June 9, 1998 - Diabolus In Musica

A week after my last release and two years since their cover album "Undisputed Attitude", Slayer released their eighth album "Diabolus In Musica" on June 9, 1998. Back to making their own music, this is described as Slayer's most experimental album and it has a different overall sound due to Slayer using down-tuned guitars on most songs. Their last studio effort was really great, but what exactly does experimental Slayer sound like?  Let's find out!

The album begins with "Bitter Peace" and it's driven by a slow but nice and heavy main riff that sounds pretty slow for Slayer, and the down-tuned guitars do give things a different vibe, although it's still very metal. After a minute and a half they shift gears entirely and move to a much faster, more typical Slayer pace and everything sounds pretty good with Tom Araya nicely yelling overtop the fast music with some cool drums from Paul Bostaph, some quick bass by Araya and of course some cool guitars by Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman. We get a dueling solo (as Slayer love to do) and each guitarist rips off a pretty fast and pretty sweet solo. The first minute and a half was different and interesting, and the rest was a typical, pretty solid Slayer song. Not a bad way to kick things off! Up next is "Death's Head" and it sticks with the slower main riff the whole way through on this one, which is solid, but pretty plain for Slayer. Araya does play some cool bass in the background and things don't sound bad by any means, but this is definitely some experimental Slayer that is not very thrash-y. The solo sounds epic, but it's also pretty slow and this is not one of Slayer's best songs for me. Keep in mind that this is still way better than most bands metal (and especially better than their thrash cohorts Metallica have been playing recently), it's just not Slayer's best material, but they don't make bad music. Track 3 is "Stain Of Mind" and it has a bouncing main riff that is also not thrash-y, but it sounds pretty good and is pretty catchy. Araya sounds solid yelling overtop in his typical tone and things sound heavy while also being pretty accessible for Slayer. The solo, again,  sounds crazy, but it's really pretty simple. Araya sounds like he's pouring out his soul on vocals though and I think he sounds great. Interesting stuff. The next track is "Overt Enemy" and there's two voices talking over each other in a weird and long intro that isn't really very exciting. Out of this comes another slow and heavy main riff with some simple but heavy guitars and some solid drumming by Bostaph. Of course there's a cool guitar solo and this new type of Slayer is still solid, but I miss the thrash-y insanity. Bostaph plays some great drum fills at a couple points as well. Track 5 is "Perversions Of Pain" and it Grant's my wishes with a pretty fast main riff that sounds great to me. The chorus has slower guitars, but Bostaph plays some more fantastic drums to keep things sounding good. There's a pretty sweet solo midway through and this song is definitely one of the better ones for me. Up next is "Love To Hate" and it has a pretty groovy main riff that is not thrash-y at all, but it's par for the course for this album with some heavy guitars and bass and Araya yelling nicely overtop. The solo is solid as you'd expect and the end of it is very distorted and sounds pretty crazy. Bostaph plays some nice drum fills as they bring things to a close and while this still wasn't the lightning fast Slayer of old, it was still pretty cool. Track 7 is "Desire" and it has a very quiet guitar opening that builds nicely into a typical riff (for this album) with some slow but heavy guitars. Araya sings quietly in the verse and he doesn't around anywhere as good as his yelling. He sings better in the chorus, but overall it's a pretty timid verse and chorus for Slayer. There is a dueling guitar solo, with some nice distorted stuff in the second solo, but this was not one of their better songs overall. The next track is "In The Name Of God" and it has a nice chugging main riff that is pretty catchy and Araya is back to yelling and sounding solid. There's a wicked solo after the first verse and chorus with some great shredding that really perks you up! After they jam through a couple more they end the song with a gnarly breakdown with one guitarist playing a great slow and heavy riff while the other plays some crazy stuff overtop. A great way to end this pretty good tune. Track 9 is "Scrum" and they pack a lot of cool stuff into this 2 minutes and 18 seconds. A pretty fast opening riff, but then they move to a super fast,  vintage Slayer riff that sounds pretty sweet. Bostaph's drums are excellent, Aray's bass is fast and furious and it's great to hear some thrash-y guitars. The solo is also really fast and pretty cool and for such a short song this one is still one of the better ones on the album for sure. Up next is "Screaming From The Sky" and it's back to the norm for this album with a down-tuned and slower main riff. The verse is decent, but a little dull for Slayer and the chorus is pretty similar. There's a predictably solid guitar solo, but it's followed by a long talking section that I find doesn't add anything to an already bland riff. There's been a few lesser songs like this one, very unlike Slayer. The album wraps up with "Point" and Bostaph plays some solid drums in this fairly fast and interesting opening that leads nicely into a heavy, thrash-y and yet also catchy main riff. There's a couple pretty wicked solos in this song and this is what I wish the whole album was like, a nonstop headbanger! There's no let-up at any point and it's a great way to finish things off.

That is the end of "Diabolus In Musica" and I thought it was a decent, but not amazing album from these thrash metal gods. The down-tuned guitars still sounded heavy, but it was a different kind of metal than Slayer are used to for sure and I thought it was a little too basic for these technical geniuses. There was some sweet stuff for sure, but there were also some less exciting songs. I think it was better than their last album, the cover album "Undisputed Attitude", but it was nowhere near as good as "South Of Heaven" and I think it's their worst original album yet. Will Slayer go back to their thrash roots next time out? I certainly hope so!