This Is Book’s Music

There have been rumors about World Painted Blood (Columbia) being Slayer’s last album. These guys have been around for over 25 years, have seen countless metal trends come and go, and of course were part of the original squad of four thrash/speed metal bands of the 80’s that were considered the ultimate in heavy. Despite the trends, Slayer stayed in their own world, walked down their own path, have managed to celebrate with their fans a cherished album that is one of the best metal albums of all time, and still show incredible growth when so many of their contempraries have watered themselves down or split up.

This is 2009, and this is World Painted Blood. The title track is a melodic song, or at least melodic in terms of Slayer, and shows how much they have grown, both as musicians and songwriters. Tom Araya still has one of the most wickest voices in all of music, and while he may not be screaming at the top of his lungs in every song, when you hear him you know who it is. The album could carry on in a melodic, somewhat progressive tone, they immediately rip into that classic Slatanic Wehrmacht song and start to carve up a body in the form of “Unit 731″:

Human brain experiment
On prisoners open skull
Vivisection, live dissection
Repulsing to the core
What are your final thoughts?
Do you want to kill me, or die in shame?
From my point of view
Justified action, the enemy burns

It may be a slight throwback to “Criminally Insane” or “Jesus Saves”, and it sounds like someone’s own personal hell as everyone dives in and suffocates each other in unity, sharing their own common hell. What I love is when Araya sings with his regular speaking voice, before building himself to the demonic screams. The first time I heard this song, it made me feel like I did when I played these guys like crazy in high school. Except this time I was in a car, and I wanted to speed up to 120mph and hit someone. I’m not talking literally of course, but that’s what Slayer does to you, which is why it’s best to hear this at home or in a live setting.

I haven’t read up about this album, so I don’t know the hype they’re throwing on it, but I hear something in this. I hear the band throwing nods to their entire career by playing various things people will recognize, a riff here, a riff there, etc. What I also hear are Slayer also acknowledging their top contemporaries, because I definitely hear a Metallica moment, a Megadeth moment, and an Anthrax moment, something they have never done in the past. It’s as if they’re saying “we’re old men now, we’re still here, we are the best at what we do, let’s rip this shit up.” In other words, if this is truly Slayer’s last album, they are tipping their hat to their friends, but for the last quarter of the album they pull out all of the tricks in the Slayer hat and show why people are willing to mutilate themselves by using a razor blade to cut up the band logo in their arms or abdomen.

The songs on the album are still about the human condition, the struggles of the world, and all of the heaviness that as kids we had no concept of, but as adults we can hopefully pass the word to the metal kids that it can be a scary place, but with strength it doesn’t have to be that way. Now don’t expect for Slayer to start doing covers of High School Musical, they are the kind of band you wnat to listen to when you feel like you’ve reached the point of no return. In a really odd way, they are the Sun Ra’s of speed metal, in that they seek a better place to be and while they go for that attendant target, they will condemn every form of evil on this planet. The final track, “Not Of This Earth”, drives into a sick “Beautiful People”-type dirge as Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman rip in with fierce riffs and a low-end mentality that puts you into the depths of the world of insecurity and sorrow they sing about. Then you have the rhythm section of Araya on bass and the maniacal Dave Lombardo on drums, how this man plays at this pace and makes it sound good is unknown. The overall, overwhelming sound is what has made them a force not to be messed with, and with production from Greg Fidelman who makes sure everything sounds incredible from start to finish, it also ends an unpredictable decade of human history in the right way. It was also executively produced by the man who signed them to Def Jam, Rick Rubin, and while I’m not sure how much impact he had on the production, his organization and continuity trademarks are very much in place.

If this becomes their last album, then an entire planet drenched in blood will forever be grateful for the music Slayer has poured onto them.

Good vibe hip-hop is not dead, and just because it’s “good” doesn’t mean it’s boring. Hoodie Allen’s Making Waves is a mixtape showing their ways of dropping good raps with a fun vibe, imagine the power of Kanye West without the sarcasm and mix it up wit Gym Class Heroes and maybe a bit of Lyrics Born, and I mention them because they’re down with getting their raps and rhymes down, but don’t mind mixing it up with a bit of soul flavor. For them, it doesn’t sound like a means to cash in with everyone else, it sounds natural, as it does in “Chasing The Dream”. They may be nothing more than two white guys who may be working at Dunkin Donuts, but they be funkin’ fo nuts, you know what I mean? Um, DO YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN, FAKA

“Turn The City” sounds perfect in 2009 as it would have in 1982, as if The Buggles hooked up with Depeche Mode while checking out a Phonte Coleman or Slug show. While their new updated take of The Pharcyde’s “Passin’ Me By” may get them added attention and perhaps some airplay, as good and respectable as it is, their original material is far better. They rap, they sing, they write, and they do all of these things as artists who are very secure of their talents and capabilities.

Making Waves (FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD, 94.43)

Bellflur are a band out of DC who play aggressive and emotional pop/rock with the abrasiveness their city’s music scene is known for. Last Quarter Of The 20th Century Blues (self-released) shows off their vibe in the form of 5-songs that show how they are equally intense in the lyric department as they are in the music department.

A journalist called them “thinking man’s indie rock” but some of the best indie rock has a lot to do with it coming from the thinking man or woman, it’s a music not content on being mundane or mediocre. Tracks such as “The Rhythms Of Waking And Sleeping” and “Grey Sparkle Finnish Pig” have the kind of sheer force that bands like U2 and Helmet have, and I like it when the group gets into a progressive groove and takes what is already good into something much greater, something that seems to be a standard practice with these guys.

I definitely like what I hear, and I know I sometimes throw the word “potential” around a lot, but there’s something here that can grow into something greater, something more grand but not grandiose.

The fall is not only the season the northern hemisphere is in, but it’s also the name of the forthcoming album by Norah Jones. The Falll (Blue Note) will be released on November 17th, but the good folks at NPR are streaming the album in full. You can take a listen to it now by clicking here. You also have the option to pre-order the CD through these handy links at Amazon.com or CD Universe.

Digital enthusiasts can follow the following links to iTunes:
The Fall (Standard Edition)
The Fall (Deluxe Edition)
Chasing Pirates (single)