Slayer

Christ Illusion

American Recordings 2006

Slayer is exactly that, Slayer.  When you are listening to a Slayer album you know you are listening to a Slayer album and no one else.  With that said, their last few albums have been fairly disappointing.  I mean they have all had some decent moments on them but in general Divine Intervention, In Diabolous Musica and God Hates us All have fell well short of the lofty expectations they set fro themselves.  To me the last great Slayer album was Seasons in the Abyss and I know I am not the only one who feels this way.  But enough about that.  That is merely the build-up to Slayer's latest opus, Christ Illusion. The album starts out with a War Ensemble-esque blaster called Flesh Storm.  The next song Catalyst is just there for me.  It is a fast track that speeds by without really leaving much of an impression.  Skeleton Christ is impressive with its rolling rhythm that is reminiscent of a rumbling tank.  Jihad is much more memorable but I am not sure if that is a good thing.  It has kind of a bouncy feel to it the way the riffs chug along and it would be massive for getting a mosh pit going.  So maybe it is a good thing.  Consfearacy is sort of a blistering speedster a la Reign in Blood but somehow it doesn't have the darkness that Reign in Blood contained.  Catatonic is sort of out of place here and boring.  And then Cult is right back on target.  The songs are sort of hit or miss but the hits are much more frequent than their recent back catalogue has produced.  The production is distinctively Slayer.  And it is nice to hear Dave Lombardo throw all the Rapid Fire drum lines and fills at us once again from behind the kit.  This album is the best Slayer album since Seasons though it still is not up to that level.  I found Christ Illusion to be much more enjoyable than I expected.  It is a violent album that really symbolizes the warfare that we face everyday.  And its scathing commentary on religion is spot on for the era we live in.  After all "This is God's War."