Slayer – World Painted Blood
Slayer is just too big a band to bother with a brief history or anything like that. If somehow you’ve never heard of them, please go buy Reign In Blood and we’ll talk after.
As undeniable a place in metal history as Slayer is guaranteed, something very wrong has happened with World Painted Blood. I’m having trouble reviewing the songs and creative aspects, because I can’t even get past the damn production! It is so very sad that I am forced to say this about a recording from one of the most successful bands in metal, but this album sounds like crap.
The guitars have absolutely no balls to them at all. How could guitar legends like Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman sign off on this tone? The mere thought of it is baffling. The bass is also louder than on any previous album, which makes little sense. Tom has always just followed the guitars, which he is still doing, so why turn him up now? And the drums… they don’t sound mixed! The whole kit sounds dry and overdriven, as if the tracks were turned up to be audible and just left that way without any refining. For some reason, the vocals and solos sound great, but if you were to remove them there would be no way to convince me that this wasn’t a basement recording done as a demo.
Okay, pushed passed it, listened to the songs… if Christ Illusion was a condensed imitation of Reign In Blood and everything that came before it, World Painted Blood is the same thing for everything that came after. We’ve heard this stuff before; it just sounded better the first time around.
So what’s the point? Slayer has enough of a cult following to keep touring without the need for a halfhearted record like this. I am not of the school of thought that musicians should disappear just because there’s gray in their beards, but that doesn’t mean they’re bulletproof and can pull stunts like this and get away with it.
Honestly, Slayer had the right idea with the Still Reigning DVD. They could have done two more like that, for South of Heaven and Seasons. The old stuff could have kept them going for another decade easily, and they could have slowly accumulated a bank of really good songs (like Psychopathy Red, the only really good cut from this) for a last album or two. Instead, we get a halfhearted, under produced effort that only serves to tarnish a legacy.
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28 Comments
May 9th, 2010 at 11:37 pm
So, you don't like the guitar tone, and the bass loud, and the drums don't sound mixed, so you don't like it?
The albums raw, fast, and absolutely brutal. It's no frills thrash, which is just what I expect from slayer. And who needs production when you have Dave Lombardo on drums? The drum beat on Unit 731 about made me piss myself it was so tasty the first time I heard it.
Not a great album, I'll admit it, but damn it, this is slayer. And they're still good at doing what they do, after 30 some years. And I'm happy to be along for the ride to hear it.
A solid 3-4 in my opinion.
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June 10th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
2.0 ? Seriously im a nice guy in general but… FUCK YOU !
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June 28th, 2010 at 12:38 am
Gentlemen, gentlemen, shall we not remain civil?
If you guys like this, by all means, rock the shit out of it. I'm very happy for you and for Slayer.
I'm the first guy to scream SLAYER in public if I see someone with a shirt, I've seen them live numerous times, and I own hard copies of many of their albums. I just find that the Rick Rubin sound production on this, much like on Metallica's Death Magnetic, is not up to industry standard according to what other modern metal bands are releasing. The drums sound honestly terrible, you can't tell me you don't hear that.
As for the songs, it is a matter of personal opinion I guess. I'm actually a big fan of the God Hates Us All album, which I'd probably rate at a 3.5 or 4, although many other people really hate that one. You didn't see me saying "fuck you" to reviewers who didn't agree with me though…
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Oma replied:
July 1st, 2010 at 2:02 pm
well sometimes a "Fuck You" is most welcomed… Well sometimes…
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July 1st, 2010 at 3:42 pm
Sorry, not a Slayer fan at all. To me they will NEVER top Seasons In The Abyss….but hey, thats just me.
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August 8th, 2010 at 9:26 am
That was a half asked review. I won't hold it against you! Not everyone can be great at everything!!!
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Eric Burnet replied:
August 8th, 2010 at 10:16 am
"half asked?"… "Not everyone can be great at everything!!!"
Indeed, indeed.
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Jen replied:
August 8th, 2010 at 10:44 am
Well played, Eric. haha
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Luke Amos replied:
August 10th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Jen, don't steal my phrase.
Erik, well played.
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Luke Amos replied:
August 10th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
Good God, I spelled Eric wrong.
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Josh replied:
August 10th, 2010 at 3:01 pm
Consequences will never be the same.
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Jen replied:
August 10th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
Oh, so YOU'RE the one who coined that phrase? I was wondering…
Good job on your spelling too.
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August 9th, 2010 at 11:36 am
Yeah everything! It's a pronoun! Half asked is exactly was the review was! Junk eh!
Well Played? Ha ha! Must be a Self Proclaimed HOT Lanta thing!
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Jen replied:
August 9th, 2010 at 11:55 am
I'm not from Atlanta. And I'd never in a million years call it "Hot lanta" unless I'm referring to its temperature. haha
Is English your first language? Because "half asked" is not the proper phrase you're looking for, I assure you.
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August 9th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
Actually it's a nice way to say half assed! You know when someone doesn't quite wipe their ass proprely and they still smell a little funny after vacating the commode!
Don't act all high and mighty as if your smarter than you really are. It's not lady like!
So it was the correct phrase that I was looking for! That review was shitty and I was being nice…
Thank you very much!
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Jen replied:
August 9th, 2010 at 4:37 pm
I knew what you meant to say, but it's not what you said. I wasn't acting all "high and mighty" or smarter than anyone. I was jokingly responding about why Eric posted his comment and I posted mine. I was as nice as possible about it. (Did you see the "haha" and "
"?) I don't know why I always get assigned the "bitch" role when I intentionally try to respond as nicely as possible.
But remember, it was YOU who opened the discussion by making the negative comment about the review.
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Eric Burnet replied:
August 9th, 2010 at 4:54 pm
"Don’t act all high and mighty as if your smarter than you really are. It’s not lady like!"
*you're
Jen ignore this dude either way. There are a lot of these people trying to raise our hackles for whatever reason…
I couldn't give less of a shit. We're providing free content you used to have to buy a magazine to get, along with music samples and an open comment forum for reader participation. If people want to just take shots at our writing all the while making grammar mistakes in their own posts… that's fine by me.
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Jen replied:
August 9th, 2010 at 5:30 pm
Do you know how much restraint it took for me to not point that "your" out? I would have been an uber bitch then. haha
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August 9th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
I've noticed that most of you (staff) gang up on people (the fans) when we constructively criticize the review. Some of us deserve it but I said nothing bad and I didn't swear (asked not asses) on purpose! Oh well, I'll take it with a grain of salt!
Any way, on a lighter note I know that this is a music site, but has anyone seen "The Book of Eli" and if so why does everyone think he's blind?
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Jen replied:
August 9th, 2010 at 5:29 pm
Really? WE gang up on people who constructively criticize reviews? How about the countless people saying they wanted to kill me and called me names I've never been called before in my life? Did you miss that?
And saying a review is half assed is NOT constructive criticism, mind you. I'm not going to argue with you about it. If you knew how many hours I spend working tirelessly on this site (I designed and coded it from scratch) then you'd know why I'm a little defensive over it and our writers. I mean you no disrespect at all, but you get the attitude you give.
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August 9th, 2010 at 5:08 pm
Eric,
I do know the difference between the words Your and You're. You're is the contraction of you are. Sorry that I made a gramatical error while typing with two kids running around the house. Opps!!
Last I checked neither of you have won the Pulitzer Prize, so keep YOU'RE smug comments to yourself.
I was a little dissapointed with the review eh! No biggie.
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Paul Patterson replied:
August 10th, 2010 at 11:34 am
Please tell me you were joking on your third sentence.
Because if that was a serious grammatical attempt… you should probably be banned from TNR :p
Also, talking down to the founder's wife seems a bit absent-minded in my opinion.
I don't know, that's just my opinion
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August 10th, 2010 at 10:40 am
WPB is one of their best since seasons! As far as production goes I guess I don't get it. Under produced?? What are you listening to? Listen to Show No Mercy if you want to hear under produced. Tons of people have been complaining about Death Magnetic for over two years and I think that it sounds fine. Leaps and bounds better than St. Junker!
Tarnish their Legacy? Come on man. Really? Not sure of that's even possible. They would have to make a Load or Re-Load to do that! Slayer would never tip the scale that far.
You mentioned that you play in a touring band of sorts? Do you have a myspace page where I can listen to this band or a couple of songs you could send me? I'd like to hear it.
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August 10th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Paul,
You love, you hate, you have it all figued out, but you are correct you have no clue!
Be careful Ben Roethlisberger might mistake you for a little girl and bend you over!!!
How's that for grammatical?
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Paul Patterson replied:
August 10th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
Figured*
And that would be clever, if I actually looked like a woman. -_-
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August 10th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
Okay well thanks for finally fleshing it out. Problem is, all those things are entirely your opinion. My review was mine. I've been both a Metallica and Slayer fan since I was 9 years old. I respect that you like World Painted Blood. You're very welcome to also enjoy Death Magnetic. I think both are overrated.
That still does not explain how my review was half-assed. If us differing in opinion to you means I am somehow lazy or a bad writer, then I have to disagree.
As for my own band, there is a link to it in my staff bio.
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August 11th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
Okay man I'll check out the band!
Paul,
Sorry but you do have feminie features!!! So be careful man!
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September 20th, 2011 at 7:03 am
The album is no fun, unlike christ illusion. went backwards on the sound and production – quite how a band does this, is beyond me…
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