CHRIST ILLUSION
They’re not SLAYER, they’re
FUCKIN’ SLAYER. Every metal show you go to, you will hear their name shouted out, seemingly out of nowhere, but with all the fanaticism in the world behind it. This kind of diehard dedication to the greatest thrash band to grace (and curse) the earth, is the result of never slowing down, or to use a corny phrase, fix something that ain’t broke. Despite Slayer sticking to their guns for all these years, there is still a contingent of people not satisfied; people who just want
Reign In Blood regurgitated over and over. Well although they have continued to impress after that landmark album,
Christ Illusion may very well be one of their best albums ever. The proceedings are started with “Flesh Storm”, which describes what it would be like to be on the battlefield from both a soldier’s point of view and the media’s. There isn’t any slowing down on the 10 tracks here, and even the mid-tempo track “Catatonic” doesn’t fail to bludgeon and closes out with a vicious breakdown.
Lyrically, they pull no punches (hell, look at the cover for your first hint), with their sights set on religion, Jesus, war, and even viewing acts of terror from the terrorists’ point of view on “Jihad”. Sometimes the odes to Satan (which Tom Araya recently said is merely used for shock value) sound a bit forced such as “Skeleton Christ” when he proclaims “I’ve seen the ways of God/ I’ll take the devil any day/Hail Satan”. Lyrics aside, Araya’s vocal delivery is top-notch; he yells with clarity, and age hasn’t seemed to weather his voice too much.
The early-day purists are going to cry because this isn’t
Seasons in the Abyss, or
Reign In Blood, but when it comes down to it, what other band has stuck to their guns out of all of the classic thrash bands? Some may be able to argue Anthrax, but none have equaled the staying power and consistency of Slayer, as further proved by
Christ Illusion.
