[This one slipped under our radar last year. Our apologies to those who are looking at their calendars and wondering what we were thinking. -KJ]
SLAYER
Christ Illusion
[American-2006]
We’ve always wondered about the process of aging and how it relates to the very image conscious art form called rock and roll. The maximum expression of youth culture, many say no one over 40 should be out there trading on its name and reputation. Yet the Stones, for instance, have thousands of fans of the same age as their own grandchildren flocking to their shows and buying the merchandise. Those who consider that bald, paunchy rockers have no place under its spotlight have the likes of The Pixies’ beloved Black Francis or Pere Ubu’s David Thomas to contend with. And how old should a metalhead be before he/she puts away the spikes and upside-down crosses and makes an effort to finally grow up and blend in?
We’re pretty sure the guys in Slayer want you to stay true to the music no matter how far ahead chronologically you may find yourself in life. After all, they’re still fighting the good fight in their mid-40s and not much more worse for the wear, as it turns out. Hell, they’ve even made peace with monster drummer and original member Dave Lombardo, a good sign if ever there was one. And guess what? It pays off in spades.
Reuniting the same quartet that produced four back-to-back metal classics—Hell Awaits, Reign in Blood, South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss for those keeping score—is likely to be labeled both a stab at nostalgia and a marketing ploy by a band that was never much for either but has recently found themselves slightly languishing popularity-wise. Fair enough. But regardless of what the motivation behind bringing back Lombardo into the fold may have been, his undisputed mastery of this kind of music and his immense, across-the-board popularity among fans of the drum kit—not to mention, of course, those who obviously love Slayer—were not lost on the band. And on Christ Illusion Lombardo pushes his old cronies into a revitalized sense of purpose, who conspire to unleash an unrelenting, in-your-face barrage of monster riffs that rarely lets up.
Sure, guitarist and main songwriter Kerry King’s annoying lyrical retreads are here in full effect—even atheists have to admit that he’s become quite redundant in his anti-religious diatribes—so for those that might be offended, you might want to do what ladies that love hip hop songs littered with tales of “hos” do: put aside the lyrics and dive head first into the music.
This is not to belittle the fact that the band have touched upon an undeniable factor in the current state of war in the Middle East they are commenting on, one which absolutely has a religious/cultural connotation to it. But Slayer posses no answers, merely a point of view. Which is fine—we’re not expecting, nor is it their job to provide us with earth-shattering revelations to guide us. What we are anticipating and looking forward to—even if we don’t happen to agree with their particular outlook on these subjects—is to be able to willfully lose ourselves in some of the most bone-crunching, take-no-prisoners tunes this quartet has ever come up with. And this time, they do and we can. Yeah, it’s that good.
Highlights:
"Flesh Storm", "Catalyst", "Jihad", "Consfearacy", "Catatonic".
