September 27, 1994 - Divine Intervention

A month after my last release and almost four years since their last album "Seasons In The Abyss", Slayer released their sixth album "Divine Intervention" on September 27, 1994. In the four years since their last album drummer Dave Lombardo left the band to focus on his family and newborn child. Lombardo is an absolutely amazing drummer and he will be sorely, sorely missed. His insanely fast yet perfectly on-time drumming has come to be one of Slayer's defining sounds, but alas Dave is allowed to have a family. He is replaced by new drummer Paul Bostaph (of the band "Forbidden", which I've never heard of) and he has the tall task of replacing Lombardo. Tom Araya was inspired by a number of horrific things he saw on television and the lyrics of this album are largely based on real people or events and the gruesomeness that humanity can demonstrate. It's been way too long, let's check out some new thrash metal from Slayer!

The album kicks off with "Killing Fields" and Bostaph shows off his skills immediately with an album opening short drum solo that sounds pretty good and pretty damn Slayer. The rest of the band joins in to complete a fast-paced and very low riff and they then slow things down a bit, but things still sound pretty metal. The pace slows once again to a more "South Of Heaven" pace as Araya finally starts the first verse and Bostaph continues to sound like a pretty damn good replacement for Lombardo with lots of fast drumming. After a couple slower verses they start to pick up the pace a little and Araya sings a solid faster verse that sets the stage for the album's first solo. I'm not sure if it's Kerry King or Jeff Hanneman but as you'd expect it's a pretty fast and pretty sweet solo. They then close out the song with a final verse and Slayer seem like they're sticking to their guns and still playing a thrash metal style. The next song is a short one called "Sex. Murder. Art." and it opens with a pretty cool and catchy guitar riff before everyone settles nicely into a typical high octane Slayer verse with everyone playing very quickly and Araya yelling nicely overtop. King and Hanneman both play some cool and very fast guitar and they jam through a couple verses before smashing into a louder final verse that sounds solid, and then the song's over! Track 3 is "Fictional Reality" and they once again kick right into a cool fast guitar riff and everyone builds nicely around this to form the main riff. After the first verse we get a very short guitar solo before the next verse and then things break into a new riff with one guitarist playing some great fast-paced stuff in the background while the other guitarist plays some very high and trippy stuff. This reminds me of "Raining Blood" with some crazy noises in this slightly psychedelic, slightly metal section and then they tie things up really nicely at the end and segue back to the main riff. They play a final verse and then close out the song with another short guitar solo, though this one is still pretty awesome and a great way to end things. Up next is "Dittohead" and this is more reminiscent of "Hell Awaits"-era Slayer with a supersonic main riff with some blindingly fast guitars, bass and drums, not to mention Araya's spitfire vocals that somehow keep up with this incredible pace. He can be hard to understand when he's singing this quickly, but I just love the intensity of it all! After about a minute they shift to a new riff that is a little slower but still pretty fast and it's led by some more great guitar work that sets the stage for the other guitarist to solo. It's a nice longer solo that sounds pretty cool and then after another short verse it's solo time again! This one is off the charts with some awesome shredding and sounds fuckin sweet and they fire right into a supersonic final riff to end this song at a cool 2:30. They packed alot of awesomeness in though, fantastic song! Track 5 is the title track "Divine Intervention" and it's also the longest song at just over five and half minutes. A quiet guitar riff leads the way for the intro but Bostaph does a nice drum fill to show that things are about to pick up as everyone else joins in for a slow main riff led by a pretty epic sounding slow guitar riff. Araya finally comes in to sing the verse in a bit of a raspy voice and things sound alright, but it's all pretty slow paced for Slayer. After a couple long verses it's solo time and things start off with a coop but pretty tempered solo, but then we have our first classic Slayer trade-off of the album as the other guitarist fires off with a long and pretty epic solo. After this solid solo things devolve into Araya talking and rambling and then it's back to the slow main riff for another verse. After this verse we're treated to another epic little guitar solo and the last note of it continues as Araya finishes the rest if the verse and then from that long last note emerges a final guitar solo to excellently close things out. Up next is "Circle Of Beliefs" and Araya sings in a bit of a distorted voice overtop another low main riff but the verse doesn't last long before it's early solo time! The solo begins overtop this slower, low riff but the background shifts to a more frantic, Slayer pace as the awesome guitar solo continues to shred overtop. The next verse keeps with the frantic pace and it rolls nicely into a similar chorus, followed by another solo! This one is pretty short and then it's on to another verse and chorusz then we get our 3rd solo of the song and this one is pretty sweet. From here they start a new riff that is fast and pretty cool and it sets the stage for solo #4! The awesome shredding continues and after this fourth and final solo they race through a final verse and chorus before ending things on a nice epic note. Track 7 is "SS-3" and after a solid opening riff for about 25 seconds things shift and one guitarist cues up a thrash-y riff, Bostaph plays us in with a nice drum fill and they surprisingly settle into a fairly slow main riff that isn't bad, just a little out of character. They slowly jam this out for a couple verses and then things finally kick into high gear and they start playing at a usual Slayer pace. This new verse is pretty good and we're treated to a couple nice short solos inbetween the short verses until Bostaph very quickly wraps things up at the finish with another pretty damn fast fill. The next song is "Serenity In Murder" and the intro is pretty sweet with some great drumming by Bostaph and some cool fast guitars and after about 30 seconds they shift nicely into the main riff led by a pretty catchy guitar riff. Araya sings in a low and weird voice at first, but he changes to his usual yelling for the layyer part of the verse and sets the stage nicely for the first solo. It's a slow solo, but it fits the mood really well and then it's off for another verse. After this verse the next solo is not so slow as either King or Hanneman fires off on an electric solo that sounds pretty amazing. After the solo they nicely close things out to end this short but for the most part pretty cool song. Track 9 is "213" and it starts very quietly and very slowly with a light guitar riff and Bostaph adding some light cymbals. This is quite unlike Slayer, but things sound very eerie as you know it can't stay like this forever. The other guitarist eventually comes in with a loud electric guitar riff and then both guitars go electric and they build into a nice main riff. After over two minutes Araya finally joins in with the first verse and they nicely jam out a couple before Araya says "I need a friend. Please be my companion. I don't want to be left alone with my sanity" in a creepy part and then solo time emerges. It's a pretty sweet little solo as you'd expect and then they play a final verse to finish off this weird and kind of un-Slayer song. The final track on the album is "Mind Control" and they go back to being typical Slayer right away as they kick right into a lightning fast main riff with some great guitars and Araya yelling nicely overtop. After a couple coop verses it's solo time and we hear a pretty epic and sweet 1st solo! They follow this with a cool little guitar outro that ties us back to the main riff for another lightning fast verse and then solo #2! The solo fires off like a rocket and there's tons of crazy and fast stuff in another wicked solo! There's no let-up as they kick into another cool verse to close out this short song that was jam-packed with awesomeness. What a great way to end the album!

That is the end of "Divine Intervention" and I thought it was another pretty awesome  album from Slayer. Paul Bostaph is the real deal and somehow Slayer don't lose a step after losing the great Dave Lombardo. "Dittohead" and "Mind Control" were both phenomenal shorter songs and aside from the slightly strange "213" I thought every song had me headbanging hard! I think this easily surpasses both "South Of Heaven" and "Show No Mercy" and I think it's even better than their last album "Seasons In The Abyss". And you know when I say that it was better than "Hell Awaits" as well that this is one pretty freaking awesome album. "Reign In Blood" is still in a league of it's own at the top, but with Slayer's newest offering being their 2nd best album (in my opinion) the sky is still the limit for these thrash rock gods. I can't wait to see where they go from here!