Christ Illusion
| Slayer
Christ Illusion
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 and only album featuring all 4 original members with their drummer Dave Lombardo since Seasons in the Abyss (1990), and also marked the first time since Divine Intervention (1994) that they recorded songs in D# tuning. The songs "Jihad", "Flesh Storm", "Catalyst", and "Consfearacy" were recorded in D# tuning, while "Catatonic", "Eyes of the Insane", "Skeleton Christ", and "Supremist" were recorded in Drop B tuning and "Black Serenade" and "Cult" in C# tuning. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Blabbermouth
"Christ Illusion", while flawed, proves that the band still has a few tricks up its sleeve and one very potent weapon behind the kit. And like only a handful of metal bands in the genre's history, the group has never compromised its sound or integrity for commercial gain, some 25 years after the original members first got together. That, my friends, is no illusion.
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The Metal Archives
it showed that Slayer had a ways to go to escape the nu-metal hole they'd dug themselves into, and forgettable filler combined with an awkward listening experience really stopped me from calling this anything close to the comeback people so desperately want to claim it is.
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Metal Storm
I can guarantee you is that this is Slayer's most solid effort since 1990, and most likely to be their least controversial in terms of style, even in terms of production this album is successful, it sounds fresh but not overly polished.
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Sputnik Music
It is like a mix of "Seasons in the Abyss" and "God Hates Us All", and the return of the drum master Dave Lombardo only makes it better.
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Drowned in Sound
There’s no better way to conclude, to summarise this record, than with the words of Araya himself. “Bring on the competition……I am the culmination, the fucking standard that all will follow.”
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Last Rites
Christ Illusion is basically what I expected it to be: aggressive, newer sounding Slayer.
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PopMatters
The lyrical power and the formidable music makes for an arresting combination, and at a taut 38 minutes, Christ Illusion wisely never overplays its hand, much like the band's 80s output.
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MusicOMH
There is a sense of ‘heard it before’ on many of the songs on the album, but, nonetheless the songs still have the ability to rip your ears off – play it in the background while you do the household chores, and you still end up air-thrashing the solos and mouthing along with Araya before returning to our humdrum reality.
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The Guardian
Christ Illusion posits the idea of heresy as the last bastion of free speech for the damned. And it does so in such a convincing manner that only the foolish would dare argue with them.
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Lambgoat
I'll admit it's nice to hear Slayer play a few thrash riffs and Tom Araya scream "Hail Satan," but this album is just another in a long line of Slayer records that will never have half the impact of Reign In Blood.
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Sea of Tranquility
while Christ Illusion is a solid album, I still get the feeling that they on autopilot, even with the original line-up back in action once again.
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No Clean Singing
Christ Illusion is one of my favorite Slayer albums of all time, a joy to listen to from front to back. It definitely doesn’t resonate with everybody, but I admire Slayer’s ambition not to cave into fan pressure and try to grasp at nostalgia straws.
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Stylus Magazine
Not bad for a band that not long ago had T-shirts proclaiming "Payback's a bitch" over American flag colors. "Progressive" is too strong a word for it, but at least Slayer's still progressing.
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Glide Magazine
Slayer achieves tenfold what other metal and punk bands fail miserably at. By crafting tales of real pain at a breakneck speed, Christ Illusion is a textbook study in violent physicality.
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Scene Point Blank
This is Slayer and therefore it f***ing owns!
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Kerrang!
I dig this record. It has some of the best Slayer tunes.
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Head of Metal
Christ Illusion gave me a little taste of metal controversy that added to the excitement around it. It’s still one of my favorite Slayer records–an opinion I’m happy to share with Kerry King!
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Prefix Mag
Christ Illusion is not a throwback; it’s something new steeped in something old. And it should be just what the fans are looking for.
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IGN
After all is said and done, Christ Illusion is a Slayer record. If you're a fan, you know everything that entails.
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Death Metal Underground
Somewhat of a return to form, this album shows Slayer trying to mix the styles of Diabolus in Musica with older material in the vein of Divine Intervention and Seasons in the Abyss.
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All Music
Christ Illusion is brilliant, stomping, scorched-earth thrash metal at its best.
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Metal Forces Magazine
Christ Illusion does see Slayer back on track, although with Kerry King still dominating in the songwriting stakes this revitalised Slayer is not without its flaws.
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The Lantern
Despite its slow beginning, “Christ Illusion” builds into an epic album that is sure to go down as one of metal’s finest.
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SevenString
I'm not trying to be negative, but this was a huge let-down for me, even for Slayer.
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Metal Express Radio
Still, this is a must buy for Thrash fans after a very long dry spell of longing for the real Slayer to reappear. They did now.
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Ultimate Guitar
Definetly, this album is better than any Metal album on the Market, and Slayer definetly delivers.
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Exclaim
Christ Illusion keeps up with the current metal brat pack, but much like the groups catalogue from the 90s, only half the tracks are truly memorable.
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Austin Chronicle
Christ Illusion is Slayer's most thematically cohesive and emotionally charged release in two decades.
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Knac
Christ Illusion is full of sound and fury that ultimately doesn’t signify a whole hell of a lot.
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Punk News
even though the return of Dave Lombardo to the lineup had me excited, the album has me rolling my eyes and praying for some sort of sweet release.
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The Skinny
Still kicking out the sickest of Satanic jams.
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Metal Reviews
With the exception of one or two songs, this album is pretty solid!
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Prindle Record Reviews
Christ Illusion is the true follow-up to Seasons In The Abyss -- a return to the exhilarating out-of-control rollercoaster ride of lightning-speed rhythm guitar, evil 'diddle-doo' lead guitar riffs, maniacally pissed-off screaming, and effortless 5000-mph 'doop-chick' drumming on which Slayer built its foundation.
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BraveWords
Christ Illusion and all its sacrilegious imagery and intent isn't the ace in the hole we all hoped and craved for, given that their current scenery is set up with perfection.
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Metal Temple
Maybe this album could be described as the ideal combination of speed, old school Slayer containing some new metal or hardcore elements, a comparison though which can only be applied up to Divine Intervention I presume though. This album is filled up to its neck with aggression but sometimes it's hard to remember certain riffs or lyrics of the songs, compared let's say to some South Of Heaven songs for example.
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Chronicles of Chaos
Christ Illusion manages to show why the band remain as revered as they are.
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