The very essence of musical misanthropy, Slayer have tread their own blood-soaked path for close to two decades now. During that time, they've seen the rise of trends like grunge rock, death metal, black metal and rap metal but have allowed little of that to affect them. Few would deny that "Reign In Blood" was their defining moment. That was merciless Satanic thrash in its purest form, with no frills or apologies. They have yet to equal that classic, but "God Hates Us All" gives it a good run for its money. This is the fastest, heaviest and just plain nastiest Slayer in a while, making their previous record "Diabolus In Musica" sound fairly tepid.

Beneath the rather bland outer cover of this record lurks the second and darker bit of artwork that reflects where they are coming from. An ornate old Bible is splattered with blood and has the logo SLAYER burned deeply into it and the Good Book is also embedded with nails. It's rather similar to the cover of WASP's "Unholy Terror" but seems much more brutal. It's a good reflection of what lies within.

Here we get a meaty and heavy production the likes of which we haven't heard in a while. The lyrics are foul-mouthed and anti-Christian in the extreme, also returning to the style of "Reign In Blood". Araya jabbers away breathlessly over a combination of fast thrashy riffs and pounding grooves. Paul Bostaph comes into his own as a drummer here, but you will hear him nevermore on any Slayer record. Such was his exertion that he has chronically and permanently disabled his elbow, forcing his departure. There are some average moments here but anybody who likes music that is just raw, vicious and nasty will bow deeply to "God Hates Us All". Some would say Slayer are obsolete in this day of Slipknot but Slipknot could never focus their anger as coherently as this.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2002 Year Book Volume 2 at  garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2001-and-2002.