Slayer – World Painted Blood
Slayer’s last few albums have all been hailed as a “return to form,” dating back to 2001’s God Hates Us All. Truth is, they never really lost their form in the first place, aside from a few nu-metal-esque tracks on Diabolus in Musica. Slayer has always sounded like Slayer, they’ve just added a few pieces to the repertoire over the years. 2006’s Christ Illusion sounded like a band that was mostly trying to get back in touch with their old thrash metal sound, yet the songs that really stood out on that album (“Jihad” “Eyes of the Insane”) didn’t sound very thrashy at all. I find the same is true on World Painted Blood, with the best songs being on the more experimental side, i.e. “Beauty Through Order” and “Playing with Dolls.” Don’t get me wrong, there are a few great thrash songs on this album – “Psychopathy Red” and “Hate Worldwide,” in particular – but the moodier, slower songs bring to mind the creepy vibe of tracks from South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss, something the band hasn’t been able to re-create in quite some time. Some are hailing this album as a return-to-form yet again, but as I said before, this is a band who has always been undeniably SLAYER. As for the album, I like it better than the last 3 they’ve released, so I’d have to say it’s a solid B.
Abraxas – Wretched Existence EP
Thanks to Relapse Records for hooking me up with this EP from brand-new death metallers Abraxas. Featuring veterans of the scene ranging from bands such as Hate Eternal, Monstrosity and Vile, this is fast, brutal death metal, with some catchy riffs, and even a bass solo on opener “Eternally Erased.” I’m not big on the vocals, which I could probably say about 90% of death metal, but musically this is a tight effort from a band that doesn’t exactly stand out from the death metal crowd. Solid debut, for sure, and at only 4 tracks, it definitely doesn’t wear out its welcome like a lot of death metal full-length releases tend to do. Mildly recommended for death metal die-hards only. C+
Mammoth Grinder – Extinction of Humanity
Newly released on CD and digital download by Relapse, this is a Texas band that I was unfamiliar with going into this review. Labeled as a “violent strain of hardcore,” I was apprehensive going into this. Not usually a huge hardcore fan, I was pleasantly surprised at the intensity and rawness exhibited here, and aside from the speed, I didn’t find them to sound very “core” at all. They bring to mind Clandestine/Wolverine Blues-era Entombed in a lot of ways; it’s almost blatant. Not that that’s a bad thing, as those two releases are two of the best metal albums ever, IMO, and with Entombed’s last couple of releases not really hitting the mark for me, Mammoth Grinder certainly does the trick. Not many points for originality, but the execution is top-notch. The songs vary in tempos and structure, so they never get too boring or repetitive. They keep it quick with only 7 songs, which is also a plus. I’ll give it a B-, but am interested in hearing more from them in the future, and seeing if they develop more of their own sound.
Matt Steele
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