SLAYER - "DIABOLUS IN MUSICA" (AMERICAN)

 

Slayer was, is, and always will be Slayer. Where other bands evolve (or betray their roots, depending on your point of view), Slayer sticks to the basics of their fast thrash style. Criticasters might accuse them of self-plagiarism, but do we really mind? Within the sick-looking packaging (somehow it unsettles me more even than the uncensored version of Carcass' "Symphonies of Sickness", but that's probably just me) we find about 40 minutes of unrelenting thrash with Paul Bostaph back at the drum kit for good. Let's face it, Dave Lombardo is a cool guy and he can drum really well, but Bostaph just takes Slayer that little bit further - just listen to the first track off "Divine Intervention" and you'll know what I mean.

Like just about every Slayer album barring "Undisputed Attitude", "Diabolus in Musica" is a good album. It will cause neither eyebrows raised in wonder nor a fan's disappointed face.

RK

 

Written July 1998

 

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