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Title: Not their second best by any stretch.
Review: Like I said about South of Heaven: a lame attempt to sound relevant, poetic, and evolved. But much of it sounds even more strained and out-of-character than SOH. Slightly more thrashy than SOH, but not in a good way.They got rid of the cheezy monster-movie riffs which plagued SOH. But they kept the dull, whiny vocals. I guess Tom needed a few years to rest his voice after Reign In Blood.On the plus side, "Hallowed Point" and "Born of Fire" are classic Slayer--more or less... "War Ensemble"--a fan favorite for some reason--is awkward, as if they tried too hard to sound edgy, aggressive, and political.If you're new to Slayer, I recommend their pre-SOH material, especially RIB. If you're a hard-core fan after hearing RIB, or just curious, go ahead and try this, as you might agree with other fans who say this is their second best album.Songwriting: 5/10Musicianship: 8/10Sound Quality: 7/10Originality: 5/10Listenability: 3/10
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