One need look no further than recent promotional photos of Slayer to realize just how far the bands legacy spans. To see grey hairs protruding from the chin of Tom Araya crystallizes the fact that it has been 23 years since they released “Reign In Blood” and forever changed the world of metal in the process.
However, staying relevant in a genre built upon the hostility of adolescence and youthful stamina has proven to be a big challenge for all of the ‘big four’ in recent years. Thus, once again Slayer find themselves put to the test to assert their relevancy in a style which they helped pioneer with “World Painted Blood“.
Unlike the rest of their peers in the ‘big four’ though, Slayer don’t go back to milking their early legacy, but rather their middle years per se with “Seasons In the Abyss” seeming to be a big reference point for the style of “World Painted Blood“. Raging thrashers, mid-paced weirdness, some questionable vocal patterns and a considerable amount of experimentation make up for the bulk of this album.
But where this renewed interest in exploring different tempos can result in odd melodic passages (“Human Strain“) or some near tribal thunderous skin bashing (“Not Of This God“), it can also result in highly questionable tracks like the blunt political commentary of “Americon“.
It is stumbles like the latter track that seem a bit desperate for the band and while it is welcomed that they are attempting to change things up, the end result feels quite out of place with the rest of the album.
In a lot of ways though the same could be said about “World Painted Blood” in the bands discography. The 21st century has seen Slayer seemingly trapped in a cycle where they rehashed the ‘modern Slayer‘ sound with minor variations each time.
Perhaps as an answer to their relentless detractors, this time the band have glanced backwards in a bid to rejuvenate themselves creatively. The problem with this though is that Slayer‘s finest moments have almost always been characterized by ferociousness and velocity, not inventiveness or colorfulness.
“World Painted Blood“, while no giant leap by any means, does find the band attempting to venture out of their proverbial rut more often than not and that alone is commendable.
But as a whole, only a handful of tracks here live up to the bands trademark standards; perhaps proving that Slayer create their finest works when utilizing a palette of only disarmingly bleak greys and visceral blood reds.
