Warthur World Painted Blood sees Slayer consolidating the general approach of Christ Illusion, with the reformed classic lineup that made that album such a success continuing their run of albums which aren't quite new classics on the level of the old Slayer canon, but are pretty decent and entertaining listens if you don't have Reign In Blood or South of Heaven handy. Finally balancing their classic thrash approach with the angry punk influences which have often bubbled under the surface in their music, the band produce an album which might not redefine the rules of thrash metal in the same way their absolute best releases did, but at the very least keeps the thrash flame alive and will appeal to most fans.

Kingcrimsonprog World Painted Blood is the 11th studio album from the American Thrash Metal band Slayer, released in late 2009 this was the second studio album recorded after the band reunited with original Dave Lombardo.

This forty minute album finds the band split pretty much down the middle between straight forward no thrills thrash songs and groove-orientated songs, with some of each kind featuring slow atmospheric intros.

Tracks like ‘Psychopathy Red,’ ‘Snuff,’ and ‘Hate Worldwide,’ deliver the trademark Slayer pounding sound, while ‘Beauty Through Order,’ and ‘Playing With Dolls,’ are more menacing numbers which break up the album from being all speed.

The album has taken a fair amount of criticism for its production job and for a perceived laziness, lack of variety or lack of new ideas. This is something you’ll have to try for yourself as the same standard of musicianship and aggression Slayer always delver is present on the record but the album met with mixed reviews anyway.

If you are a Slayer fan I recommend that you pick up a copy and give it a good few listens before dismissing it all together. Tracks like ‘Not Of This God,’ and ‘Americon,’ provide enough new spins on the Slayer formula to warrant at least a curiosity listen and the rest of the album delivers what you normally want from Slayer.

My advice is that you try this before buying it. At first, I personally wasn’t overly keen on the album but it is a grower and now I am fairly fond of it. Certainly, World Painted Blood is not Slayer’s best album, will never be hailed as a classic and is not the best place for new fans to start; however neither is it devoid of value as some hyperbolic reviewers would have you believe.

The Angry Scotsman Slayer makes their comeback album.

First Metallica, then Megadeth, now the kings of unrelenting thrash have their turn with "World Painted Blood". Much like the previously mentioned bands, I thought Slayer was long done, their glory days being the 80's and it's really time to just hang it up. Well this big four had something left in the tank as well. I was quite surprised when I first heard this album.

A return to their old days, "World Painted Blood" is thrashy. No questions asked good ol thrash metal. Slayer thankfully abandons their nu metal explorations, even leaving behind the Drop C and B tunings returning to the familiar Slayer territory of E flat. However, what really caught my ear was something else.

This is more than simply 40 minutes of start to finish thrash. It is actually quite melodic, (for Slayer standards) and the songwriting impressed me most. Not just riffs crammed into songs, abrupt changes, blazing solos, (though all that is here in abundance). No, every one of these songs sound different. It's refreshing. Also is the actual songwriting which does have some different elements like the build in "World Painted Blood" the awesome middle section in "Not of this God" the overall mid tempo crescendo based song "Americon" and the intriguing "Playing With Dolls" which is perhaps my favorite on the album, and a powerful one! While all the songs are thrashy yet varied, the degrees are different on each song, and it never feels formulaic. In terms of song structure and composition this is one of the better albums Slayer has made!

The music itself is impressive, with great riffing, (in classic Slayer harmonized style), atonal soloing, (though a tad more diverse than usual) some unique moments and awesome drumming. Dave is more straightforward here than "Christ Illusion" but its more than adequate and the drums are higher up in the mix. They really slam and you hear every hit, it's great to hear and really moves the album along! Tom's vocals are pretty good. A bit rough at times but natural, at least, and more than get the job done. "Playing With Dolls" is one of the better performances.

Also, lyrics are never a big deal for me, especially in metal and even more so for Slayer, but thank god they dropped the 14 year old style, and played out, anti religious and shock themes. Not that serial killers, medical horror and politics are groundbreaking... but this is Slayer.

"World Painted Blood" is the band's best album since "Seasons in the Abyss" and really does feel like the natural progression from it, (ignoring the 90's and 2000's of course). This is a great album, with really no bad song. A throwback to classic Slayer yet moves forward. Something the band deserves credit for.

Four Stars