named Jeff Gerstman
who broke rank and gave an honest review to a mediocre game that was advertising
on the same site.
Jeff was fired.
Bottom line is that this dude is right. Don’t trust a review when the site advertises the
cd.
AR is breaking one of his most cardinal rules in this review and his excuse is
lame. Whenever he talks about review criteria he allways throws evolution and
maturization in there. I don’t even exactly agree with that but you have to wonder
why he decides to change the rule now. He says it’s because “Slayer is good
at what they do.” This is stupid because there are plenty of bands that are good at
what they do who get marks taken off for not changing.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Fuck Slayer anyways.
At the risk of sounding like I’m camping up in Axl’s colon, in his defense, he openly admits certain bands get a pass on the maturation issue. Slayer won’t change the formula and they’re better when they just do Slayer, just like AC/DC isn’t going to do write a radio ballad or include a drum fill.
No, that IS the point. This site does not seek specific advertising. It’s content oriented. If they had a goof piece on Britney Spears you would likely see a Britney Spears advertisement. If they gave a 0/5 review of this Slayer album, there would still be a Slayer advert.
Now, if you protested the glowing reviews of products in Guitar World you would have an argument. They have an advertising department that sells ad space to specific advertisers. And then they rarely give a bad review of the amps, guitars, accessories of the products they advertise. But Metalsucks doesn’t sell ad space to specific advertisers. This type of blog site places ads based on the content of the page.
Actually Sammy, we do sell ads directly. The top horizontal spot and top of the left sidebar are sold ads. The top of the right sidebar is sometimes sold, but we usually use it for promos (tour sponsorships and such). Everything else is Google Ads or another 3rd party company.
However, we never let that affect how we view a release. Exhibit A: the 1-out-of-5 horns review we gave Dope while their label bought ads from us. We don’t really give a shit and we don’t have to… labels recognize that even if we slam a record, there are readers who aren’t going to agree with us and are going to be receptive to an ad.
Well, then I stand corrected. However, given the content of the site, other than maybe some glowing reviews of your friends in God Forbid (however, I bought the album and agreed with your review), I don’t see how anybody can honestly accuse you of bias based on advertising.
And moreover, kudos to you guys for moving up into the world of actually selling ad space. I remember your site’s infancy when you were lucky to get 15 comments on a blog entry and relied solely on Google ads.
It makes sense for Axl to give this a high rating, since, ya know, he and Vince are pretty big Slayer fans.
@ VN
fair enough.
Was more of a question, not a crit.
Too bad the guitar tone is thinner than a supermodel on blow. Fucking awful guitar sound. How Fidelman continues to get work in this genre I will never know.
just curious if you bought the album and listened on CD or have downloaded copy?
When told that Slayer were “too one-dimensional to be a truly great band” I once responded: “they may be one-dimensional, but if so, Slayer would be like the straightest, most perfect line you’ve ever seen”
Nah, there’s a small dent where the line strikes Diabolus In Musica.
But otherwise, YEAH!
most albums you like get 4.5’s so i guess this isnt as good as most.
now your site has slayer at 4 and Oceano at 5
Yeah, that’s a bit fucked up isn’t it?
I think one Kerry King with hair is about the same as two horns
That idiot Suerez ranked Oceano a 5 his oppinion equals that of a retarted monkey
That Suarez Oceano review was a tongue in cheek.
But Oceano is still citing the review…lol
i guess that proves they’re really as stupid as their music makes them out to be.
Music review sites should never rate something ironically. It takes away all credibility to their review scale.
I fucking LOVE this album and I’ll be purchasing all four copies/covers later today; this is coming from a person who rarely buys CDs anymore. It took me a few spins, but I truly believe this is one of the best albums of Slayer’s career. It has everything; the fast shit, the slower stuff, and the catchy material. I agree that “Psychopathy Red” is still one of the stand out tracks, maybe they shouldn’t have released it so long ago, oh well. The title track, along with “Public Display of Dismemberment”, have some of the most evil sounding guitars I’ve ever heard, and every track is memorable in its own way.
Yeah, the lyrics seem like the band is trying to show how continually “bad ass” they are, which, at times, makes what you’re hearing lyrically sound kind of stupid, but the music more than makes up for it.
I give this album 4.5/5 horns! SLAYYYYER!!!
This album really sucks. Slayer has been mailing it in for a while now, knowing that they can succeed off of name recognition and image alone. Endgame > DM > Worship Music >>>>>>>>>> World Painted Blood
This band continues to stand the test of time. I raged to the savagery when I was a teenager and, now my son is happily turning on his friends to the band. Can you imagine my joy on walking past his bedroom and hearing “FUCKINGSLAYER!”….? right on.
Of World Painted Blood – I’m at odds with the production (hey, I grew up on the beauty of analog), but remain with the thought that Slayer have written another batch of killer tunes. The penchant to mix an’ master everything so damn loud is irritating – I know how to use the volume dial on my stereo. I suppose it’s all about appeasing the Raised-On-Google, i pod generation, but damn – dynamically speaking, so many metal bands come off sounding sterile. Thanks God for the live setting – in Slayer’s case – they are best heard there.
Not a bad album, but inferior to both ‘Death Magnetic’ and ‘Endgame’. It still rocks, though.
Inferior it death magnetic… lulzfest
I usually agree with most of your opinions, however Epic Fail to you good sir for putting SLAYER behind Metallica and Megadave’s recent offerings. Slayer once again smokes the competition. I would still to this day listen to Diabolus than listen to Dialectic turds and Unforgiven part 15 (James Gets His Voice back)
Shite production. Some awesome songs on it though.
i like the production. drums sound amazing
u must be a productionologist. fail.
production unquestionably sounds like shit. just like death magnetic. there’s no punch. no oomph. nothing. too high.
death magnetic is horrid. one of the worst producitons i have ever heard.
with wpb nothing really sticks out in the production as bad to me, other than it could be louder.
“other than it could be louder”
Are you fucking deaf?
I have listened to this album twice through now and I still cant find a reason to love it. I agree with Axl it sounds like they recorded it in 1988. I love God Hates Us All because I believe it took Slayer to the next level. It sounded new and sounded so fucking heavy. I need to this give this album some more spins but once again I am sure I will be bored because Slayer sounds just like Slayer. (which isnt always a bad thing but after 25 years maybe try to evolve)
Some bands “evolve” and get crucified for it. Cant blame Slayer for deciding to stay awesome all these years
Divine Intervention sucks donkey balls though….
Christ Illusion had better and more varied song writing (Final Six, Cult). Everything on WPB but the drums sound weak. This one left more to be desired. Im just as picky and analytical as the next fan, but hey, its FUCKIN SLAYER!!
I haven’t picked this up yet, but I know I’m in the minority when I say Divine Intervention is one of my favorite Slayer albums of all time. I’ve been listening to Slayer sinse I picked up Seasons when It was a brand new release, then quickly picked up the whole back catalogue. IMHO, Slayer maintains, but thats about it. Still love them and will catch them live everytime they come through.
Yes! Divine Intervention is off the charts awesome. New one is rad too.
I’m with you on Divine Intervention. Fucking love it.
NO disrespect guys, but I think Divine Intervention is the weakest album from Slayer…
Just saying…
Threshold makes God Hates Us All a big fail in my book.
I’ll pick the album up, but I refuse to get sucked into seeing them live again, unless there is a worthy supporting act(s). Talk about mailing it in and boring the shit out of the listless crowd.
“Boring” are you fucking kidding me?
let me guess, you like it when bands jump around the stage in an epileptic fit with more stage moves than actual musician skill, amirite? I saw Slayer with Pantera back in the day. It was the last show of the tour. When Pantera got up on stage, King and Haneman joined Dimeback and jammed out a few songs all while downing shots of whiskey and pounding beers. Best. Show. Ever.
lol…nice
No, I’m talking about the Slayer of today. The Slayer where King and Hanneman stand back like they’re bored shitless, and then when it’s time to solo they walk to the stage monitors, prop their left left and play the solo, then step back. On every solo. That Slayer. The been-there-done-that-5,000-times-before Slayer.
In answer to your question, no the epileptic retard bands are worse. I’ll agree with that. I would even be okay if Slayer at least looked like they wanted to be there. (This does not apply to Araya, who is somewhat engaging at times.)
fair enough
I agree completely…..I saw them live a few years ago and it was boring as hell. Hanneman had a Montreal Canadians (the concert was in Montreal) hockey jersey on….give me a fucking break.
I always liked the moodier hellish mid tempo slayer songs more than the pedal to the metal burners. maybe thats just me. but my favorite slayer tracks are ones like seasons, dead skin mask, skeletons of society, south of heaven, etc..
Me too. I like the faster stuff too..in doses. There was always something much more sinister about Slayer when they were grooving a bit as oppossed to just bashing it out at full throttle all the time. That’s probably why I prefer the South Of Heaven album to Reign In Blood.
This albums doesnt suck, its btter than Christ Illusion but thats not really saying much. The title track is absolutely awesome, but the songs are just fucking weak as hell. Psycopathy Red and Americon are good songs, but everythin else is just a muddled mess – nothing memorable. Hate Worldwide fuckign blows. I have to say Im quite disappointed in this album, I was hoping Christ Illusion was a fluke but I think these gus just ran out of gas. Sure it sounds liek slayer, but the songs arent that good.
hope they dont play more thn one song off this album on tour.
This album is decent. Better than “Endgame”, not as good as “Death Magnetic”. I like the ferocity they’ve injected, and even kinda appreciate the muddled, sloppy production. Why make it glossy when you need to be tough?
But hey, what do I know? I think “Diabolous” was one of their BEST albums. (Gotta love stirring shit up, eh?)
It doesn’t sound tough though, it sounds weedy and pathetic.
i dig this album. 8 outta 10 here
This is Slayer trying to revive themselves via Death Magnetic. Though they’d never admit it.
It’s too bad, I thought this would be pretty good after God Hates Us All and Christ Illusion. At least those sounded like different records. This just sounds like shit. Overcompressed to the point where there’s no dynamics.
This album is a big let down. And anyone who says otherwise is too blinded by their love of Slayer to admit otherwise.
Those opening three paragraphs are possible the most confusingly arranged collection of words ever written. Dribble.
er…possibly… friggin’ spell check…
I stopped caring about Slayer in the mid 1990s. This record is a weak attempt to try get back some of their former glory so they can sell a few more records. They should just give up now and call it quits.
five demon tattooed heads outta five from me.
They need to experiment with a different producer. Maybe Devin Townsend?
I started listening to Slayer at age 11 coz I really loved the cover art for Seasons in the Abyss and that’s how I got hooked and became an absolute fanatic… My liking of Slayer albums in Ascending order would be:
1) Reign in Blood
2) Seasons in the Abyss
3) Show no Mercy
4) South of Heaven
5) Divine Intervention
6) Christ Illusion
7) God hates us All
8) Hell Awaits
9) Undisputed Attitude
10) Diabolus in Musica
Having mentioned the above, I was expecting too much out this album being such a Slayer fanatic. I gave it two listens. Once at home and once while driving to work. The home session was the first one where I found myself skipping through songs every 30 seconds to find the thrashier / meatier stuff which left me kinda confused as to whether I liked the album or not… then on my way to work (takes about 45 mins) I let the album play in its entirety. The drumming is obviously the best feature. The album borrows heavily from Reign, Seasons and South with a hint of Christ illusion… So basically I like it. It has something for everyone…
For the ppl who said that Death Magnetic is a better album…. SHUT THE FUCK UP!! Please do yourself a favor and listen to the first four records of Metallica before you say something like that… Death Magnetic is NOTHING!! Its a flimsy attempt to sound “heavy” again which it unfortunately did not manage to do…. You cant write a “Battery” and expect the same loyal fans to enjoy “My Apocalypse”…. James Hetfield should just call it a day and retire to a ranch somewhere in the mid-west and sing country music since he cant seem to get it out of his system since fucking Load…
I put this album at par with Endgame… For a bunch of guys who are all pretty much 46/47 years old these fuckers still know how to bring it…
Cheers!!
You mean ‘Descending’ order, I’m quite sure…otherwise you rate Reign in Blood as the worst Slayer album, and for that you would surely kill yourself.
heh heh, Prives… I guess you’re right!! What I meant by ascending actually was 1st to last in order of preference…
Fuck all of you cunts – Divine Intervention was fucking awesome, so was Diabolus…
Christ Illusion sucked harder than your mum!
They played three songs off WPB when they toured Oz with Megadeth (in Brissie), and I think Psych Red was the only good one – haven’t heard the rest of the album yet, but after the last one, I wasn’t holding my breath.
PS: Paul Bostaph is a fucking killer drummer, and proved it during his time with Slayer. Dave Lombardo fucking rapes hard, and is even better now than he used to be – definately MVP from this tour.
Fucking SLAYER cunts – they’ll eat your brains….
Damn – such venom. I’m sold!
i swear ppl need to stop posting their reviews before they’ve given an album a chance. if you dont like slayer, rephrase that, if you dont love slayer, then you dont love metal simple as that. they have never written a bad album- i would argue that i havent ever heard a slayer song i didnt love. fuck you all with your overly critical bullshit just enjoy metal and if you dont like it first time listen to it again for fucks sake. as for endgame, it is equally awesome as was death magnetic. you are all just ungrateful and think these bands fucken owe you something but they dont owe you shit. and while we’re at it you critical cunts, st anger was a fucken great album – the imperfections in your eyes are what make it unique in mine. load and reload are great albums and if they were released under a different name and marketed as grunge they’d be universally accepted as classics.
ps. you can all suck me off.
tallica_fan86, really!!??
I agree with you on the point that we must appreciate metal for metal and not really get into too much surgery about production, sound etc… and the point about the band not owing anybody “shit” may well be true but we pay good money to buy an album and as consumers and customers we are ultimately paying for something that we essentially build a certain value towards hence we have certain expectations from every new album from every major artiste…
In a way, we have made the band what it is today (in reference to Metallica). We kept handing out dollar after dollar for Kill em All, Lightning, Master, AJFA, hell even Black Album (although I thought it was mediocre) so its human nature to bitch them out when the music is not stellar… If they were so bored with what they were doing then why not release a softer album under a different name (Corey Taylor for example)… I hate that Stoned Sour shit but I simply love Slipknot….
And PS: St. Anger did suck and not for the sound quality but simply for the stupid songs. To say that Kirk should not play solos on that record is to say that Burger King should stop serving burgers…
Recognizing that they haven’t made a good record sinse “Seasons….” isn’t being a scene snob or whatever bullshit dismissal you’d like to employ. It’s having fucking ears. Slayer still blow, its just they manage to scrape some half-decent things onto this record like the new Megadeth (which is ruined by Mustaine’s vocals anyway).
Someone else may have already mentioned this (I’m not going to bother looking through all the comments here) – listen to The songs World Painted Blood and Metallica’s All Nightmare Long.
Not making any grand statement here – just tossing out some food-for-thought.
This is a no-brainer for me since I grew up during the thrash explosion. Nothing touches early Slayer, Metallica or Megadeth in my eyes. Which isn’t to say I have undying loyalty. Bob Rock killed Metallica and even sans Rock “Death Magnetic” is no “Master of Puppets”. Megadeth’s new album is alright but can’t even compare to “Peace Sells” or “Rust In Peace”. So here’s the difference Slayer’s new album is awesome which allows us to compare it to any previous Slayer album because with few exceptions they’ve all been awesome. Comparing “Master of Puppets” to “Death Magnetic” is like trying to compare Slayer to Brittany Spears. They aren’t even in the same ballpark. But comparing “World Painted Blood” to any other Slayer album is akin to comparing today’s Yankees to the Yankee teams of the past. It’s trying to compare greats to determine the greatest which is a much different test. Kudos to Slayer for providing yet another great album in a long line of great albums. If you really want to compare things try comparing “World Painted Blood” to the recent outputs of the other thrash originators. I think we can all agree that love ‘em or hate ‘em, Slayer stands head and shoulders above their peers.
And one more thing …
SLAYER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Formation of the Damnation > World Painted Blood > Endgame > Death Magnetic
Word.
World Painted Blood> Formation of Damnation>Destroys Deaf magnetic and Endgame.
its pretty good but the guitars need more balls.