Divine Intervention

Out-of-print in the US. Import version of their 1994 album. Warner.

After pretty much inventing and pioneering death metal in the early '80s, Slayer spent years playing as fast and with as much intensity as they could muster. But after 1986's pinnacle of death, Reign in Blood, the band decided to explore the slower side of intense volume, so it tempered the tempos and indulged in a darker, more atmospheric sound. But with 1994's Divine Intervention, the band proved it could still race to the finish line. Somewhat messier than much of their earlier output, the record makes up in brutality whatever it lacks in precision. If "Killing Fields," "Circle of Belief," and "Sex, Murder, Art" quicken the pulse, the hardcore velocity-fest "Dittohead" will cause the heart to explode in showers of Divine gore. Not for the timid. --Jon Wiederhorn