For starters, Tom Araya sounds better and clearly more pissed than he has in years. His performances on “Snuff”, “Hate Worldwide”, “Psychopathy Red”, and “Not of This God” are downright menacing and outstanding. Some of his vocal patterns (“Snuff”, “Hate Worldwide”, “Public Display of Dismemberment”) are memorable enough to bore into your skull after just a couple spins. Musically, there is a return of ample blitzkrieg speed and intensity – “Unit 731”, “Snuff”, “Public Display of Dismemberment” (check out the absolute drum clinic Lombardo puts on here, blasts and all) and “Psychopathy Red” are stormers that might be the most brutally fast tracks they’ve penned since at least Seasons In the Abyss or maybe even before – and they’re not just fast, they’re altogether great Slayer songs that can easily stand up to the classics.

Though it’s not all raging speed – World Painted Blood is still a well balanced Slayer album. “Beauty Through Order” is a classic “haunting” Slayer track, akin to “Spill the Blood” or “Seasons In the Abyss”, with the eerie and slow buildup in the early parts, gradually working up to a blistering crescendo by tracks end. The title track and “Human Strain” are heavy handed, mid tempo stompers that are much more reminiscent of their more recent works, but work much better than here than in previous attempts.

The album is not without faults though. “Playing With Dolls” is probably the most hideous song I’ve ever heard on any Slayer album, period. The “plink plink plink plink” riff of the verses that attempts to be haunting or eerie just comes out annoying, destroying any listenability the chorus or later parts the song has to offer. “Americon” also comes up a bit short – another mid tempo type track that is short on ass kicking and long on plodding and going nowhere – ultimately, it’s just boring in comparison to the rest of the material here.

Many people will go into listening to this album with their mind made up already on whether they’re going to hate it or love it. For everyone else that may have given up on the band long ago, I’d suggest giving it a fair shot with a clear head – you might just be pleasantly surprised – I know I was.