Where's Def American's Mask and Bag o' Swag
Slayer's 'Christ Illusion' was one of the best metal albums of last year. Its ferocious aggression was matched by its piss-angry attitude and as I said in my original review, it was like being hit with a barbed-wire covered hockey stick. 'Christ Illusion' not only stood up as a credible metal album, it eclipsed the releases of such bands as Sepultura and Shadows Fall. For many fans, the thinking was that it wasn't exactly classic Slayer, but for those listening to Slayer for the first time it was a great way in.
As part of the new deal Def American have signed with Sony BMG Records, the label have decided to release a strictly limited edition CD/DVD of 'Christ Illusion'. Apparently this is the only reason why it's getting a re-issue, which is a little poor in my opinion. It smacks of record company gold digging and big corporate suits wanting to bleed more cash out of the devoted Slayer fans around the planet. I could be wrong but let's take into account what you're getting for your £13. The album itself, which is fair enough as it's worth the money in its own right, but what if you've already got the disc at home?
This limited edition has a pretty natty holographic front cover, which is enough to win some people over. However, if you're a stickler for value then an unreleased studio track is tagged onto the end of the album, 'Final Six'. As well as this, there's a bonus DVD with a live version of 'South of Heaven' from the upcoming 'Unholy Alliance' DVD, a music promo for 'Eyes of the Insane' and a piece about Slayer on tour.
As far as bonus tunes go 'Final Six' is quite respectable. It isn't as good as such songs as 'Flesh Storm' and 'Skeleton Christ', but it's a good album track and fits in nicely at the end of the album. The live clip of 'South of Heaven' is pretty good. The quality in both sound and vision is superb and bodes well for the upcoming 'Unholy Alliance' DVD. My only problem is that it seems like an advert for the said release, which it probably is, but you don't need to buy this whole package to find that out. The promo of 'Eyes of the Insane' is simply a big pile of dogshit. Four minutes of an eye with images of war, horror and family life appearing in its cornea isn't the most interesting of videos. Slayer don't appear in the video at all which makes the idea of the promo pretty pointless. You could play the Dad's Army song over the top or even the Benny Hill theme for comic effect and have just as much enjoyment (It's true, I tried it). Slayer on tour '07 is the usual backstage arsing about coupled with loud American fans shouting SLAYER into poor quality hand held cameras. It's always interesting to see such footage, but for more than once? I doubt it, and its 5 minute running time is a joke and an insult to the fans. There isn't anything in the way of interviews, anecdotes, indications about life on the road, gear checks etc... It takes the piss.
At a total bonus extras time of less than 15 minutes for the whole DVD, the entire Slayer fanbase should turn around and shout a big FUCKIN' FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKERS to the rip off merchants who put this package together. The extra track is the only credible edition to this album, but having said that the 2006 version was complete without it. If you haven't got 'Christ Illusion' then it's worth getting for the original album, if you bought it first time round then check out the videos on YouTube or wait for the 'Unholy Alliance' DVD. With tricks like this no wonder music fans are downloading music both legally and illegally. Thank god it's a limited edition that's all I can say.
The album still kicks ass though and the above score is a representation of this release and not the record itself. Release Date 17th September 2007.