Diabolus in Musica
(American/Columbia) 
 

Slayer's last full album of all-original material,
Divine Intervention, found the thrash metal kings
spinning their wheels with a mostly generic retread
of past riffs. Three- and- a- half years later,
Diabolus in Musica positions Slayer back on track
with a vicious effort that maintains their brutally
heavy approach, yet adds a few new colors.
Diabolus kicks off with "Bitter Peace," which
opens with a slow build before breaking out into an
ultra- fast rhythmic thrust reminiscent of Slayer's
1985 epic, "Hell Awaits." While the band has varied
the tempos in their music for a long time now,
there's still no one who thrashes better. What sets
them apart from countless other death metal outfits
who have imitated them -- often with cheesy results
-- is the band's effortless control and precision
while playing at lightning- fast speeds. Drummer
Paul Bostaph (returning after a year-and-a-half
break) deserves a lot of credit for that; despite
the rapid pace, the band never sounds like it's
losing control of the song.
Much of the album finds Slayer changing tempos
within songs, which makes for interesting dynamics
but tends to make the songs less catchy. If there's
anything that keeps Diabolus from resting alongside
Reign in Blood and South of Heaven as a bonafide
Slayer classic, it's a lack of truly memorable
 hooks - another element that has always set the
band apart from all the other thrash wannabes --
and a little flabbiness in the album's midsection.
Nevertheless, there's still a lot of monstrous
metal here. "Stain of Mind," "Death's Head," and
"Overt Enemy" all feature some off- the- hook
guitar pyrotechnics from riffmasters Jeff Hanneman
and Kerry King, while the creepy "Desire" combines
a sluggish, doom- laden riff with unsettling vocals
from lead singer/ bassist Tom Araya. And no other
metal act working today could match the intensity
of "Point" or "In the Name of God."
After 14 years, Slayer are still the undisputed
champs of extreme metal. The title of the album is
a Latin phrase that means, literally, "devil's
music." How devilishly appropriate it is.

                                                         - Don Kaye