“It’s all a fuckin’ mockery...” – ‘Skeleton Christ’

It was recently stated in a weekly ‘metal’ magazine! of the new Maiden opus that reviewing new Maiden material is almost a redundant task in the face of new things to say and the same people will buy it and their concerts will be hugely successful etc. This monumental piece of lazy journalism can equally be applied to Slayer. Except Slayer forbid laziness and idleness as much as they despise idolatry and revel in the extremities of sublimely pulpating metal like fifteenth century gut-fucker Gilles de Rais rummaging around a five years olds vitals with his knob. Salutingly still as intense and ridiculously vice-grippingly violent in their considered aggression as ever. You may laugh nervously like a soon to be offed horror film character, and really get to feel like someone trapped at the hands of a psychopath might, but these short, brutal songs appropriately and admirably depict that darklands and diafuckingbolical dilemmas there are out there in such droves no disguises are deemed necessary anymore. ‘Consfearacy’, ‘Jihad’, ‘Cult’ and ‘Supremist’ are titles that only enhance the seriousness of this music, and show they’re as important as ever, the current turmoil almost perfect for Slayer’s fertile minds of fear and feral frightocracy. While, like Maiden, they may seem a self-perpetuating entity, something taken for granted at the extreme edges of metal, yeah, they’re still heavy, vicious and visceral as a medieval massacre and rail against religion with the fervour that the Inquisition put to death untold millions of plucky pagans and hearty heathens, they remain a pristinely powerful and necessary force, even if some of the anti-clergy lyrics would be laughed at by schoolkids. __________________________________________________

- Stu Gibson