Review Summary: Better than the album it tries so hard to emulate? Maybe.
Starting in the mid-2000's, thrash metal has seen somewhat of a rebirth. Several classic thrash bands from the 80's have either reformed or quit clowning around and made solid new albums that recalled each band's heyday. Metallica released Death Magnetic; Testament made The Formation of Damnation; Exodus has released three good to great albums in a row; just this year, Megadeth, arguably the most productive band of the bunch, released Endgame, which is widely considered the band's best effort in . Slayer came out with Christ Illusion in 2006, and while it was still a very good album, to this listener at least, it still had much of the 'modern', GHUA-type sound that had been panned by many. Thrash's rebirth had only picked up steam when it came time to record the follow-up, and Slayer has responded with an album that both vividly resembles their classic style, and finds itself as one of the better albums in their discography.
World Painted Blood appears to be a back-to-basics album for Slayer. What do we remember from the Hell Awaits - Seasons In The Abyss era? Riffs. Riffs seemed to take a bit of a backseat on GHUA and Christ Illusion, sounding fairly methodical and uninspired (Kerry King is probably partially responsible for this, since he applied his 3-billion-notes-a-minute soloing approach to his rhythm playing). Not here. Almost every track has an awesome main riff, several of the tracks having a few awesome riffs. The riffing (once again largely handled by King) is also played in a much more melodic style, therefore making it much more reminiscent of... the early days (why do I feel like I'm repeating myself?). Thrash is centered around crushing riffs and emphatic rhythm playing, and these elements making it back onto Slayer's priority list is a big part of what makes World Painted Blood so good.
Everyone else holds up their end of the deal, as well. Hanneman, by default, handles much of the lead guitar, and does an excellent job. He even churns out some (somewhat) melodic solos that seem to really fit within the confines on the song on Playing With Dolls and Unit 731. Araya's voice is just a little bit higher than on other recent albums, and one has to wonder if age is starting to catch up to him (47 at the time of recording). This is most noticeable on Beauty Through Order, where Araya's voice is higher and thinner, and has less roar to it. Dave Lombardo is Dave Lombardo, and will be Dave Lombardo. Even if the mix is unfriendly towards his drum kit (more on that shortly).
There is one major sticking point when it comes to World Painted Blood, and that is the production. Overseeing this album was Greg Fidelman, the man responsible for the sound of Death Magnetic (another mix that was pilloried by the masses). He gave WPB a similar mix to Death Magnetic, and while almost everyone else is cringing at the final product, I've grown to really like it. The guitars, both rhythms and solos, are just crushingly loud and present, but Araya's shouts aren't drowned out in the least. The only section that suffers is Dave Lombardo's drum kit. Actually the snares are as piercing as they ever were, but his bass drums are almost non-existent. A minor shame, but you can't have everything.
King's description of the album, pre-release, was this: "I think this one has a little bit of everything—more so than anything we've done since Seasons. So I would imagine people are gonna compare it to that one." He's right, there is quite a bit of variety here. Unit 731, Hate Worldwide, Public Display of Dismemberment, and Psychopathy Red are all sub 3 minute speedsters in the Reign In Blood mold. It's not like they're rip-offs either; all of these tracks deliver a thrash hurricane of old-school riffs, solos, shouts, and beats. Human Strain (a darkhorse top 3 song on the album), Snuff, Beauty Through Order, and the title track all have that Seasons tinge to them. Not of This God is sort of an odd mix between Reign In Blood and Diabolus. Americon and Playing With Dolls both lean more towards recent Slayer works.
By now, you've undoubtedly noticed my headline to this review. Is World Painted Blood a better album than Seasons In The Abyss, the album that Kerrang! crowned the #1 metal album of all time and Slayer themselves all but said that this album was meant to sound like? To this listener... yes, just barely. It has more variety, doesn't rely as much on the sinister 'Dead Skin Mask' or 'Expendable Youth' type songs, and sounds much angrier and more aggressive. To test my theory, I listened to Seasons again right after another spin of WPB... and I didn't it enjoy it as much as I did WPB. Shoot me.
Recommended Tracks:
Unit 731
Hate Worldwide
Human Strain
Psychopathy Red
