The album came with a bio, how pointless. If you’re a metalhead and you haven’t heard this band yet be ashamed. For those who already have a tattoo of the German eagle with the logo in it on their arm, prepare for the Christ Illusion.

 

Slayer will be Slayer, and they will remain so forever. Where bands like Metallica and Megadeth all screwed up, these gods of thrash metal have never betrayed extreme music. They will forever sound the same, and if they would change it I know a lot of people that will be pissed of. Including me.

 

So the sound is pretty much the same. High speed thrash metal with killer breakdowns with lyrics regarding death, war, religion and hate. Still some differences are detectable. Like for instance the fact that drumgod Dave Lombardo has returned to the studio with his original band. I don’t think there has ever been such fast drumming on a Slayer record ever. The double bas salvo’s are like a machine gun and there even are some blastbeats present on for instance ‘Supremist’. Hell fucking yeah! Furthermore the breakdowns and slower tracks sound incredibly heavy, like Hatebreed mosh heavy, and they flow into the relentless thrash parts with ease. The riffs on this record are truly killer. You find that they cover the entire Slayer era, from the old-skool stuff, to the more technical material to the deadly heavy murder tracks. Headbanging material once more.

 

But there are also some criticisable points on Christ Illusion. Of course everyone knows that Tom Araya has been suffering from vocal problems, and after a vocally very strong God Hates Us All he disappoints at some moments in certain tracks. He still (how could it be different) quite the same, but you hear his weak moments, sometimes very clearly. And that’s a pity. But I can understand that after spending ten thousand shows over 25 years screaming like an idiot, something ought to go wrong in there.

Something that bugs me a lot more is the fact that the solo’s are all…correct. No more false notes! And it sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My favourite solo’s of all time are no longer as shredding, horrible and deafening as they used to be. Now it just sounds like some unstructured fiddling. That’s nice too of course, but there’s something missing.

 

So there you have it. It’s still Slayer, only a bit faster, with better drumming, worse vocals and…well…stupid solo’s…? Honestly, I hope it is their last before Tom really screws up. But for the fans, it’s a more than worthy addition.