Slayer: World Painted Blood

You know who the chaps above are...

They recently released World Painted Blood...

I bought the Deluxe Edition: Gatefold + slip case...

I'm through listening to the album, not that I gave up but I usually do repeated counts before deciding to embrace other ear candy. It's not a sub-standard achievement by the band but something different, some riffs are rather unexpected, very un-Slayer so to speak. The guitar tones here are also rather peculiar; the humbucking guitars sound like there were in single coil mode, no bass-intense chugging to be heard. Maybe it's the excessive crunch King & Hanneman embraced for this recording & plus the fact that they do EMGs- there you have it, a perfect crackling in the mix. I'm also rather perturbed by the wah laden solos on every track.

I've nothing against the band, in fact, Slayer remains to be the standard to beat when metal is in play. I think there are too many bands today giving them a good run for their money. But which band comes close to Slayer? Hmm...