- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
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.
-
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]
-
An anti-Christian/anti-Islam/anti-Theocratic, anti-war album, Christ Illusion is essential for anyone interested in the genre.
-
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.
-
Christ Illusion is not a throwback; it's something new steeped in something old.
-
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.
-
This is the most brutal metal record to see a release in 2006.
-
Guitarist Kerry King physicalizes Araya’s emotional investment; his mad, crunched-up playing is anxiety rendered in sound.
-
New Musical Express (NME)Sounds as hideously vital... as [Slayer] have at any time during their 23 year career. [26 Aug 2006, p.41]
-
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?
-
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.
-
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.
-
Their most rigorously conceived and focused [album] for years.
-
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...
-
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.
-
MojoInnovative it's not. [Oct 2006, p.112]
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 42 out of 53
-
Mixed: 7 out of 53
-
Negative: 4 out of 53
-
ReggieSOct 17, 2006
-
DanielR.Jul 20, 2009
-
JackTheRipperOct 12, 2006Among the three best Slayer album. Cult and flesh storm are absolutely great songs