SLAYER

I have waited a year for this record, believe me. The first release-date I read was, if I remember correctly, September 2000! Then the final date turned out to be September 10^th 2001, and it took another two weeks till the CD was available in stores here, in bumfuck middle-Europe. (if you asked yourself, yes, I buy my records myself. There is no promotion-bullshitting me!) But now the wait is over, and it was well worth it. Waiting raises expectations, but Slayer was able to meet them. “God hates us all” is the only worthy follow-up to “Diabolus in Musica”.

The first good thing about this record was, that Slayer didn’t want to work with producer Ross Robinson. You know the guy, the New-Metal-Über-Producer, who might do a lot of good work with Slipknot or Papa Limp Roach Korn or whatever, but Slayer doesn’t need that. There are some bands, who have worked themselves into a status, globally, where the only thing they have to do, is to stay true to themselves. E.g. R.E.M., Fugazi or Slayer. There are actually only a handful of bands like that, but these might just be the ones that matter.

“God hates us all” starts off with a sonically distorted intro, that will give you headaches if you position your head in the wrong angle towards the boxes. But if you have endured 90 seconds of pain, you’ll be earned with a blistering rock of metal, that won’t ever be reached by market-oriented chart-boy/metal-bands, that pile up on MTV. No, Slayer answers with a big kick, that hits all the bullshit right into its ass and out of way. Don’t even ever think about them again. No use and no need, you got Slayer. I have listened to this record every day since I bought it and I don’t think I will stop in the near or far future.

Musically, there is Death Metal, heavy riffing (and I mean heavy!) to which only the professionals will be able to headbang, evil distortion, some trash and that cool rhythm in 3/8s, which will make those fall on their knees, who ever had a guitar in their hand. Older fans will be surprised to hear some real singing on one or two songs or some black-metal-harmonies and digital effects, but don’t be afraid, it fits. Slayer seem only to do what comes naturally and, well, what does that say about their nature? They are pissed off most of the time, I guess. But then again, they oughta have a good live, being metal-gods and all.

I’d like to know how many teenie-new-metal-fans will buy this record and like it. Slayer are grown up man, way beyond at least thirty-five, and they don’t joke around. This is the real thing, but will the real thing appeal to the big-brother-generation? Can’t say right now.

Somehow, “God hates us all” is a concept-album. The concept is: kicking the shit out of religion. That is why the original artwork showed a bloody, nailed bible. (It was covered by an alternative cover with four crosses at right angles to each other, I guess, America has turned that way years ago.) That is why the bible is called “the book of lies”, why religion is called “wasting your life”, why god is called the source of “death and misery”. That is all true. The cool thing is though, that Slayer answer the “God hates us all” with a pointed middle finger and a “fuck you, god. Who are you anyway?”. Sounds somehow like the Preacher-comic to me, and maybe the same character-strait is in here. A show of self-consciousness and independence that once was the backbone of the USA, and which I can sympathize with and like. It has turned to false patriotism and empty “god save America”-slogans in the last decades, just as the American dream has turned to shit, but it is good to know, that this spirit still lives on. Anyway, it was long overdue that somebody fucked with the bible mightily and who better than Slayer? And they did it perfectly.