Christ Illusion
Encyclopedia
Christ Illusion is the tenth studio album by the American thrash metal
band Slayer
. Released on August 8, 2006, the album received generally favorable critical reviews, and it entered the Billboard 200
at number 5—the band's highest U.S. chart position to date. Christ Illusion includes the Grammy Award
-winning songs "Eyes of the Insane
" and "Final Six", and is the band's first studio album to feature original drummer Dave Lombardo
since 1990's Seasons in the Abyss
.
Depicting a mutilated Christ painted by longtime collaborator Larry Carroll
, the album's graphic artwork courted controversy. An alternative cover was issued to conservative retailers who felt uncomfortable with the original. Lyrical themes, particularly in the song "Jihad
" which describes the September 11 attacks from a terrorist perspective, outraged the Mumbai
-based Christian group Catholic Secular Forum in India. As a result, all Indian stocks of the album were recalled and destroyed by EMI
India.
, where Brian Warwick assisted. Guitarist Kerry King
recalls nine of the eleven songs originally slated for Christ Illusion were demoed in 2004, with Dave Lombardo
at the drum kit. However, Lombardo recalls recording with King as far back as early 2003, when two demos were completed at Lombardo's home. In a July 2004 interview, guitarist Jeff Hanneman
reported "Me and Kerry have a bunch of songs," and expressed the band's intent to finish the record that year. Slayer's label American Recordings was at the time negotiating a switch of record distributors from Columbia Records
to Warner Bros. Records
, meaning the recording would have been temporarily shelved until the issue became resolved. For this reason the group did not finish a record at that time, as the distribution deal with Warner Records was not finalized until late July 2005.
Slayer wished for Reign in Blood
producer Rick Rubin
to produce the album, and expected him to do so after Rubin expressed an initial interest. Rubin was busy, however, which caused a further delay to recording. While Christ Illusions recording was finally underway Rubin lent production to Metallica
's Death Magnetic
, an action later described by King as a "slap in the fucking face." Josh Abraham
produced the album instead, and was praised by Blabbermouth
's Don Kaye "for capturing much more of the spark than has been apparent on the last few records." Despite missing an opportunity to produce Christ Illusion, Rubin contributed in an "executive production
" capacity. King was critical of his involvement, and said he cannot recall Rubin's presence in the studio during the recording, and that Rubin's main contribution was in providing suggestions during the final mix. Jamie Thomson of UK's The Guardian
newspaper was scornful of Rubin's contribution, and observed Slayer "seem unwilling to ditch the nu-metal tendencies that have made much of their recent output so resistible, which suggests Rubin's involvement was considerably less hands-on than in his remarkable redemptions of Johnny Cash
and Neil Diamond
."
As with Slayer's previous two albums, all rhythm guitar tracks on Christ Illusion were laid down by King. Using a Marshall
JCM 800 as the main guitar sound throughout the album, King wrote roughly 80% of his guitar solo parts prior to the sessions. The song "Catalyst," meanwhile, almost saw inclusion on Slayer's 2001 album God Hates Us All
, existing in an alternative version which features former drummer Paul Bostaph
on drums. Lombardo's involvement marked the first time he, King, Araya and Hanneman had appeared together on record since the release of Seasons in the Abyss
in 1990, a reason cited by guitarist Jeff Hanneman
for an alleged clearer punk
vibe throughout the songs on the album. Lombardo personally described the album as "a matured Reign in Blood
", while King described it as "a mix between God Hates
[Us All] and Seasons
[in the Abyss]."
Although eleven songs were originally slated for the album, only ten made the final track listing. A song penned by Hanneman, entitled "Final Six," was meant for inclusion, with the song name originally declared as the album's title by vocalist Tom Araya
to George Stroumboulopoulos
of CBC
's The Hour. Questioned about the album's title by Kevin and Bean
of Los Angeles KROQ-FM
, King replied "I'm not positive it's been nailed yet. I think last week was the deadline and I'm not sure where it ended up, so I'm gonna have to take the fifth on that one. The way it was going, my vote was overlooked, so… That's why I'm not real thrilled about it." However, Araya took one weekend off for vacation during the recording of the album and required a two-hour gall bladder operation the following Monday on May 5, 2006. Thus, he was unable to finish the vocals for the song in time for the album's release. King hinted "Final Six" might appear on a special digipack release of Christ Illusion, a release which eventually surfaced in July 2007.
's Number of the Beast
was being used as a marketing ploy to hype a number of media releases at the time, most notably the remake of the horror film The Omen
. King said the idea was scrapped because of the number of other bands that had the same idea, but USA Today
reported that the release date was thwarted because the band had failed to secure sufficient studio recording time. Having missed the "Satanic" date, the release was pushed back to July 25; however, this date was not met either. Despite this, an exclusive T-shirt, limited to 666 units and only available via the band's store, was released in commemoration of "the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year". Five thousand copies of the limited edition EP
"Eternal Pyre
" were also released on this date, and made available via Hot Topic
stores in the US. The EP previewed the song "Cult", and the track was made available for streaming on the band's official website the same day. Issued in Europe on June 23, the EP landed at number 48 on the Swedish charts and number 2 on the Finnish charts, while on June 30, Nuclear Blast Records released a 7" vinyl picture disc version limited to a thousand copies.
Not all media attention surrounding the group on June 6 was favorable. National Day of Slayer, LLC, which describes itself as a "a non-profit corporation in the State of Wyoming", requested on their website that Slayer fanatics participate in "The National Day of Slayer" by coming together and listening to the group's tracks. However, vandals attacked St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, New York
, by spray-painting a large pentagram in front of the doors, black inverted crosses in two columns in front of the main entrance, and the number six on three steps leading into the Seminary. The words "Reign in Blood" were scrawled on the seminary landing, while the phrase "Better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven", taken from Book 1 of John Milton
's poem "Paradise Lost
", was found inscribed on two inside columns. The National Day of Slayer website took credit for inspiring the perpetrator(s), and a media investigation discovered that the site had left instructions that fans "spray paint Slayer logos on churches, synagogues, or cemeteries".
Fans were given an exclusive preview of further tracks culled from the upcoming album before its release. In addition to "Cult", the tracks "Jihad" and "Eyes of the Insane" were made available for streaming on the Spanish website Rafabasa.com in late June. A listening party event for the album took place on July 22 at Duff's Brooklyn in New York City's Williamsburg
neighborhood. Filmed on the set of "The Henry Rollins Show
", a live rendition of "Disciple" (taken from Slayer's 2001 album God Hates Us All
) was posted online, followed by "Cult"'s live performance which aired on the Independent Film Channel
a few days later. BBC Radio 1
's "Mike Davis Rock Show" gave "Skeleton Christ" a premier airing on August 1, and by August 4 the full album was available for streaming via Slayer's official MySpace
profile. AOL Radio complimented this by launching an "All Slayer" station in anticipation of Christ Illusions release, playing all of Slayer's previously released songs and tracks from the upcoming record.
In late July 2006, bus benches in several Californian cities were decorated with promotional artwork for Christ Illusion. City officials in Fullerton, California
, demanded the artwork be immediately removed from seventeen bus benches located throughout the city, and contacted the hired company which had originally put the adverts in place to assume the task. The officials disliked the band's name, which they felt referred to a murderer. They also took offense to the antichrist and skull logo adorning the bench artwork. Eventually, the artwork was removed. However, various Orange County, California areas surrounding the city of Fullerton still had benches sporting the cover artwork.
. In its first week of release, the album sold 62,000 copies in the United States and debuted at number 5 on the Billboard 200
Chart. Though this ranked as the band's highest chart position to date, and was their first top 10 charting since 1994's Divine Intervention
, the album dropped to number 44 the following week. Christ Illusion reached number 9 in Australia, number 3 in Canada, number 6 in Austria
, number 8 in the Netherlands
, number 10 in Norway
, number 9 in Poland
and debuted at number 2 in Finland
and Germany. The single "Eyes of the Insane
" won the "Best Metal Performance" category at the 49th Grammy Awards. The song "Final Six" also won in the same category at the 50th Grammy Awards
.
The album was met with mostly favorable reviews. Thom Jurek of Allmusic hailed the album as "raging, forward-thinking heavy metal melding with hardcore thrash", and wrote that Christ Illusion marked a return to "what made them such a breath of fresh air in the first place." Ben Ratliff of the New York Times described the album as possessing "a kind of demented gravity, and the music bears it out: it is the most concentrated, focused Slayer record in 20 years." PopMatters
critic Adrien Begrand called it "Slayer's best album in sixteen years and their most thought-provoking work to date", and the album was placed at number 15 on PopMatters
list of The Best Metal Albums of 2006.
Drummer Lombardo came in for particular praise; though Rolling Stone panned the album, the reviewer acknowledged that "at least their awesome drummer Dave Lombardo shows off some chops." Blabbermouths Don Kaye thought that "while flawed", Christ Illusion "proves that the band still has a few tricks up its sleeve and one very potent weapon behind the kit." Peter Atkinson of KNAC.com felt similarly, and reported Lombardo's "performance is top notch throughout and does give the album a looser feel than Paul Bostaph’s technical precision offered." In 2011, Complex
Media Network's music website, Consequence of Sound
, honored Christ Illusion on a List 'Em Carefully installment dedicated to writer David Buchanan's top thirteen metal records released between 2000 and 2010, citing foreign controversy and overall sonic brutality during drummer Dave Lombardo's powerful return.
Not all critics were positive. Chris Steffen of Rolling Stone
magazine dismissed the album, noting that it "mines much of the same territory as its predecessor, God Hates Us All, just without the memorable riffs." Jamie Thomson of The Guardian
described the album as "wholly disappointing," and thought the band sounded "unwilling to ditch the nu-metal tendencies that have made much of their recent output so resistible." KNAC.com contributor Peter Atkinson felt that the album "demands OUTRAGE —more calculatingly so than any other album the band has done," and that "that, in a nutshell, is Christ Illusion’s glaring weakness."
Several aspects of Christ Illusions content and promotion generated adverse attention and publicity. In particular the cover art, painted by Larry Carroll
and depicting a mutilated, stoned Jesus. Carroll, who had painted the cover artwork to previous Slayer albums such as Reign in Blood
, South of Heaven
and Seasons in the Abyss
, resumed duties on Christ Illusion. Working solely from track names and formative lyrics, Carroll produced the original on a 4-by-4-foot slab of wood using a combination of mediums. Having requested an image of Christ in "a sea of despair", King commented that an early version seemed as though Christ was "chilling out in the water". The final image portrays Christ with a missing eye and amputated hands, and standing amidst a sea of blood and severed heads. Araya deemed this version "much better because he looked like a drug addict!", while King admired the artwork enough to purchase the original. Certain album pre-orders gave fans the chance to win one of ten autographed lithographs of the artwork, while an alternative, non-graphic cover was made to appease retailers who had refused to stock the original version.
World Entertainment News Network reported Slayer were attracting controversy through issuing the artwork. Joseph Dias, general secretary of the Mumbai Christian group Catholic Secular Forum, (CSF) took "strong exception" to the original album artwork, and issued a memorandum to Mumbai's police commissioner in protest. Chris Steffen of Rolling Stone magazine commented that "The album art takes it all over the top with an image axeman Kerry King dubs 'Christ in a Sea of Despair'", while KNAC.coms Peter Atkinson deemed the artwork "defiantly sacrilegious".
"), and a portrayal of a soldier's experience of post-traumatic stress ("Eyes of the Insane
"). The song "Cult" revolves around King's perception of flaws in American religion, while "Consfearacy" has been described as a "government hating song".
Critical reaction to the album's lyrical content was mixed. Thom Jurek of Allmusic felt the "dark, unrelentingly twisted-as-fuck lyrics reflect a singular intensity," and praised the band for connecting their anti-religion stance with a belief that religion has underscored many wars throughout history. However, Rolling Stone
s Chris Steffen mourned that it had become "downright painful to hear Tom Araya — at 45 years old! — continue to belt out the band's increasingly self-parodying, anti-religious lyrics," and singled out lyrics such as "Religion's a whore" and "I've made my choice: six six six!" as over the top. Jamie Thomson of The Guardian
wrote that the album left "no blasphemy...unuttered", while Peter Atkinson of KNAC.com observed that "when not fixating on religion, the band revisit their other favorite subject — war — in surprisingly familiar terms," and remarked that Slayer had sunk "to the level of God-repelling dunderheads Deicide
." He concluded the review with the opinion that "It's déjà vu all over again from God Hates Us All
— and once you've titled something God Hates Us All, haven't you made your point enough already?"
The Catholic Secular Forum condemned the album's lyrical content. Joseph Dias issued a statement in which he deemed the lyrics to "Skeleton Christ" to be an "insult to Christianity." The memorandum was sent to Mumbai's police commissioner, and further expressed concern that the track "Jihad
" would offend "the sensibilities of the Muslims...and secular Indians who have respect for all faiths." EMI India met with the CSF, apologizing for Christ Illusions release and recalling the album with no plans of a reissue. On October 11, 2006 it was announced all stocks had been destroyed. Though Araya had expected "Jihad"'s treatment of the events of 9/11 to create an American backlash, it failed to materialise, in part, he believes, due to peoples' view that the song is merely "just Slayer being Slayer".
DVD (Included with the special edition)
Production
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
band Slayer
Slayer
Slayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and...
. Released on August 8, 2006, the album received generally favorable critical reviews, and it entered the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
at number 5—the band's highest U.S. chart position to date. Christ Illusion includes the Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-winning songs "Eyes of the Insane
Eyes of the Insane
"Eyes of the Insane" is a 2006 single by American thrash metal band Slayer, taken from their 2006 album Christ Illusion. The lyrics explore an American soldier's mental anguish following his return home from the second Gulf War, and is based on an article entitled "Casualty of War" which was...
" and "Final Six", and is the band's first studio album to feature original drummer Dave Lombardo
Dave Lombardo
Dave Lombardo is a Cuban American heavy metal drummer best known for his work with American thrash metal band Slayer. He has performed with Slayer on seven albums, including their groundbreaking 1986 release Reign In Blood and their 2006 release Christ Illusion, for which he received critical praise...
since 1990's Seasons in the Abyss
Seasons in the Abyss
Seasons in the Abyss is the fifth studio album by the thrash metal band Slayer. It was released on October 9, 1990 through Def American Records, and later through American Recordings after the company changed its name. The album's recording sessions began in January 1990...
.
Depicting a mutilated Christ painted by longtime collaborator Larry Carroll
Larry Carroll (artist)
Larry Carroll is an artist who has worked for The Progressive, The Village Voice and the New York Times Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, The Nation, Reason, SPIN, RayGun, and other periodicals drawing political illustrations...
, the album's graphic artwork courted controversy. An alternative cover was issued to conservative retailers who felt uncomfortable with the original. Lyrical themes, particularly in the song "Jihad
Jihad (song)
"Jihad" is a song by the American thrash metal band Slayer which appears on their 2006 album Christ Illusion. The song portrays the imagined viewpoint of a terrorist who has participated in the September 11, 2001 attacks, concluding with spoken lyrics taken from words left behind by Mohamed Atta;...
" which describes the September 11 attacks from a terrorist perspective, outraged the Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
-based Christian group Catholic Secular Forum in India. As a result, all Indian stocks of the album were recalled and destroyed by EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
India.
Recording
Christ Illusion was recorded via computer between two studios: NRG Studios, North Hollywood, with assistant engineer Dave Colvin; and Westlake Studios, Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, where Brian Warwick assisted. Guitarist Kerry King
Kerry King
Kerry King is an American lead and rhythm guitarist. He is best known as the lead guitarist and cofounder of American thrash metal band Slayer. He co-founded the band with Jeff Hanneman in 1981 and has been a member ever since...
recalls nine of the eleven songs originally slated for Christ Illusion were demoed in 2004, with Dave Lombardo
Dave Lombardo
Dave Lombardo is a Cuban American heavy metal drummer best known for his work with American thrash metal band Slayer. He has performed with Slayer on seven albums, including their groundbreaking 1986 release Reign In Blood and their 2006 release Christ Illusion, for which he received critical praise...
at the drum kit. However, Lombardo recalls recording with King as far back as early 2003, when two demos were completed at Lombardo's home. In a July 2004 interview, guitarist Jeff Hanneman
Jeff Hanneman
Jeffrey John "Jeff" Hanneman is a rhythm/lead guitarist and founding member of the American thrash metal band Slayer. Hanneman grew up in Los Angeles in a family of war veterans, and his fascination with warfare is attributed to his upbringing...
reported "Me and Kerry have a bunch of songs," and expressed the band's intent to finish the record that year. Slayer's label American Recordings was at the time negotiating a switch of record distributors from Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
to Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
, meaning the recording would have been temporarily shelved until the issue became resolved. For this reason the group did not finish a record at that time, as the distribution deal with Warner Records was not finalized until late July 2005.
Slayer wished for Reign in Blood
Reign in Blood
Reign in Blood is the third studio album and the major label debut by the American thrash metal band Slayer. It was released on October 7, 1986 through Def Jam Recordings. The album was the band's first collaboration with record producer Rick Rubin, whose input helped the band's sound evolve...
producer Rick Rubin
Rick Rubin
Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin was the co-founder of Def Jam Records and also established American Recordings...
to produce the album, and expected him to do so after Rubin expressed an initial interest. Rubin was busy, however, which caused a further delay to recording. While Christ Illusions recording was finally underway Rubin lent production to Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
's Death Magnetic
Death Magnetic
Death Magnetic is the ninth studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released on September 12, 2008 through Warner Bros. Records. It was the band's first album to feature bassist Robert Trujillo and the first to be produced by Rick Rubin, making this Metallica's first album...
, an action later described by King as a "slap in the fucking face." Josh Abraham
Josh Abraham
Josh Abraham is a Grammy-winning record producer and co-owner of Pulse Management and Check Your Pulse Publishing. He has produced songs and albums for many of the industry's most successful artists such as Velvet Revolver, 30 Seconds to Mars, Linkin Park, Kelly Clarkson and Courtney Love...
produced the album instead, and was praised by Blabbermouth
Blabbermouth.net
Blabbermouth.net is a website dedicated to heavy metal and hard rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. Blabbermouth.net was founded and is run by Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was officially launched in March 2001...
's Don Kaye "for capturing much more of the spark than has been apparent on the last few records." Despite missing an opportunity to produce Christ Illusion, Rubin contributed in an "executive production
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
" capacity. King was critical of his involvement, and said he cannot recall Rubin's presence in the studio during the recording, and that Rubin's main contribution was in providing suggestions during the final mix. Jamie Thomson of UK's The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper was scornful of Rubin's contribution, and observed Slayer "seem unwilling to ditch the nu-metal tendencies that have made much of their recent output so resistible, which suggests Rubin's involvement was considerably less hands-on than in his remarkable redemptions of Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
and Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
."
As with Slayer's previous two albums, all rhythm guitar tracks on Christ Illusion were laid down by King. Using a Marshall
Marshall Amplification
Marshall Amplification is a British company, founded by drummer Jim Marshall, that designs and manufactures music amplifiers, brands personal headphones/earphones , and, after acquiring Natal Drums, drums and bongos. Marshall amplifiers, and specifically their guitar amplifiers, are among the most...
JCM 800 as the main guitar sound throughout the album, King wrote roughly 80% of his guitar solo parts prior to the sessions. The song "Catalyst," meanwhile, almost saw inclusion on Slayer's 2001 album God Hates Us All
God Hates Us All
God Hates Us All is the ninth studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer. Released on September 11, 2001, the album received positive critical reviews, although it entered the Billboard 200 at number 28. It was recorded in three months at The Warehouse Studio in Canada, and includes the...
, existing in an alternative version which features former drummer Paul Bostaph
Paul Bostaph
Paul Bostaph is a heavy metal drummer. His drumming career began in 1984, when he was 20 years old, and he had since worked with bands like Slayer, Forbidden, Exodus and Systematic. He is from Newark, California and currently drums for Testament...
on drums. Lombardo's involvement marked the first time he, King, Araya and Hanneman had appeared together on record since the release of Seasons in the Abyss
Seasons in the Abyss
Seasons in the Abyss is the fifth studio album by the thrash metal band Slayer. It was released on October 9, 1990 through Def American Records, and later through American Recordings after the company changed its name. The album's recording sessions began in January 1990...
in 1990, a reason cited by guitarist Jeff Hanneman
Jeff Hanneman
Jeffrey John "Jeff" Hanneman is a rhythm/lead guitarist and founding member of the American thrash metal band Slayer. Hanneman grew up in Los Angeles in a family of war veterans, and his fascination with warfare is attributed to his upbringing...
for an alleged clearer punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
vibe throughout the songs on the album. Lombardo personally described the album as "a matured Reign in Blood
Reign in Blood
Reign in Blood is the third studio album and the major label debut by the American thrash metal band Slayer. It was released on October 7, 1986 through Def Jam Recordings. The album was the band's first collaboration with record producer Rick Rubin, whose input helped the band's sound evolve...
", while King described it as "a mix between God Hates
God Hates Us All
God Hates Us All is the ninth studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer. Released on September 11, 2001, the album received positive critical reviews, although it entered the Billboard 200 at number 28. It was recorded in three months at The Warehouse Studio in Canada, and includes the...
[Us All] and Seasons
Seasons in the Abyss
Seasons in the Abyss is the fifth studio album by the thrash metal band Slayer. It was released on October 9, 1990 through Def American Records, and later through American Recordings after the company changed its name. The album's recording sessions began in January 1990...
[in the Abyss]."
Although eleven songs were originally slated for the album, only ten made the final track listing. A song penned by Hanneman, entitled "Final Six," was meant for inclusion, with the song name originally declared as the album's title by vocalist Tom Araya
Tom Araya
Tom Araya is a Chilean musician, best known as the bassist and vocalist of the American thrash metal band Slayer...
to George Stroumboulopoulos
George Stroumboulopoulos
George Mark Paul Stroumboulopoulos is a Canadian television and radio personality, best known as the host of CBC Television's George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight and being a VJ for Canadian music television channel MuchMusic...
of CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
's The Hour. Questioned about the album's title by Kevin and Bean
Kevin and Bean
Kevin and Bean is the morning show on KROQ-FM, an alternative rock-format radio station in Los Angeles, California. It is hosted by Kevin Ryder and Gene "Bean" Baxter. The show has been on the air since 1990 and intersperses music and news with comedy bits, celebrity interviews, listener call-ins,...
of Los Angeles KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM — branded 106.7 KROQ — is a commercial modern rock radio station licensed to Pasadena, California serving the Greater Los Angeles. The call sign is pronounced "kay rock." It is the flagship station of Loveline hosted by Dr...
, King replied "I'm not positive it's been nailed yet. I think last week was the deadline and I'm not sure where it ended up, so I'm gonna have to take the fifth on that one. The way it was going, my vote was overlooked, so… That's why I'm not real thrilled about it." However, Araya took one weekend off for vacation during the recording of the album and required a two-hour gall bladder operation the following Monday on May 5, 2006. Thus, he was unable to finish the vocals for the song in time for the album's release. King hinted "Final Six" might appear on a special digipack release of Christ Illusion, a release which eventually surfaced in July 2007.
Marketing and promotion
Being Slayer's tenth studio album, Christ Illusion was originally scheduled for release on June 6, 2006, the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of the 2000s decade. This connotation with the Book of RevelationBook of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
's Number of the Beast
Number of the Beast
The Number of the Beast is a term in the Book of Revelation, of the New Testament, that is associated with the first Beast of Revelation chapter 13, the Beast of the sea. In most manuscripts of the New Testament and in English translations of the Bible, the number of the Beast is...
was being used as a marketing ploy to hype a number of media releases at the time, most notably the remake of the horror film The Omen
The Omen (2006 film)
The Omen is a 2006 remake of Richard Donner's The Omen of 1976 and a part of The Omen series. Directed by John Moore and written by David Seltzer, the film stars Liev Schreiber, Julia Stiles and Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick...
. King said the idea was scrapped because of the number of other bands that had the same idea, but USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
reported that the release date was thwarted because the band had failed to secure sufficient studio recording time. Having missed the "Satanic" date, the release was pushed back to July 25; however, this date was not met either. Despite this, an exclusive T-shirt, limited to 666 units and only available via the band's store, was released in commemoration of "the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year". Five thousand copies of the limited edition EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
"Eternal Pyre
Eternal Pyre
Eternal Pyre is an EP by the thrash metal band Slayer. Released June 6, 2006 through American Recordings, the EP was limited to a pressing of 1,000 copies. The album is a pre-release to the later album Christ Illusion, which, like the EP, features the song "Cult"...
" were also released on this date, and made available via Hot Topic
Hot Topic
Hot Topic is an American retail chain specializing in music and pop culture-related clothing and accessories, as well as licensed music on CD. The majority of the stores are located in regional shopping malls. The first Hot Topic store was opened in 1988 by Orv Madden, who retired as CEO in 2000...
stores in the US. The EP previewed the song "Cult", and the track was made available for streaming on the band's official website the same day. Issued in Europe on June 23, the EP landed at number 48 on the Swedish charts and number 2 on the Finnish charts, while on June 30, Nuclear Blast Records released a 7" vinyl picture disc version limited to a thousand copies.
Not all media attention surrounding the group on June 6 was favorable. National Day of Slayer, LLC, which describes itself as a "a non-profit corporation in the State of Wyoming", requested on their website that Slayer fanatics participate in "The National Day of Slayer" by coming together and listening to the group's tracks. However, vandals attacked St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, by spray-painting a large pentagram in front of the doors, black inverted crosses in two columns in front of the main entrance, and the number six on three steps leading into the Seminary. The words "Reign in Blood" were scrawled on the seminary landing, while the phrase "Better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven", taken from Book 1 of John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
's poem "Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse...
", was found inscribed on two inside columns. The National Day of Slayer website took credit for inspiring the perpetrator(s), and a media investigation discovered that the site had left instructions that fans "spray paint Slayer logos on churches, synagogues, or cemeteries".
Fans were given an exclusive preview of further tracks culled from the upcoming album before its release. In addition to "Cult", the tracks "Jihad" and "Eyes of the Insane" were made available for streaming on the Spanish website Rafabasa.com in late June. A listening party event for the album took place on July 22 at Duff's Brooklyn in New York City's Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordering Greenpoint to the north, Bedford-Stuyvesant to the south, Bushwick to the east and the East River to the west. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 1. The neighborhood is served by the NYPD's 90th ...
neighborhood. Filmed on the set of "The Henry Rollins Show
The Henry Rollins Show
The Henry Rollins Show was a weekly talk show hosted by Henry Rollins on the Independent Film Channel . The show featured Rollins' monologues, interviews with celebrities and uncensored musical performances. The show was canceled after the wrap of its second season.-Sections:Each episode features...
", a live rendition of "Disciple" (taken from Slayer's 2001 album God Hates Us All
God Hates Us All
God Hates Us All is the ninth studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer. Released on September 11, 2001, the album received positive critical reviews, although it entered the Billboard 200 at number 28. It was recorded in three months at The Warehouse Studio in Canada, and includes the...
) was posted online, followed by "Cult"'s live performance which aired on the Independent Film Channel
Independent Film Channel
The Independent Film Channel is an American cable TV network that airs independent film and related programming. IFC programming includes commercially interrupted feature-length films, original documentaries, shorts, animated series, original series, acquired series, and content exclusively for...
a few days later. BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
's "Mike Davis Rock Show" gave "Skeleton Christ" a premier airing on August 1, and by August 4 the full album was available for streaming via Slayer's official MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
profile. AOL Radio complimented this by launching an "All Slayer" station in anticipation of Christ Illusions release, playing all of Slayer's previously released songs and tracks from the upcoming record.
In late July 2006, bus benches in several Californian cities were decorated with promotional artwork for Christ Illusion. City officials in Fullerton, California
Fullerton, California
Fullerton is a city located in northern Orange County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 135,161.It was founded in 1887 by George and Edward Amerige and named for George H. Fullerton, who secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway...
, demanded the artwork be immediately removed from seventeen bus benches located throughout the city, and contacted the hired company which had originally put the adverts in place to assume the task. The officials disliked the band's name, which they felt referred to a murderer. They also took offense to the antichrist and skull logo adorning the bench artwork. Eventually, the artwork was removed. However, various Orange County, California areas surrounding the city of Fullerton still had benches sporting the cover artwork.
Critical reception
Christ Illusion was released on August 8, 2006 by American Recordings / Warner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
. In its first week of release, the album sold 62,000 copies in the United States and debuted at number 5 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
Chart. Though this ranked as the band's highest chart position to date, and was their first top 10 charting since 1994's Divine Intervention
Divine Intervention (album)
Divine Intervention is the sixth studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer. Released on September 27, 1994 through American Recordings, it was their first album featuring Paul Bostaph, replacing the band's original drummer Dave Lombardo. Several of the songs on the album were inspired by...
, the album dropped to number 44 the following week. Christ Illusion reached number 9 in Australia, number 3 in Canada, number 6 in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, number 8 in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, number 10 in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, number 9 in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and debuted at number 2 in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
and Germany. The single "Eyes of the Insane
Eyes of the Insane
"Eyes of the Insane" is a 2006 single by American thrash metal band Slayer, taken from their 2006 album Christ Illusion. The lyrics explore an American soldier's mental anguish following his return home from the second Gulf War, and is based on an article entitled "Casualty of War" which was...
" won the "Best Metal Performance" category at the 49th Grammy Awards. The song "Final Six" also won in the same category at the 50th Grammy Awards
50th Grammy Awards
The 50th Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, on February 10, 2008. Kanye West received the most nominations, with eight. Amy Winehouse was the big winner, winning a total of five awards. Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters won Album of the Year,...
.
The album was met with mostly favorable reviews. Thom Jurek of Allmusic hailed the album as "raging, forward-thinking heavy metal melding with hardcore thrash", and wrote that Christ Illusion marked a return to "what made them such a breath of fresh air in the first place." Ben Ratliff of the New York Times described the album as possessing "a kind of demented gravity, and the music bears it out: it is the most concentrated, focused Slayer record in 20 years." PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
critic Adrien Begrand called it "Slayer's best album in sixteen years and their most thought-provoking work to date", and the album was placed at number 15 on PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
list of The Best Metal Albums of 2006.
Drummer Lombardo came in for particular praise; though Rolling Stone panned the album, the reviewer acknowledged that "at least their awesome drummer Dave Lombardo shows off some chops." Blabbermouths Don Kaye thought that "while flawed", Christ Illusion "proves that the band still has a few tricks up its sleeve and one very potent weapon behind the kit." Peter Atkinson of KNAC.com felt similarly, and reported Lombardo's "performance is top notch throughout and does give the album a looser feel than Paul Bostaph’s technical precision offered." In 2011, Complex
Complex
A complex is a whole that comprehends a number of intricate parts, especially one with interconnected or mutually related parts; for example, a complex of buildings.Complex may refer to:-Biology:...
Media Network's music website, Consequence of Sound
Consequence of Sound
Consequence of Sound, also known often as CoS, is a Chicago-based music website featuring news, album and concert reviews, and editorials. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook micro-site, which serves as an on-line database for music festival news and rumors...
, honored Christ Illusion on a List 'Em Carefully installment dedicated to writer David Buchanan's top thirteen metal records released between 2000 and 2010, citing foreign controversy and overall sonic brutality during drummer Dave Lombardo's powerful return.
Not all critics were positive. Chris Steffen of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine dismissed the album, noting that it "mines much of the same territory as its predecessor, God Hates Us All, just without the memorable riffs." Jamie Thomson of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
described the album as "wholly disappointing," and thought the band sounded "unwilling to ditch the nu-metal tendencies that have made much of their recent output so resistible." KNAC.com contributor Peter Atkinson felt that the album "demands OUTRAGE —more calculatingly so than any other album the band has done," and that "that, in a nutshell, is Christ Illusion’s glaring weakness."
Album artwork
Larry Carroll (artist)
Larry Carroll is an artist who has worked for The Progressive, The Village Voice and the New York Times Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, The Nation, Reason, SPIN, RayGun, and other periodicals drawing political illustrations...
and depicting a mutilated, stoned Jesus. Carroll, who had painted the cover artwork to previous Slayer albums such as Reign in Blood
Reign in Blood
Reign in Blood is the third studio album and the major label debut by the American thrash metal band Slayer. It was released on October 7, 1986 through Def Jam Recordings. The album was the band's first collaboration with record producer Rick Rubin, whose input helped the band's sound evolve...
, South of Heaven
South of Heaven
South of Heaven is the fourth studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer. Released on July 5, 1988, the album was the band's second collaboration with record producer Rick Rubin, whose production skills on Slayer's previous album Reign in Blood had helped the band's sound evolve.South of...
and Seasons in the Abyss
Seasons in the Abyss
Seasons in the Abyss is the fifth studio album by the thrash metal band Slayer. It was released on October 9, 1990 through Def American Records, and later through American Recordings after the company changed its name. The album's recording sessions began in January 1990...
, resumed duties on Christ Illusion. Working solely from track names and formative lyrics, Carroll produced the original on a 4-by-4-foot slab of wood using a combination of mediums. Having requested an image of Christ in "a sea of despair", King commented that an early version seemed as though Christ was "chilling out in the water". The final image portrays Christ with a missing eye and amputated hands, and standing amidst a sea of blood and severed heads. Araya deemed this version "much better because he looked like a drug addict!", while King admired the artwork enough to purchase the original. Certain album pre-orders gave fans the chance to win one of ten autographed lithographs of the artwork, while an alternative, non-graphic cover was made to appease retailers who had refused to stock the original version.
World Entertainment News Network reported Slayer were attracting controversy through issuing the artwork. Joseph Dias, general secretary of the Mumbai Christian group Catholic Secular Forum, (CSF) took "strong exception" to the original album artwork, and issued a memorandum to Mumbai's police commissioner in protest. Chris Steffen of Rolling Stone magazine commented that "The album art takes it all over the top with an image axeman Kerry King dubs 'Christ in a Sea of Despair'", while KNAC.coms Peter Atkinson deemed the artwork "defiantly sacrilegious".
Lyrical themes
Lyrical themes explored on Christ Illusion deal with terrorism, warfare and religion, drew criticism from conservative groups. It includes a depiction of the September 11 attacks from the viewpoint of one of the terrorists ("JihadJihad (song)
"Jihad" is a song by the American thrash metal band Slayer which appears on their 2006 album Christ Illusion. The song portrays the imagined viewpoint of a terrorist who has participated in the September 11, 2001 attacks, concluding with spoken lyrics taken from words left behind by Mohamed Atta;...
"), and a portrayal of a soldier's experience of post-traumatic stress ("Eyes of the Insane
Eyes of the Insane
"Eyes of the Insane" is a 2006 single by American thrash metal band Slayer, taken from their 2006 album Christ Illusion. The lyrics explore an American soldier's mental anguish following his return home from the second Gulf War, and is based on an article entitled "Casualty of War" which was...
"). The song "Cult" revolves around King's perception of flaws in American religion, while "Consfearacy" has been described as a "government hating song".
Critical reaction to the album's lyrical content was mixed. Thom Jurek of Allmusic felt the "dark, unrelentingly twisted-as-fuck lyrics reflect a singular intensity," and praised the band for connecting their anti-religion stance with a belief that religion has underscored many wars throughout history. However, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s Chris Steffen mourned that it had become "downright painful to hear Tom Araya — at 45 years old! — continue to belt out the band's increasingly self-parodying, anti-religious lyrics," and singled out lyrics such as "Religion's a whore" and "I've made my choice: six six six!" as over the top. Jamie Thomson of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
wrote that the album left "no blasphemy...unuttered", while Peter Atkinson of KNAC.com observed that "when not fixating on religion, the band revisit their other favorite subject — war — in surprisingly familiar terms," and remarked that Slayer had sunk "to the level of God-repelling dunderheads Deicide
Deicide (band)
Deicide is an American death metal band formed in 1987. Their first two albums, Deicide and Legion, are ranked second and third place in best-selling death metal albums of the SoundScan era.-As Amon/Carnage :...
." He concluded the review with the opinion that "It's déjà vu all over again from God Hates Us All
God Hates Us All
God Hates Us All is the ninth studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer. Released on September 11, 2001, the album received positive critical reviews, although it entered the Billboard 200 at number 28. It was recorded in three months at The Warehouse Studio in Canada, and includes the...
— and once you've titled something God Hates Us All, haven't you made your point enough already?"
The Catholic Secular Forum condemned the album's lyrical content. Joseph Dias issued a statement in which he deemed the lyrics to "Skeleton Christ" to be an "insult to Christianity." The memorandum was sent to Mumbai's police commissioner, and further expressed concern that the track "Jihad
Jihad (song)
"Jihad" is a song by the American thrash metal band Slayer which appears on their 2006 album Christ Illusion. The song portrays the imagined viewpoint of a terrorist who has participated in the September 11, 2001 attacks, concluding with spoken lyrics taken from words left behind by Mohamed Atta;...
" would offend "the sensibilities of the Muslims...and secular Indians who have respect for all faiths." EMI India met with the CSF, apologizing for Christ Illusions release and recalling the album with no plans of a reissue. On October 11, 2006 it was announced all stocks had been destroyed. Though Araya had expected "Jihad"'s treatment of the events of 9/11 to create an American backlash, it failed to materialise, in part, he believes, due to peoples' view that the song is merely "just Slayer being Slayer".
Track listing
Special edition
Hot Topic bonus tracksDVD (Included with the special edition)
- Slayer on Tour, 2007
- "South of Heaven" (live)
- "Eyes of the InsaneEyes of the Insane"Eyes of the Insane" is a 2006 single by American thrash metal band Slayer, taken from their 2006 album Christ Illusion. The lyrics explore an American soldier's mental anguish following his return home from the second Gulf War, and is based on an article entitled "Casualty of War" which was...
" (video)
Chart positions
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
5 |
| Australian Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
9 |
| Austria | 6 |
| Canada | 3 |
| Finland | 2 |
| Germany | 2 |
| Netherlands | 8 |
| Norway | 10 |
| Poland | 9 |
Personnel
Slayer- Tom ArayaTom ArayaTom Araya is a Chilean musician, best known as the bassist and vocalist of the American thrash metal band Slayer...
– bass, vocals - Jeff HannemanJeff HannemanJeffrey John "Jeff" Hanneman is a rhythm/lead guitarist and founding member of the American thrash metal band Slayer. Hanneman grew up in Los Angeles in a family of war veterans, and his fascination with warfare is attributed to his upbringing...
– guitar - Kerry KingKerry KingKerry King is an American lead and rhythm guitarist. He is best known as the lead guitarist and cofounder of American thrash metal band Slayer. He co-founded the band with Jeff Hanneman in 1981 and has been a member ever since...
– guitar - Dave LombardoDave LombardoDave Lombardo is a Cuban American heavy metal drummer best known for his work with American thrash metal band Slayer. He has performed with Slayer on seven albums, including their groundbreaking 1986 release Reign In Blood and their 2006 release Christ Illusion, for which he received critical praise...
– drums
Production
- Josh AbrahamJosh AbrahamJosh Abraham is a Grammy-winning record producer and co-owner of Pulse Management and Check Your Pulse Publishing. He has produced songs and albums for many of the industry's most successful artists such as Velvet Revolver, 30 Seconds to Mars, Linkin Park, Kelly Clarkson and Courtney Love...
– producer