Christ Illusion is the tenth studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer, released on August 8, 2006 by American Recordings. It was the band's first album featuring all four original members in nearly sixteen years. Slayer's drummer, Dave Lombardo, performed with the band for the first time since Seasons in the Abyss (1990).
Depicting a mutilated Christ painted by longtime collaborator Larry Carroll, the album's graphic artwork courted controversy; an alternative cover was issued to conservative retailers who felt uncomfortable with the original, and the band also put out a censored cover without the offensive artwork. Lyrics, particularly in the song "Jihad", describe the September 11 attacks from the perspective of a terrorist. Following protests, all Indian stocks of the album were recalled and destroyed by EMI India.[3]
Christ Illusion received generally favorable critical reviews, and entered the US Billboard 200 at number 5, making it the band's second highest U.S. chart position as of 2015. The album includes the Grammy Award-winning songs "Eyes of the Insane" and "Final Six".
Recording
Christ Illusion was recorded via computer between two studios: NRG Studios, North Hollywood, with assistant engineer Dave Colvin; and Westlake Studios, Los Angeles, where Brian Warwick assisted.[4][5] Guitarist Kerry King recalls nine of the eleven songs originally slated for Christ Illusion were demoed in 2004, with Dave Lombardo at the drum kit.[6] However, Lombardo recalls recording with King as far back as early 2003, when two demos were completed at Lombardo's home.[7] In a July 2004 interview, guitarist Jeff Hanneman reported "Me and Kerry have a bunch of songs," and expressed the band's intent to finish the record that year.[8] Slayer's label American Recordings was at the time negotiating a switch of record distributors from Columbia Records to Warner Bros. Records, meaning the recording would have been temporarily shelved until the issue became resolved.[8] For this reason the group did not finish a record at that time,[8] as the distribution deal with Warner Bros. Records was not finalized until late July 2005.[9]
Slayer wished for Reign in Blood producer Rick Rubin to produce the album, and expected him to do so after Rubin expressed an initial interest.[10] Rubin was busy, however, which caused a further delay to recording.[10] While Christ Illusion's recording was finally underway Rubin lent production to Metallica's Death Magnetic, an action later described by King as a "slap in the fucking face."[10]Josh Abraham produced the album instead,[4] and was praised by Blabbermouth's Don Kaye "for capturing much more of the spark than has been apparent on the last few records."[11] Despite missing an opportunity to produce Christ Illusion, Rubin contributed in an "executive production" capacity.[4] King was critical of his involvement, and said he cannot recall Rubin's presence in the studio during the recording, and that Rubin's main contribution was in providing suggestions during the final mix.[5] Jamie Thomson of UK's The Guardian newspaper was scornful of Rubin's contribution, and observed Slayer "seem unwilling to ditch the nu-metal tendencies that have made much of their recent output so resistible, which suggests Rubin's involvement was considerably less hands-on than in his remarkable redemptions of Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond."[12]
As with Slayer's previous two albums, all rhythm guitar tracks on Christ Illusion were laid down by King.[5] Using a Marshall JCM 800 as the main guitar sound throughout the album, King wrote roughly 80% of his guitar solo parts prior to the sessions.[5] The song "Catalyst," meanwhile, almost saw inclusion on Slayer's 2001 album God Hates Us All, existing in an alternative version which features former drummer Paul Bostaph on drums.[6] Lombardo's involvement marked the first time he, King, Araya and Hanneman had appeared together on record since the release of Seasons in the Abyss in 1990,[5] a reason cited by guitarist Jeff Hanneman for an alleged clearer punk vibe throughout the songs on the album.[13] Lombardo personally described the album as "a matured Reign in Blood",[14] while King described it as "a mix between God Hates [Us All] and Seasons [in the Abyss]."[15]
Although eleven songs were originally slated for the album, only ten made the final track listing. A song penned by Hanneman,[6] entitled "Final Six," was meant for inclusion,[5] with the song name originally declared as the album's title by vocalist Tom Araya to George Stroumboulopoulos of CBC's The Hour.[16] Questioned about the album's title by Kevin and Bean of Los Angeles KROQ-FM, King replied "I'm not positive it's been nailed yet. I think last week was the deadline and I'm not sure where it ended up, so I'm gonna have to take the fifth on that one. The way it was going, my vote was overlooked, so… That's why I'm not real thrilled about it."[16] However, Araya took one weekend off for vacation during the recording of the album and required a two-hour gall bladder operation the following Monday on May 5, 2006.[5][17] Thus, he was unable to finish the vocals for the song in time for the album's release.[5] King hinted "Final Six" might appear on a special digipack release of Christ Illusion:[5] a release which eventually surfaced in July 2007. "Final Six" also appeared on the soundtrack to the film Punisher: War Zone the following year.
Being Slayer's tenth studio album, Christ Illusion was originally scheduled for release on June 6, 2006,[6] the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of the 2000s decade. This connotation with the Book of Revelation's Number of the Beast was being used as a marketing ploy to hype a number of media releases at the time, most notably the remake of the horror film The Omen.[19] King said the idea was scrapped because of the number of other bands that had the same idea,[6] but USA Today reported that the release date was thwarted because the band had failed to secure sufficient studio recording time.[19] Having missed the "Satanic" date, the release was pushed back to July 25;[16] however, this date was not met either. Despite this, an exclusive T-shirt, limited to 666 units and only available via the band's store, was released in commemoration of "the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year".[17] Five thousand copies of the limited edition EP "Eternal Pyre" were also released on this date, and made available via Hot Topic stores in the US. The EP previewed the song "Cult", and the track was made available for streaming on the band's official website the same day.[20] Issued in Europe on June 23, the EP landed at number 48 on the Swedish charts[21] and number 2 on the Finnish charts,[22] while on June 30, Nuclear Blast Records released a 7" vinyl picture disc version limited to a thousand copies.[23]
Not all media attention surrounding the group on June 6 was favorable. National Day of Slayer, LLC, which describes itself as "a non-profit corporation in the State of Wyoming", requested on their website that Slayer fanatics participate in "The National Day of Slayer" by coming together and listening to the group's tracks.[24] However, vandals attacked St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, New York, by spray-painting a large pentagram in front of the doors, black inverted crosses in two columns in front of the main entrance, and the number six on three steps leading into the Seminary. The words "Reign in Blood" were scrawled on the seminary landing,[25] while the phrase "Better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven", taken from Book 1 of John Milton's poem Paradise Lost, was found inscribed on two inside columns.[25] The National Day of Slayer website took credit for inspiring the perpetrator(s), and a media investigation discovered that the site had left instructions that fans "spray paint Slayer logos on churches, synagogues, or cemeteries".[26]
Fans were given an exclusive preview of further tracks culled from the upcoming album before its release. In addition to "Cult", the tracks "Jihad" and "Eyes of the Insane" were made available for streaming on the Spanish website Rafabasa.com in late June.[27] A listening party event for the album took place on July 22 at Duff's Brooklyn in New York City's Williamsburg neighborhood.[28] Filmed on the set of The Henry Rollins Show, a live rendition of "Disciple" (taken from Slayer's 2001 album God Hates Us All) was posted online, followed by "Cult"'s live performance which aired on the Independent Film Channel a few days later.[29]BBC Radio 1's "Mike Davis Rock Show" gave "Skeleton Christ" a premier airing on August 1,[30] and by August 4 the full album was available for streaming via Slayer's official MySpace profile.[31] AOL Radio complimented this by launching an "All Slayer" station in anticipation of Christ Illusion's release, playing all of Slayer's previously released songs and tracks from the upcoming record.[32]
In late July 2006, bus benches in several Californian cities were decorated with promotional artwork for Christ Illusion.[33] City officials in Fullerton, California, demanded the artwork be immediately removed from seventeen bus benches located throughout the city, and contacted the hired company which had originally put the adverts in place to assume the task.[33] The officials disliked the band's name, which they felt referred to a murderer. They also took offense to the antichrist and skull logo adorning the bench artwork.[33] Eventually, the artwork was removed.[34] However, various Orange County, California areas surrounding the city of Fullerton still had benches sporting the cover artwork.[34]
Commercial performance
Christ Illusion was released on August 8, 2006 by American Recordings / Warner Bros. Records. In its first week of release, the album sold 62,000 copies in the United States and debuted at number 5 on the Billboard 200 chart.[35] Though this ranked as the band's highest chart position as of 2015[update], and was their first top 10 charting since 1994's Divine Intervention,[35] the album dropped to number 44 the following week.[36]Christ Illusion reached number 9 in Australia,[37] number 3 in Canada,[38] number 6 in Austria,[38] number 8 in the Netherlands,[38] number 10 in Norway,[38] number 9 in Poland[39] and debuted at number 2 in Finland[40] and Germany.[38] The single "Eyes of the Insane" won the "Best Metal Performance" category at the 49th Grammy Awards.[41] The song "Final Six" also won in the same category at the 50th Grammy Awards.[42] The album won the 2006 Metal Storm Award for Best Thrash Metal Album.[43]
The album was met with mostly favorable reviews. On Metacritic, it was given a score of 72 out of 100 based on 21 reviews.[44] Thom Jurek of AllMusic hailed the album as "raging, forward-thinking heavy metal melding with hardcore thrash", and wrote that Christ Illusion marked a return to "what made them such a breath of fresh air in the first place."[45] Ben Ratliff of The New York Times described the album as possessing "a kind of demented gravity, and the music bears it out: it is the most concentrated, focused Slayer record in 20 years."[52]PopMatters critic Adrien Begrand called it "Slayer's best album in sixteen years and their most thought-provoking work to date",[50] and the album was placed at number 15 on PopMatters' list of The Best Metal Albums of 2006.[53]
Drummer Lombardo came in for particular praise; though Rolling Stone panned the album, the reviewer acknowledged that "at least their awesome drummer Dave Lombardo shows off some chops."[54]Blabbermouth's Don Kaye thought that "while flawed", Christ Illusion "proves that the band still has a few tricks up its sleeve and one very potent weapon behind the kit."[11] Peter Atkinson of KNAC.com felt similarly, and reported Lombardo's "performance is top notch throughout and does give the album a looser feel than Paul Bostaph's technical precision offered."[55] In 2011, Complex Media Network's music website, Consequence of Sound, honored Christ Illusion on a List 'Em Carefully installment dedicated to writer David Buchanan's top thirteen metal records released between 2000 and 2010, citing foreign controversy and overall sonic brutality during drummer Dave Lombardo's powerful return.[56]Decibel Magazine gave it a favorable review, stating, "Their hatred for religion in general, Christianity in particular, unwitting Americans, and anyone on the other side of a soldier's gun has inspired Slayer to record their most vital album in years."[57] Chris Campion of The Observer stated that the album is "their most rigorously conceived and focused for years."[58]
Not all critics were positive. Chris Steffen of Rolling Stone magazine dismissed the album, noting that it "mines much of the same territory as its predecessor, God Hates Us All, just without the memorable riffs."[54] Jamie Thomson of The Guardian described the album as "wholly disappointing," and thought the band sounded "unwilling to ditch the nu-metal tendencies that have made much of their recent output so resistible."[12]KNAC.com contributor Peter Atkinson felt that the album "demands OUTRAGE —more calculatingly so than any other album the band has done," and that "that, in a nutshell, is Christ Illusion's glaring weakness."[55]
Album artwork
The censored album cover for Christ Illusion, 2006
Several aspects of Christ Illusion's content and promotion generated adverse attention and publicity. In particular the cover art, painted by Larry Carroll and depicting a mutilated, stoned Jesus. Carroll, who had painted the cover artwork to previous Slayer albums such as Reign in Blood, South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss, resumed duties on Christ Illusion.[59] Working solely from track names and formative lyrics, Carroll produced the original on a 4-by-4-foot slab of wood using a combination of media.[59] Having requested an image of Christ in "a sea of despair", King commented that an early version seemed as though Christ was "chilling out in the water".[60] The final image portrays Christ with a missing eye and amputated hands, and standing amidst a sea of blood and severed heads.[59] Araya deemed this version "much better because he looked like a drug addict!",[60] while King admired the artwork enough to purchase the original.[61] Certain album pre-orders gave fans the chance to win one of ten autographed lithographs of the artwork,[62] while an alternative, non-graphic cover was made to appease retailers who had refused to stock the original version.[63]
World Entertainment News Network reported Slayer were attracting controversy through issuing the artwork.[60] Joseph Dias, general secretary of the Mumbai Christian group Catholic Secular Forum, (CSF) took "strong exception" to the original album artwork, and issued a memorandum to Mumbai's police commissioner in protest.[64] Chris Steffen of Rolling Stone magazine commented that "The album art takes it all over the top with an image axeman Kerry King dubs 'Christ in a Sea of Despair'",[54] while KNAC.com's Peter Atkinson deemed the artwork "defiantly sacrilegious".[55]
Lyrical themes
Lyrical themes explored on Christ Illusion deal with terrorism, warfare and religion, which drew criticism from conservative groups. It includes a depiction of the September 11 attacks from the viewpoint of one of the terrorists ("Jihad"), and a portrayal of a soldier's experience of post-traumatic stress ("Eyes of the Insane").[65] The song "Cult" revolves around King's perception of flaws in American religion,[18] while "Consfearacy" has been described as a "government hating song".[66][67]
The Araya penned lyrics of "Eyes of the Insane" were inspired by an article called "Casualties of War" in Texas Monthly, dealing with the plight of soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress.[65]
Critical reaction to the album's lyrical content was mixed. Thom Jurek of Allmusic felt the "dark, unrelentingly twisted-as-fuck lyrics reflect a singular intensity," and praised the band for connecting their anti-religion stance with a belief that religion has underscored many wars throughout history.[45] However, Rolling Stone's Chris Steffen mourned that it had become "downright painful to hear Tom Araya — at 45 years old! — continue to belt out the band's increasingly self-parodying, anti-religious lyrics," and singled out lyrics such as "Religion's a whore" and "I've made my choice: six six six!" as over the top.[54] Jamie Thomson of The Guardian wrote that the album left "no blasphemy... unuttered",[12] while Peter Atkinson of KNAC.com observed that "when not fixating on religion, the band revisit their other favorite subject — war — in surprisingly familiar terms," and remarked that Slayer had sunk "to the level of God-repelling dunderheads Deicide."[55] He concluded the review with the opinion that "It's déjà vu all over again from God Hates Us All — and once you've titled something God Hates Us All, haven't you made your point enough already?"[55]
The Catholic Secular Forum condemned the album's lyrical content. Joseph Dias issued a statement in which he deemed the lyrics to "Skeleton Christ" to be an "insult to Christianity."[64] The memorandum was sent to Mumbai's police commissioner, and further expressed concern that the track "Jihad" would offend "the sensibilities of the Muslims... and secular Indians who have respect for all faiths."[64] EMI India met with the CSF, apologizing for Christ Illusion's release and recalling the album with no plans of a reissue.[64] On October 11, 2006 it was announced all stocks had been destroyed.[68] Though Araya had expected "Jihad"'s treatment of the events of 9/11 to create an American backlash, it failed to materialise, in part, he believes, due to peoples' view that the song is merely "just Slayer being Slayer".[13]
Track listing
All tracks (both music and lyrics) written by Kerry King unless noted.
Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them one of the "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax. Slayer's current lineup consists of King, Araya, drummer Paul Bostaph and guitarist Gary Holt, who initially joined as a touring member in 2011 before joining the band permanently after Hanneman's death in 2013. Drummer Jon Dette was also a member of the band.
Reign in Blood is the third studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer, released on October 7, 1986, by Def Jam Recordings. The album was the band's first collaboration with producer Rick Rubin, whose input helped the band's sound evolve. The release date of the album was delayed because of concerns regarding the lyrical subject matter of the opening track "Angel of Death", which refers to Josef Mengele and describes acts such as human experimentation that he committed at the Auschwitz concentration camp. The band's members stated that they did not condone Nazism and were merely interested in the subject.
South of Heaven is the fourth studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer, released on July 5, 1988, by Def Jam Recordings. The album was the band's second collaboration with producer Rick Rubin, whose production skills on their previous album Reign in Blood (1986) had helped their sound evolve. Given the frenetic pace of Reign in Blood, Slayer made no attempt to top it on South of Heaven; rather, the band offset and complemented Reign in Blood by deliberately slowing the tempo down on South of Heaven, as well as by utilizing undistorted guitars and toned-down vocals.
Kerry Ray King is an American musician, best known for being the co-lead guitarist and songwriter of thrash metal band Slayer. He co-founded the band with Jeff Hanneman in 1981 and is one of two members to stay with the band for its 43-year existence, along with Tom Araya. During Slayer's hiatus from 2019 to 2024, King went on to pursue a solo career, with his debut album From Hell I Rise released in May 2024.
God Hates Us All is the ninth studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer, released on September 11, 2001, by American Recordings. It was recorded over three months at The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, and includes the Grammy Award-nominated song "Disciple". Guitarist Kerry King wrote the majority of its lyrics, taking a different approach from earlier recordings by exploring topics such as religion, murder, revenge, and self-control. Stylistically, the album shows a return to Slayer's classic thrash metal sound. It was Slayer's last album to feature drummer Paul Bostaph until his return on their 2015 album Repentless.
Tomás Enrique Araya Díaz is a Chilean-American musician, best known as the vocalist and bassist of thrash metal band Slayer. He was ranked 58th by Hit Parader on their list of the 100 Greatest Metal Vocalists of All Time. Araya, along with Kerry King, are the only members who stayed in the band since its inception.
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Otep is an American nu metal band. The band was formed in November 2000 in Los Angeles by frontwoman Otep Shamaya. The band is noted for their style of "art-house nu metal", and their strong political stances. Throughout the course of several lineup changes over the years, Shamaya has remained the only constant member in the band.
Dorota Aqualiteja Rabczewska, known professionally as Doda, is a Polish singer, songwriter, producer, actress and television personality. A three-time MTV Europe Music Award winner, she is among the most successful Polish artists in terms of number of prizes won. Doda is notable for her innovative and controversial performances and music videos. She rose to fame as a member of the Polish rock band Virgin, with whom she released three studio albums: Virgin (2002), Bimbo (2004), and the triple platinum Ficca (2005).
Slayer is an American thrash metal band formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, who recruited vocalist and bassist Tom Araya, and drummer Dave Lombardo. Slayer's first two albums, Show No Mercy (1983) and Hell Awaits (1985), which were released on Metal Blade Records, did not chart in the United States. The band was then signed to Def Jam Recordings by Rick Rubin, who produced Reign in Blood (1986). The album helped Slayer break into the Billboard 200 for the first time, peaking at number 94. After South of Heaven (1988), Slayer signed to Rubin's new label, Def American, and released Seasons in the Abyss (1990). After the album was released, Lombardo departed Slayer and was replaced by Paul Bostaph.
Eternal Pyre is an EP by the thrash metal band Slayer. Released June 6, 2006 (06/06/06) through American Recordings, the EP was limited to a pressing of 1,000 copies. The album is a pre-release to the later album Christ Illusion, which, like the EP, features the song "Cult". The album was released exclusively through Hot Topic chain stores in the United States and copies were also available in Germany, Finland and Sweden on June 23, 2006. There are three tracks featured on the album, one of which is an audio track and the others are videos. The album was not well received by critics, with few critics actually reviewing the album. The album charted on four different charts, peaking number two in Finland and three in Denmark.
"Jihad" is a song by the American thrash metal band Slayer which appears on the band's 2006 studio album Christ Illusion. The song portrays the viewpoint of a terrorist who has participated in the September 11, 2001 attacks, concluding with spoken lyrics taken from words left behind by Mohamed Atta; Atta was named by the FBI as the "head suicide terrorist" of the first plane to crash into the World Trade Center. "Jihad" was primarily written by guitarist Jeff Hanneman; the lyrics were co-authored with vocalist Tom Araya.
"Eyes of the Insane" is a 2006 song by the American thrash metal band Slayer, taken from their 2006 album Christ Illusion. The lyrics explore an American soldier's mental anguish following his return home from the second Gulf War, and are based on an article entitled "Casualty of War" in Texas Monthly magazine. "Eyes of the Insane" was written by vocalist Tom Araya during pre-production for the album. The song was generally well received by critics, and also peaked #15 on the Danish singles charts.
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Catholic Secular Forum (CSF) is a Mumbai-based Catholic institution. As of 2008 the General Secretary was Joseph Dias, who believes that “India is not yet culturally or socially ready for such freedoms that West or Americas have [sic].”
↑ Campion, Chris (August 13, 2006). "Slayer, Christ Illusion". The Observer. London. Archived from the original on April 20, 2013. Retrieved June 13, 2009.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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