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Slayer > God Hates Us All > Reviews > JVK
Slayer - God Hates Us All

God hates the people who don't like this - 95%

JVK, March 12th, 2003

For those paying attention, the musical direction of Slayer seemed a little dubious back in 1997. They were putting out Diabolus in Musica which had various hints of nu-metal in it and was a little less murderous than one might expect from Slayer. Not to say it was bad, but it certainly could not hold up to the classics.

Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on which side you're on), the naysayers, the pessimistic bitches who predicted Slayer's demise have had their asses kicked in a fashion so brutal words cannot describe it. The demonic riff-factory have created an album more vicious than anything before. This is one of the heaviest, scariest, most evil, church-burning, bible-bashing, Christian-raping albums of all time.

Consider the vocals. Tom Araya's pained scream has been augmented by new production causing him to sound even more tortured and hateful. The sound replaces the bright, happy tone found on Diabolus. It's quite welcome. Such a horrifying sound accents the endlessly bleak lyrics about how the human race has been forsaken by God and we should all kill each other.

Riffs and songwriting have not been this good since Reign In Blood. Chugging power chords are played at lightning speeds while Paul Bostaph creates fearsome techinical drumbeats with mechanical precision. The riffs are incredibly powerful. I'm not sure what goes on in Kerry King's shiny bald head to so consistently come up with this kind of genius. All the while King and Hanneman crank out their usual shrieking atonal solos for which this band is known.

If there is any complaint to be lodged here, it would be about the absence of the evil harmonies Slayer made famous in the 80s. There is no reason a couple of these songs, perhaps "Disciple" or "Bloodline" could not have them. They would be far more chilling in effect with such fifths in use.

There are some people out there, however, who do not like God Hates Us All. Even more disturbing, these people have made some of the world's most assinine accusations of it. They have referred to it as nu-metal. Last I checked, nu-metal does not have fast guitar solos, blastbeats, and the pure heaviness of a Swedish death metal band. The people who do not like this album are the same people who don't believe Slayer existed after 1991. They are the same people who drive Camaros to work and marry their sisters, hiding their mullets in ponytails under NASCAR caps. Fuck these people.

If you like heavy, brutal, uncompromising thrash metal, this is an absolute must-have. It is so well executed and pure in concept that it is essential. Buy it or be damned to eternal cock-sucking.