Feeling compelled late at night to offer forth my two cents worth, since for some horrible reason there isn't a review of this record (maybe infamy is enough), so... After four years between studio offerings, the spawns of hell return unabated, ferocious and blood hungry as ever. By no means a bad thing, this is a typical Slayer album full of all those 120db subtleties and nuances that we've all come to know and love. No sh*t, the power and aggression of these guys is incredible, and when all those metal mainstays are busy writing sh*tty records and making themselves look like a bad U2 joke as they age (Metallica: just sell what little soul you kept and get it over with, thanks for scamming us with that "load" of sh*te), these guys beat you over the head with some of their heaviest production and songs that slide nicely into the catalogue like they were always there. Almost hard to believe they're on a major label. Ten years later I still spin this disk on a regular basis, it's seminility only challenged by that breathtaking "in the nightside eclipse" album those Emperor boys put out that same fateful year. What more is there to say? Anyone remotely interested in what metal is supposed to be (as in not written to sell records, for example) NEEDS this disk, since it does a pretty damn good job of actualizing my definition. One of the few old bands left in the genre that still deserve the "metal" moniker (thanks for "youthanising" your band, Dave). Light a doob, grab a shot and watch the sky turn red, fellow hellions. This is why you call yourselves metalheads, and this is what your parents warned you about. Now go. You have commerce to perform.
