Okay, I will not lie. Going into this album, I was VERY skeptical. I love Slayer. The controversy, the energy, the dark music, lyrical themes, it's a devil side of me that I enjoy...despite ironically holding to a faith that completely opposite, but that's beside the point. The point is, after the awesome album that was "World Painted Blood", I wasn't sure exactly how they could go further. And then all this stuff with Dave Lombardo and Kerry King happened...and of course, we had the tragic passing of Jeff Haneman. I wasn't the only Slayer fan in doubt. I was starting to think it was time for Slayer to throw in the towel. They've been beat up lately. And with the rehiring of Paul Bostaph, who was the drummer for Slayer throughout most of the 90's, I gotta say I was skeptical. The only album I really liked by Slayer with Bostaph sitting on the throne was "God Hates Us All" (ironically also released today....14 years ago....talk about your horrible coincidences). The first track I heard from this album, "Implode" only strengthened my worries. I wasn't sure what I was hearing. So...the album was released today. How does it hold up?
Well...better than I thought. It's safe to say that Slayer isn't letting the hard times get them down. And that's something to be admired. But I will say that for what it was hyped out to be by Kerry King, as the "Reign in Blood" for Paul Bostaph, I am honestly not sure I agree that it's all that it was said to be. In fact, after the first few tracks, I kinda feel the album is lacking in many areas. The tempo is slower than the average Slayer album (say for bits and pieces in the album), which to me is rather questionable. There's a charm in Slayer songs I find it hard to headbang in tempo with. With "Repentless", while its fun to headbang in time, and mind you there are a lot of moments in this album I found myself headbanging to, I can't help but feel that there's just something missing.
The opening tracks of this album are great. It's got a fun and dark opening instrumental, leading into the intense title track, and I gotta say, Tom sounds great. It's hard to imagine a guy his age able to scream as intense as he can still. I immediately get that energy that he has been so great at giving for the past 30 years. He keeps that energy throughout the album. There's no lack of energy like in albums I feel he didn't do too well in such as the 1998 disappointment "Diabolus in Musica" and even bits and pieces of "Divine Intervention". He is shouting all the way through, and it's wonderful to hear.
And I will say that despite Jeff's mastery of the riff no longer a part of this band, Slayer does still know how to give some good melodies and riffs. Kerry...I still think he's a bit of a jackass, but he's doing his part to keep Slayer alive, and that is something to be admired. And if Gary Holt is indeed here to stay with Slayer now...he's about as good a replacement as they could ask for. He doesn't fall behind, and he has fun with the group. And with Paul back, and blasting as well as he did on "God Hates Us All", the Slayer sound is ripe, and much cleaner than what it was in the 90's. I will say that I think it was cleaner with the previous two albums, but "Repentless" does indeed present a much cleaner sound than the albums of the 90s.
There are a few questionable tracks, such as "Cast the First Stone", which almost made me wonder if they were paying on the lowest tuning of the guitar they could. Honestly during the opening, I could almost see the strings vibrating lazily off the guitar. But it should be said that the enjoyable tracks outweigh the questionable ones. As I said, I enjoyed the title track, but I also enjoyed "Vices", "When the Stillness Comes" and "You Against You". Even "Implode" sounded better than from what I remember. Maybe I just needed a second listen. I'm not sure. But there are moments in this album that I question. For example, the opening of "Cast the First Stone" and the ending of the album, which is something I feel should match the intensity of the opening of any album, especially in a Slayer album. I feel the ending kinda fades away in this rather dirty ending. It's almost comparable to Metallica's white noise ending of the album of St. Anger. Maybe that's a bit of an overstatement....no that IS an overstatement, but it is one of the things I thought of when I heard it, and I'm not sure it fits here. But it's a minor gripe, and for what the album is, most of the gripes I have do not detract from the overall enjoyment of this album.
Do I like the album? Yeah. I like it a lot. But do I like it to the point where I will call it the "Reign in Blood" of Paul Bostaph? Probably not. Those are some big words, and this album doesn't have that kind of material to match that. It has great material, but nothing quite on that scale. But the ride is still enjoyable, and Slayer has proven to this fan who was in doubt, that they're not dead yet. Do they have more in the future? I hope to see at least one more, maybe a bit more energetic than this one, but if they can keep the brutality that they've captured here, and the darkness that they are so famous for, I think Slayer fans have nothing to fear, and only hopes for some good times up ahead. If you were in doubt like I was, give it a listen. If you are expecting the album to live up to Kerry's words...maybe approach with caution, but don't pass this album up.
Slayer...you have my attention again. And I thank you for getting it.
Album Grade: B
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