Slayer Album: “God Hates Us All [Bonus Tracks]”

I agree with that guys review. Slayer has changed but its not the music at all, its Tom's voice. He cant scream like he use to, just listen to some concerts of the past few years. If this cd was released back after Reign in Blood, this would probably be the greatest thrash metal ever. This cd has amazing lyrics, the guitars are very heavy, Tom's voice is a little changed but its still an amazing cd. Id recommend this cd to all the people who think Korn, Limp Bizkit, Slipknot, and those types of bands are heavy and violent-this guys dont go soft, they just get more pissed off. I saw them in concert, and that was the first time they used the raining blood effect. Lets just say that changed my life forever, and my view on metal bands. Slayer releases album after album of great, heavy, violent music and very disturbing, imaginative lyrics. Long live the greatest metal band of all time , SLAYER

I managed to get my hands on an advance 6-track promo and thought I'd give my views on what I've heard so far. Overall it's an excellent preview; musically, it sounds like a slightly nastier "Diabolus..." with lots of tempo changes, and lyrically, well...let's just say that Slayer is one of the few Alcatraz Islands in a sea of changing metal attitudes.

1. "Bloodline": good slow-pacer, lyrics remind me of "At Dawn They Sleep".

2. "New Faith": catchy groove mid-pacer; doesn't really sound like a Slayer song in places, but overall a good song with cool lyrical stabs at organized religion (kind of an overall theme throughout the album).

3. "God Send Death": an awesome mid-to-fast tempo-changer; pretty much textbook Slayer. Sounds like it could've been on "South of Heaven".

4. "Cast Down": kinda plodding and filler-ish; this one didn't really do it for me. Fast forward.

5. "Here Comes the Pain": sounds much better here than on that wrestling album (whatever that was). Lyrics are kinda dumb, but hey, they wrote it for a wrestling album!

6. "Disciple": this one's my favorite; another kick.. mid-to-fast tempo changer with a riff straight out of "Reign In Blood" and with vocals and lyrics that will make your grandma turn blue (especially the super-angry slow end part). Now THIS is SLAYER! YEAH!

I only gave this 4-stars because I haven't heard the rest of the album, but the future looks wonderfully grim! HAIL SLAYER!!!!

The new Slayer album flat out proves Slayer is still on the top of their game. This album is an excellent, energetic mix of Slayer styles with some slow and some shredders of songs. The production is top-notch, and gives a refreshingly modern metal sound. That is not to say this is a nu-metal album at all. Simply put, this is the best sounding Slayer ever. This album rocks hard and you can hear all the instruments.

Tom Araya gives an awesome performance vocals-wise, soudning angrier than in any past album. Paul Bostaph once again proves he is a stellar drummer, and possibly one of the best ever. Listening to this album, one of the first things you will notice is the absolutely killer drumming. Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman continue to dish out the sick riffs. As opposed to Diabolus, most of the solos here seem to really fit, and are executed quite nicely.

As to the songs themselves, they simply rock hard. Nearly EVERY track is a classic in its own right. A couple of the middle tracks sound like filler (Cast Down, Threshold), but the rest absolutely destroy. My personal favorites include God Send Death, Warzone, Payback, New Faith, Exile, and Disciple.

The booklet is really well put together, with the lyrics being mixed in with bible annotations, you have to see it for yourself. As everyone knows, the cover is the white one with crosses to appease the censors, but the real cover(underneath), in all its bloody glory is one of their best covers ever.

Dont hesitate to listen to this album a few times to let it really soak into you. It grows on you quite quickly, and I guarantee that hardcore Slayer fans as well as newcomers will not be disappointed.

At the risk of starting off on the wrong foot here, I'd like to get something off my chest: I've been a Slayer freak ever since the "Hell Awaits" era, and the fact of the matter is, I don't feel that this band has delivered an album that approaches anything close to their potential since the "Hell/Reign/South" days of the '80's. And I mean that as a compliment. The greatest praise that I feel any fan can give a band is to criticize them when they are underachieving. My rundown of the last 12 years:

"SEASONS": Great album, but padded with filler and occasional awkward, out-of-place vocals ("Expendable Youth" in particular is just plain embarrassing).

"DIVINE": Great album, but too conservative in it's approach (tries too hard to be "old school" and often ends up sounding old hat)...been there, done that. The lousy snare sound doesn't help.

"DIABOLUS": Great album, but too liberal in it's approach (too much flavor-of-the-month recording ethic here) and loaded with filler in it's second half (the first five songs rule).

BUT...I would rather listen to ANY of these albums that almost anything that's come out since. And let's face it, the year 2001 was pretty disappointing. A crappy, so-called "comeback" from Megadeth that couldn't get aroused if Jenna Jameson bent over in front of it, a totally irrelevant Judas Priest album four years in the making that's completely out of touch with reality, a parasitic infestation of nu-metal bands that each look, talk, act and sound as stupid as the one next to it, further ideological degeneration and rock star tragimentality from the once-admirable Metallica...are you beginning to get the picture?

You know what we need to jump start the heavy metal economy? A Slayer album. And not just any Slayer album. A Slayer album to make everyone's blood boil over and curdle; to make Tipper Gore and Jerry Falwell come out of hiding and declare that this band is out to undermine everyone's peace, love, and understanding; to make everyone sit up and realize just how screwed up and complacent modern music has made us today...

...and I'll be damned if we don't have just that album.

Let me cut through the bovine scatology here and get right to the point: THIS IS SLAYER'S BEST ALBUM SINCE 'SOUTH OF HEAVEN'. Okay, that's telling you something. Now, let me tell you why: for the first time in the thirteen years since that disc blessed our pathetic existence, we finally have another album that successfully taps the same raw visceral nerve and channels it's sheer hateful energy into our psyche...Slayer seem to have a real bone to pick with the whole world and have seen fit to deliver thirteen beautifully misanthropic rants with merciless precision and almost pornographic intensity.

Well, actually, make that eleven rants, because "Darkness of Christ" is really just an intro (it sounds kinda like the one on "Ghosts of War") and, well, "Threshold" is a disgrace and has no place on ANY Slayer album. Uh, guys, I know you said you were influenced by Slipknot, but come on...what were you thinking here?! I'm gonna give 'em the benefit of the doubt that this was intended as a send-up, but it's gonna be one forever destined to taste the "track skip" button.

But the rest of the disc much more than makes up for it. Tracks like "Disciple", "Exile", and "Warzone" are straight to the head old-school Slaytanic thrash delivered with some of the most over-the-top hateful sounding vocals Tom has EVER delivered...like "Undisputed Attiude" on PCP. And the lyrics? Sheesh. Tom spews out more venom here (enhanced by a newfound love for excessive use of the F-word) than Sam Kinison at a gay pride march. Check out some of these lines:

"You make me wanna slit my own (BLEEP)ing throat/just to be rid of you!!!!" -"Exile"

"I reject this (BLEEP)ing race!!!!!!/I despise this (BLEEP)ing place!!!!!!" -"Disciple"

"I'm gonna rip your (BLEEP)ing eyes out/tear your (BLEEP)ing flesh off/beat you 'til you're just a (BLEEP)ing lifeless carcass!!!" - "Payback"

Oh, did I not mention "Payback", which happens to be one of the fastest Slayer songs ever made? It's right up there with "Dittohead" and "Necrophobic"...only angrier!!! I'm not even gonna try to describe it, you just gotta hear it for yourself...

Elsewhere, there's the excellent "God Send Death', which sounds like one of the faster numbers from 'South of Heaven', "New Faith" which is a groove-oriented mid pacer that represents the best of the 'Diabolus' concept ("I stick the bible in a pool of blood/so that none of it's lies can infect me!!!!"), the filthy heroin-addicted street scum of "Cast Down"...dudes, I could go on and on about every song here, but suffice to say, this is just, as a whole, simply incredible.

By the way, one more thing before I close: Tom has finally got it through his thick head that he can't sing, and on this album he attempts to do so exactly ZERO times. Tom, we love ya, man, but we also love Ozzy and Brian Johnson, and they can't sing either! Keep stickin' to yelling, screaming, and cursing like you did here, and you'll do just fine in my book...:)

Absolutely, positively the biggest "up yours" that any band has ever proclaimed in the form of a major metal release. Buy it for that reason alone.

Starting off with the most fitting, and best, intro to a Slayer Album ever with "Darkness of Christ"..This CD is like all Slayer Albums. It comes on and just destroys in classic Slayer fashion. Although not as popular or classic, obviously, as some of their previous work..This Album still deserves respect. For example..bands like Metallica have slowed down since their 'heyday', and their latest release was awful (Judging from what i've read, as i don't own it..) ..Whereas Slayer on the other hand, are still pretty brutal and still highly regarded as extreme. Their Albums are still top-quality as well. Like this Album..

This Album really doesn't slow down until the song "Seven Faces". From there it stays sort of slow paced until the brutal "Warzone"..An explosive and fast paced song, in the same fashion as the speed metal songs off "Reign In Blood". "Here Comes The Pain" starts off pretty slow, then launches into a riff that is total headbang central (It's a shame it only lasts 30 seconds though..although the riff returns towards the end of the song..). From there the pace picks up somewhat with "Payback". And "Addict" is a good finisher.

The standout tracks, and my personal favourites as well, are.."Darkness Of Christ", "Disciple", "God Send Death", "New Faith", "Cast Down", "Threshold", "Bloodline" (Which they also did a Video for), "War Zone", "Scarstruck", "Here Comes The Pain", and "Payback". .."Threshold" has some of the most hateful lyrics, and just an overall _Don't F*ck With Me_ attitude within it. And i also read that guitarist Jeff Hanneman

actually hated the song "New Faith" to begin with. I don't know why, since the riff (And the whole song too..) is just..wow. It's definitely one of my personal favourites on this Album.

This CD basically just goes to show that Slayer can still kick ass. Like their previous release, "Diabolus in Musica", many fans are divided over where Slayer is headed towards. And like "Diabolus in Musica", in my opinion, there are alot of quality songs on here that i think every Slayer fan will enjoy.

This Album just leaves you wanting more. ..Can't wait for the new Slayer Album which is rumoured to be in the works right now, and set to be released either halfway through this year, or at the end of this year. If this is anything to go by..Even though this did come out in 2001..then Slayer will just continue to destroy everything and everyone in their path. (Especially now that Dave Lombardo is back..)