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Slayer: World Painted Blood

Slayer have been a major player in metal terms for many years, in fact, since the early 80's, it's those magic Slayer riffs that you can't get out your head, and Dave Lombardo's almighty drums, that keep you wanting more.

Slayer have continued to release strong albums, some better than others, but haven't recaptured what made their earlier albums like Reign In Blood such thrash metal classics. But then again, neither have those others from the so called "Big Four" of thrash bands... I suppose we live in hope, but they can still release very enjoyable albums, like Megadeth's latest.

To the new Slayer CD, easily their best in years, as on World Painted Blood the band sound as electrifying as ever. Starting with the opening title track I was hooked, this is classic raw thrash just how it should sound, fast with no frills, serving up its share of Slayer riffage, and the lyrics "Like A Disease Spreading Death Erasing Your Existence", it's thrash metal death and destruction. "Beauty Through Order" is flowing with all those finest of Slayer ingredients. "Public Display of Dismemberment" and Dave Lombardo's drums get an accelerated hammering and the vintage Slayer thrash track "Psychopathy Red" should suffice the old school fan's needs.

My advice is stick World Painted Blood in your player, and take this new Slayer release for what it is, another top thrash metal album, that rekindles some of that early feel.


Track list:
1. World Painted Blood
2. Unit 731
3. Snuff
4. Beauty Through Order
5. Hate Worldwide
6. Public Display of Dismemberment
7. Human Strain
8. Americon
9. Psychopathy Red
10. Playing with Dolls
11. Not Of This God

Added: January 3rd 2010
Reviewer: Scott Jessup
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 4021
Language: english

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» SoT Staff Roundtable Reviews:

Slayer: World Painted Blood
Posted by Butch Jones, SoT Staff Writer on 2010-01-03 09:25:08
My Score:

Death, destruction, war, serial killers and the Apocalypse, sounds like your typical Slayer record doesn't it? But their latest disc, World Painted Blood (American Recordings/Columbia Records) is a slight departure from the normal Slayer fare. Muddily produced by Greg Fidelman (Slipknot) and written mostly in the studio, which was a different strategy this time around for Slayer, has delivered a shorter record, clocking in at just under 40 minutes, as well as being slightly slower and a bit more musical. The words more musical and Slayer in the same sentence? Yeah and that ain't bad, either!

"World Painted Blood" is the album titled lead off track, which is both heavy and a tad slow in Slayer terms. They have slowed things down and given drummer extraordinaire, Dave Lombardo, a bit of a breather on about a 1/3 of this CD. But add in a bit more groove and a smidge of melody, mix that with that Slayer mentality and what you get is a diverse record. Songs like "Unit 731", "Hate Worldwide" and in that patented Slayer punky Thrash comes "Psychopathy Red", about a Russian serial killer, helps make up this powerful record. Thrash Metal guitar legends, Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman's classic harmonized guitar riffing are there in full force and as strong as ever, but the overall mix by producer Fidelman (along with exec producer, Rick Rubin both responsible for the horrible sound of Metallica's Death Magnetic) does not help to capture that classic Slayer tone from the past. Now I said this record was a bit slower but I never said it was SLOW and with songs like "Public Display of Dismemberment" and "Snuff" all of your classic Slayer speed needs are met.

The thing about World Painted Blood is that this is not completely a typical Slayer disc. There are actually different paced songs ranging from Classic Slayer Speed Metal to melodic, dare I even say the thoughtful groove of a song like "Playing With Dolls". Unlike the untouchable classic, Reign In Blood, which is an all out assault from the 1st note to the last, World Painted Blood totally shifts gears during the 11 songs and it might shake a few die hard's, but it is one of those records that is a slow grower. It is NOT Reign In Blood 2 but it is still a very solid Slayer 2009 era Metal record.


Slayer: World Painted Blood
Posted by Ken Pierce, SoT Staff Writer on 2009-12-14 08:10:12
My Score:

Before beginning this one we have to ask ourselves what we are exactly expecting of Slayer at this point in their career. Do we expect them to explore new worlds of musical experimentation and deliver concept albums like some other legends have done of late or do we expect them to be hanging on by a thread with only a light reminder of the early days of glory that their fans still hold in high regard. That being said we found Slayer rising to the fore with "Christ Illusion" but it is with the newest release "World Painted Blood" that we are reminded of why they are such an incendiary force on the landscape in terms of Extreme Thrash Metal is concerned. From the moment that "WPB" begins you know that you are listening to a Slayer album and this particular release took me back to the time when albums such as "Reign In Blood" and "South Of Heaven" were melting turntables and tape recorders worldwide. The intensity and anger found in those albums returns to us as tunes like "Public Display Of Dismemberment" and "Hate Worldwide" throttle the synapses with the riffing and thunderous drumming. Setting up the dramatic theme comes through fantastically during "The Human Strain" which builds up and slows down only to repeat the process. A very powerful head banger was found in this one while a primal rawness comes at you during "Americon" and I had to say that I felt Araya never sounded better in his vocal delivery. One can hardly believe that he has been at this type of Metal since 1983 (the debut record year) as he shows no signs of wear in his voice. The tune is a King composition based on how he sees the American nation being viewed by the world court and how whether or not they like us, he finds this to be the best place to live on earth. Dare I say "Amen" to that brother when we are talking about a Slayer track?

The subject matter is as grim as could be expected and deals with death, hatred, man against man against the world and even serial killers, the latter of which we find on the tune "Psychopathy Red". The press notes for the album explain how the recording played off the unique skills of its individual members and while King loves it fast and furious, Hanneman on the other hand likes to blend more melody into the mix and has returned a lot of his Punk influences into his own song-writing/execution style for the release. The drumming of Dave Lombardo is nothing less than exemplary as the musician keeps it quick paced for a lot of the main verse parts and lets loose with a frenzied double bass power that reminds the drummers who listen to the album why he is still so respected among their kind. The album moves very quickly and I believe that this is another of its strong points based on the listener not being given the chance to find themselves bored with any of the tunes. Granted there is nothing even remotely boring being presented but Slayer never needed to offer us epic or long winded tracks to get their message across and this recording gets to the point quickly and does it with punch after punch until completion. I view this as a perfect "jumping on" point for the new Slayer fan that might have been offered the suggestion of their classic material and still found themselves wondering where the band stands now. Simply put, Slayer stands as continued leaders of the pack for the genre and in the end game of Heavy Metal that is a very good thing to find being the case. Lyrics are provided in the booklet in the event that you want to scream along and there are a number of different covers for you ardent collecting maniacs.


» Reader Comments:

Slayer: World Painted Blood
Posted by Recession Alert on 2009-11-03 17:29:47
My Score:

I wanted to let people know that they should not waste their money on the limited edition cd/dvd. The bonus dvd is 20 minutes of still shots collaged together that narrate a misogynist's killing spree. It wears thin after about 5 minutes. There is nothing but the regular booklet inside of the digipack--so, you gain nothing on that front either. This edition is just a decoy to help offset the cost of the sale of the regular edition for $9.99 at Best Buy.

Don't buy the vinyl either because it's digital vinyl. In other words...The mastering engineer for that format is the cd!! Why go from 16 bits to 10? The advantage would be the native analog format and that is not to be found.

Slayer: World Painted Blood
Posted by ??? on 2009-11-03 11:59:35
My Score:

This cd proves that Kerry King's definition of Slayer is *not* the unholy grail, They wrote this in the studio as they were recording and everybody was able to provide input and it worked out much better. There are actually songs on this cd, like there were in South of Heaven. The whole cd is more varied, better played and performed by all members. You can even hear Tom playing the bass on this one! Imagine that? The cd covers a lot of ground quick and lends itself well to repeat offenses of sonic decadence.
I am still getting used to the production because it is rather sparse with a generous touch of digital shriek, but that should not stop you from buying this. This is a fine return to form and everything that Christ Illusion was not. I almost can not believe it. I would rate this 8.75.




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