All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Austin Chronicle

Not since the maniac thrash of 1986's genre-eclipsing Reign in Blood have these SoCal wastrels managed music that sounds so frighteningly out of control and yet wholly, idealistically pure of intent.

Read Full Review >

New Musical Express

Sounds as hideously vital... as [Slayer] have at any time during their 23 year career. [26 Aug 2006, p.41]

Drowned In Sound

This is the most brutal metal record to see a release in 2006.

Read Full Review >

Blender

Guitarist Kerry King physicalizes Araya’s emotional investment; his mad, crunched-up playing is anxiety rendered in sound.

Read Full Review >

Uncut

[Drummer Dave Lombardo's] return hasn't complicated Slayer's brutal, single-minded aesthetic, but it has stoked the hellfire that merely sputtered on God Hates Us All. [Sep 2006, p.97]

All Music Guide

An anti-Christian/anti-Islam/anti-Theocratic, anti-war album, Christ Illusion is essential for anyone interested in the genre.

Read Full Review >

PopMatters

While it’s unlikely the band will ever top such astonishing albums as Reign in Blood, South of Heaven, or Seasons in the Abyss, Christ Illusion is still a remarkable return to form.

Read Full Review >

Prefix Magazine

Christ Illusion is not a throwback; it's something new steeped in something old.

Read Full Review >

The New York Times

The album has a kind of demented gravity, and the music bears it out: it is the most concentrated, focused Slayer record in 20 years.

Read Full Review >

Stylus Magazine

The question with Christ Illusion, as with any post-Seasons album, is simple: could these songs make it into Slayer's live set? The answer is yes, and more than the usual one or two.

Read Full Review >

E! Online

They're not exactly shaking up their own heavy-duty formula, but with the hell-and-handbasket thing going strong, what difference does it make to them?

Read Full Review >

NOW Magazine

Christ Illusion sounds like an bid to get back to the Reign In Blood era by reining in the tech prowess that weighed down God Hates Us All and Divine Intervention.

Read Full Review >

Observer Music Monthly

Their most rigorously conceived and focused [album] for years.

Read Full Review >

Playlouder

If you're the sort of person who only buys one metal album a year, then you'd probably be better off buying the new Mastodon album 'Blood Mountain' and going to see Slayer live but otherwise, what the hell are you waiting for...

Read Full Review >

Mojo

Innovative it's not. [Oct 2006, p.112]

Dusted Magazine

The good news is that this is the band’s strongest music since Seasons in the Abyss. The bad news is that, compared to their vaulted ’80s output, the album lacks intensity.

Read Full Review >

Spin

Blends the furious muscle of 2001's God Hates Us All with the more melodic experimentation of their post-Reign work. [Sep 2006, p.112]

musicOMH.com

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.

Read Full Review >

Q Magazine

For the most part Christ Illusion is flabby and arthritic. [Oct 2006, p.126]

The Guardian

Slayer seem unwilling to ditch the nu-metal tendencies that have made much of their recent output so resistible.

Read Full Review >

Dot Music

"Christ Illusion" for the most part consists of leaden, grinding sludge devoid of any urgency or malevolence.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 20 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Daniel R. gave it an8:
Slayer's best album since Season's, the album's higlight's are the the track's Flesh Storm, Jihad and Cult, could of used more of Hanneman's songwriting, but it's still a good album.

Thomas F gave it a10:
Slayer don't write bad songs. Go buy this and all the other Slayer albums if u don't already have them. These people above talking about nu-metal are very ignorant. Having a more groove(post-thrash) and death sounding style doesn't have anything to do with gay nu-metal (Kerry King was friends with Pantera not KORN...). If you don't like hearing different tunings and different keys in songs then you are most likely not musically gifted. Just listen to the art these dude create. SLAYER!!!!!!

Bill J. gave it an8:
Reggie S, that is the most hilarious thing I have ever read. Comparing Slayer to Winger. Wow! "She's only seventeeeen!" Yeah baby.

Nu-Slayer Sucks gave it a5:
Christ Illusion is littered with nu-metal gayness. Tom's voice is crap, the lyrics are childish, and every song has some nu-metal sounding crap . There are 2-3 decent tracks. Jihad starts off with something you'd expect from Blink 182 - so that song is crap. Yeah, the song speeds up, but I cant look past that horrid beginning. Sure, all the trendwhores will love this album, but old Slayer fans will be disapointed.

Samuli L gave it a7:
Christ illusions has its great moments like the opening track Flesh Storm,also Jihad,Catalyst,Consfearacy and supremist are exellent! The rest of the tracks are the avarage Slayer. After listening hunred times over i would say that it is not the best Slayer album,but it is not the worst!

Reggie S gave it a1:
Slayer are so lame! Winger had bigger balls and guitars...not to mention the sexy Kipp Winger. Whateven Slayer has done, Winger has done it 10X better!! Go get a Winger album and find out for yourself!!

Bit Burn gave it a9:
When I was a teenager I never was a big Slayer fan. Now twenty years later and in my mid-thirties I finally get it: Those guys kick ass!

Music

Upcoming &Recent Releases

Christ Illusion

Album Info

Summary

What The Critics Said

What Our Users Said

Upcoming &
Recent Releases