Slayer Album: “Diabolus in Musica [Japan]”

I just got into Slayer about a year ago, but since then I've gotten into them with a vengeance. I've had the privilege of being able to listen to all of their albums in a very short period of time, and out of Slayer's albums I would rank "Diabolus In Musica" right at the top. This album somehow manages to sound even more sinister than their previous work, with a really dark and foreboding mood to the songs. The bass is a little more evident here than on Slayer's previous work, which is a good thing as Tom Araya's crunching bass notes add another dimension to the music. Vocally, Araya relies more on a somewhat screamed sound as opposed to the mix of singing and growling that was found on albums like "South of Heaven" and "Seasons in the Abyss." The grinding, sludgy guitars and Paul Bostaph's astonishingly nimble drumming give this album a dark groove that sets it apart from Slayer's older works while simultaneously paving the way for last month's somewhat similar release "God Hates us All." Standouts include the very catchy "Love to Hate," the speedy "Point," and the chunky and heavy "Screaming From the Sky." This album boasts an excellent array of styles, with Slayer's rock solid musicianship still in place.

I dont understand why this is voted as their worst....their worst album is Undisputed Attitude

this is everything Slayer....a celebration of war, perversion, and violence. the best songs being Point, Screaming From The Sky, Death's Head, and Bitter Peace.

I like this album a lot. It's really heavy and groovy most of the times, but some songs just fall flat due to awkward riffs, like "Overt Enemy". This is the kind of Slayer I can relax to. That might sound like it sucks, but I'm telling you, this album really is VERY bottom-heavy and brutal, just slower and funkier and kinda sexy-sounding...I don't know why that word comes to mind, but it does. Any Korn (who's guitars sound like bubbly farts) album sounds like Tiny Tim compared to this. I love all early Slayer, especially Hell Awaits and Reign in Blood. Those early offerings were intense, very in-your-face and delivered with nervous ass-kicking intensity. Fast forward to Diabolus, we see Slayer as marathon runners, instead of their usual full-speed-on breakneck pace. South of Heaven and Seasons were much more riff-oriented than this. With the heavy production and mostly mid-tempo songs, obviously the band wanted to put more emphasis on rhythm and arrangments on this album. It works well most of the time, sounding fresh, creative and heavy. Despite what some rigid speed-purists say, it doesn't sound like nu-metal at all. It's metal. It's detuned, and well-produced, and yes, you could dance to this album if you wanted to. Doesn't matter. Most of the riffs are deliciously slaytanic, and the guitar tones are killer. Trust me, it was very off-putting for me, hearing this album for the first time, but repeated listenings helped me to notice some REALLY tight, awesome arrangements that might have gone almost unnoticed if they were playing them full-speed. This one's better than Divine Intervention.

Slayer are back and I could never be more thankful. With junk music like Spice Girls, Hanson, and prepubescent divas littering the music shelves, I had thought everybody had jumped on the bubble gum bandwagon. Then BOOM--Diablous In Musica arrives and hope is restored! Although being abscent from the music scene for four years this is by far one of the best Slayer has put out. Hearing the first handful of riffs of the first track "Bitter Peace" and you'll know they're back with a vengence. The best tracks are "Death's Head" and "Love to Hate", both showing that guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King have not lost the motts to shred. Many of the professional reviews given (USA Today, etc...) talk like they were expecting these guys to put an album like Metallica's "Load", changing their sound or something--hence the reviews of "oh, it sounds like old Slayer..." Those of us who have listened to Slayer for years know what to expect and we love what we get. Aggressive, loud, heavy music--this is by far the best. If you are a fan and haven't picked it up, do so. If you haven't experienced Slayer or are curious, try it.

Enamored by bands like Machine Head and Pantera, whose sound, ironically, owes much to Slayer's classic 80s albums, Slayer decided to unleash Diabolous in Music upon the world in 1998. Talk about poor career moves. Downtuned guitar riffs that could be played by a 5 year old, poor songwriting, and Tom Araya struggling to sing like he used to... this is all anybody should expect from Diabolous.

After a killer opening track (Bitter Peace), DiM quickly heads downhill into monotonous borefest after monotonous borefest (STAIN OF MIND?). Towards the end, things pick up a bit (In the Name of God is a good song, as is Screaming from the Sky), but a few redeeming moments do not save this pile of dumpster fodder from mediocrity.

The question is: WHAT HAPPENED? How could Slayer fall so far? Who knows exactly what they were thinking when they recorded Diabolous... and maybe it's better we don't.