Diabolus in Musica

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For the musical interval, see tritone. For the Spanish symphonic metal band, see Diabulus in Musica. For other uses, see the disambiguation.

Diabolus in Musica
Studio album by
Slayer
ReleasedJune 9, 1998 (1998-06-09)
Recorded1997
StudioOcean Way (Hollywood); Hollywood Sound (Hollywood)
Genre
Length40:15
LabelAmerican
ProducerRick Rubin
Slayer chronology
Undisputed Attitude
(1996) 		Diabolus in Musica
(1998) 		God Hates Us All
(2001)
Singles from Diabolus in Musica
  1. "Stain of Mind"
    Released: September 30, 1998

Diabolus in Musica (Latin for "The Devil in Music") is the eighth studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer, released on June 9, 1998, by American Recordings. Guitarist Jeff Hanneman wrote most of the album's content, which has been described as Slayer's most experimental. It was the band's first album to be played mostly in C♯ tuning, and named after a musical interval known for its dissonance. Lyrical themes explored on the album include religion, sex, cultural deviance, death, insanity, war, and homicide.

Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, Diabolus in Musica peaked at number 31 on the Billboard 200, selling over 46,000 copies in its first week of sales. By 2009, it had sold over 306,000 copies in the United States.

Writing, music, and recording[edit]

Paul Bostaph returned to Slayer in early 1997 after his short-lived side project The Truth About Seafood, and the band entered the recording studio a few months later.[1] Diabolus in Musica was recorded at Ocean Way Recording,[2] and complete by September 1997. It was scheduled to be released the following month, but got delayed until the middle of 1998, after American Recordings was taken over by Columbia Records.[3]

Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman described the writing process as, "When we were writing this album I was looking for something to beat; I wanted something to beat, but nothing impresses me right now. Nothing sounded really aggressive or heavy enough to inspire me to beat it, so I just had to come up with my own shit."[4]

Adrien Begrand of PopMatters felt Slayer introduced characteristics to its music including tuned down guitars, murky chord structures, and churning beats. He believed these characteristics were adopted in response to the then-burgeoning nu metal scene.[5] Drummer Paul Bostaph claims the album is his favorite as he thought the album was "as experimental as Slayer got".[1] As a result, Diabolus in Musica was described as nu metal[5][6][7][8][9] and groove metal.[10]

Album title and lyrical themes[edit]

"Bitter Peace"
"Bitter Peace" demonstrating Slayer's new musical approach incorporating down tuned guitars
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Diabolus in Musica is a Latin term for "The Devil in Music" or tritone. Medieval musical rules did not allow this particular dissonance.[11] According to one mythology, the interval was considered sexual and would bring out the devil; Slayer vocalist and bassist Tom Araya jokingly said that people were executed for writing and using the interval.[4]

Araya held concern about the lyrics that King penned to "In the Name of God", voicing his opinion to guitarist Hanneman. King's viewpoint was; "It's like, 'C'mon, man, you're in Slayer. You're the antichrist — you said it yourself on the first album!' You can't draw the line like that. Whether he agrees with it or not, he didn't write it — I wrote it. So you have to say, 'Well, it's just a part of being in this band.' Now Jeff and I, we don't give a fuck. If Jeff wrote something I had a problem with, I would never even raise a fucking finger. I'd be like, 'Fuck yeah, let's do it! Gonna piss someone off? Alright!'"[12]

Touring and promotion[edit]

Following the release of the album, the band commenced the Diabolus in Musica tour. From 1998 to 1999, Slayer toured with Sepultura, System of a Down, Fear Factory, Kilgore, Clutch, Meshuggah, and Sick of It All.[13] Slayer released a promotional 3-track album called Diabolus in Musica Tour Sampler. The album features 3 tracks, one from Diabolus in Musica ("Stain of Mind"), "Ship of Gold" off tourmate Clutch's The Elephant Riders and "Suite-Pee" (Clean Version) from the debut album by System of a Down.

Reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[14]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal9/10[15]
Entertainment WeeklyC+[16]
Metal Forces4/10[17]
Metal Hammer9/10[18]
Q[19]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[20]
Rock Hard8.5/10[21]
Spin4/10[22]

Diabolus in Musica was released on June 9, 1998, by American Recordings. In its first week of release, the album sold 46,000 copies in the United States,[23] and debuted at number 31 on the Billboard 200.[24] By November 2009, it had sold over 306,000 copies in the US.[25]

Reviewing the 2003 Slayer box set Soundtrack to the Apocalypse, Adrien Begrand of PopMatters called Diabolus in Musica "a unique record [...] It's as if they're stepping in to show the young bands how to do it right, as songs like 'Bitter Peace', 'Death's Head', and the terrific 'Stain of Mind' blow away anything that young pretenders have put out."[5] Writing in The Guardian, journalist Joel McIver said although the album was as musically heavy and lyrically dark as any of Slayer's previous releases, it exhibited the groove-based style of the then-popular nu metal sound.[26] Metal Hammer's Ian Winwood called Diabolus in Musica "a fantastic album", writing: "It manages to combine (and this is meant in the best possible sense) both the sharpness of new school metal with the songwriting prowess and musical quality we've come to expect from [Slayer]."[18]

However, not all reviews were positive. Reviewing a Slayer concert at Irving Plaza during the Diabolus in Musica tour, Ben Ratliff of The New York Times' panned the album for its murky production,[27] saying: "Eight of the 11 songs on Diabolus in Musica, a few of which were played at the show, are in the same gray key, and the band's rhythmic ideas have a wearying sameness too."[28] Reviewing Slayer's 2001 album God Hates Us All, Blabbermouth.net reviewer Borivoj Krgin described Diabolus in Musica as "a feeble attempt at incorporating updated elements into the group's sound, the presence of which elevated the band's efforts somewhat and offered hope that Slayer could refrain from endlessly rehashing their previous material for their future output."[29] Sarah Vowell of Spin gave the album a four out of ten rating, stating that "Fifteen years into Slayer's career, they're still deploying the same fast beats and sluggish riffs and batty banter." concluding that "This is loudness without fun, blasphemy without subversion, darkness with no shades of gray. The drums are miked really well, though."[22]

Songs from the album were rarely played live following the return of drummer Dave Lombardo in 2002, with "Stain of Mind" being the only constant.[30]

Band members' views[edit]

Kerry King has expressed regret for the musical direction of Diabolus in Musica.[31] In the "Nu Metal" episode of the 2011 VH1 documentary series Metal Evolution, he said the following in retrospect about the album:

That's the one record that I really paid not enough attention to because I was really bitter about what kind of music was popular. I thought it was, was very frat boy stuff, and maybe that's why it was popular, I don't know. So Diabolus didn't get as much attention from me because, you know, we didn't stay in focus. Looking back we were just saying, "alright, how do we make Slayer fit into today's society?" But, that's probably my least favorite record of our history. That's our Turbo [laughs].[32]

Track listing[edit]

All music is composed by Jeff Hanneman, except "In the Name of God", by Kerry King

No.TitleLyricsLength
1."Bitter Peace"Hanneman4:32
2."Death's Head"Hanneman3:34
3."Stain of Mind"King3:24
4."Overt Enemy"Hanneman4:41
5."Perversions of Pain"King3:33
6."Love to Hate"
  • Hanneman
  • King
3:07
7."Desire"Tom Araya4:19
8."In the Name of God"King3:40
9."Scrum"King2:16
10."Screaming from the Sky"
  • Hanneman
  • Araya
  • King
3:12
11."Point"King4:11
Total length:40:15

All music is composed by Hanneman, except where noted

Australian edition
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Bitter Peace"Hanneman 4:32
2."Death's Head"Hanneman 3:29
3."Stain of Mind"King 3:24
4."Overt Enemy"Hanneman 4:41
5."Perversions of Pain"King 3:30
6."Love to Hate"
  • Hanneman
  • King
 3:05
7."Desire"Araya 4:19
8."In the Name of God"KingKing3:38
9."Scrum"King 2:18
10."Screaming from the Sky"
  • Araya
  • Hanneman
  • King
 3:12
11."Wicked" (bonus track)
  • Hanneman
  • King
6:00
12."Point"King 4:12
Total length:46:15

All music is composed by Hanneman, except where noted

Japanese edition
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Bitter Peace"Hanneman 4:32
2."Death's Head"Hanneman 3:29
3."Stain of Mind"King 3:24
4."Overt Enemy"Hanneman 4:41
5."Perversions of Pain"King 3:30
6."Love to Hate"
  • Hanneman
  • King
 3:05
7."Desire"Araya 4:19
8."Unguarded Instinct" (bonus track)King 3:42
9."In the Name of God"KingKing3:38
10."Scrum"King 2:18
11."Screaming from the Sky"
  • Araya
  • Hanneman
  • King
 3:12
12."Wicked" (bonus track)
  • Araya
  • Bostaph
  • Hanneman
  • King
6:00
13."Point"King 4:12
Total length:49:57

Personnel[edit]

Charts[edit]

Chart (1998) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[33] 35
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[34] 40
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[35] 32
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[36] 30
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[37] 52
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[38] 18
French Albums (SNEP)[39] 23
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[40] 32
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[41] 23
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[42] 15
Scottish Albums (OCC)[43] 30
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[44] 29
UK Albums (OCC)[45] 27
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[46] 2
US Billboard 200[47] 31

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Paul Bostaph of Exodus, ex-Slayer". Metal-rules.com. February 5, 2007. Archived from the original on October 17, 2014. Retrieved March 16, 2007.
  2. ^ Diabolus in Musica album notes, June 9, 1998. American Recordings.
  3. ^ Team, Metal Invader. "Interview with Slayer – July 1998 – Issue 0021 | Metal Invader".
  4. ^ a b Chirazi, Steffan (August 6, 1998). "Back And Black". Yahoo music. Archived from the original on August 14, 2007. Retrieved November 8, 2007.
  5. ^ a b c Begrand, Adrien (January 23, 2004). "Slayer: Soundtrack to the Apocalpyse". PopMatters. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
  6. ^ Joel McIver (May 3, 2013). "Jeff Hanneman obituary | Music | guardian.co.uk". Guardian. London. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  7. ^ Eakin, Marah (May 2, 2013). "R.I.P. Jeff Hanneman of Slayer | Music | Newswire". The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
  8. ^ Golsen, Tyler (March 10, 2022). "The 10 worst albums produced by Rick Rubin". Far Out Magazine. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  9. ^ Enis, Eli (January 13, 2023). "Slayer's Kerry King Considered Quitting Music Over Limp Bizkit: "Fuck This"". Revolver Magazine. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  10. ^ McIver, Joe (2009). "20". The Bloody Reign of Slayer. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857120380. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  11. ^ Rohrer, Finlo (April 28, 2006). "The Devil's Music". BBC. Retrieved January 16, 2008.
  12. ^ Bienstock, Richard (July 1, 2006). "Slayer's King says Rick Rubin's collaboration with Metallica was a 'slap in the face'". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved June 5, 2007.
  13. ^ "Slayer History". Slayerized. Retrieved November 12, 2012.
  14. ^ Huey, Steve. "Diabolus in Musica - Slayer". AllMusic. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  15. ^ Popoff, Martin (2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 408. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
  16. ^ Snierson, Dan (June 12, 1998). "Diabolus in Musica Review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on November 19, 2015. Retrieved March 28, 2012.
  17. ^ Arnold, Neil (June 9, 1998). "Slayer - Diabolus In Musica (1998)". Metal Forces. Retrieved June 1, 2012.
  18. ^ a b Winwood, Ian (June 1998). "Slayer: Diabolus in Musica | Under the Hammer". Metal Hammer (51). Dennis Publishing: 70. ISSN 0955-1190.
  19. ^ "Slayer - Diabolus in Musica CD Album". CD Universe. Retrieved December 1, 2012.
  20. ^ Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City, New York: Simon and Schuster. pp. 741–742. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. rolling stone slayer album guide.
  21. ^ Kupfer, Thomas (July 1998). "Diabolus in Musica". Rock Hard (in German). No. 134. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  22. ^ a b Vowell, Sarah (August 1998). "Reviews". Spin. Vol. 14, no. 8. SPIN Media LLC. p. 144. ISSN 0886-3032.
  23. ^ "Slayer: Christ Illusion lands at No. 5 on Billboard chart!". Blabbermouth.net. August 16, 2006. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved March 19, 2007.
  24. ^ "Slayer's album chart history". Billboard.com. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved March 19, 2007.
  25. ^ "Slayer Interviewed On 'Uranium', Clip Available". Blabbermouth.net. November 11, 2009. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  26. ^ Joel McIver (May 3, 2013). "Jeff Hanneman obituary | Music | guardian.co.uk". The Guardian. London. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  27. ^ Eakin, Marah (May 2, 2013). "R.I.P. Jeff Hanneman of Slayer | Music | Newswire". The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
  28. ^ Ratliff, Ben (June 22, 1998). "It's a Major Metal Band, and Even the Furniture Isn't Safe". The New York Times.
  29. ^ Krgin, Borivoj. "Slayer God Hates Us All". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved May 29, 2007.
  30. ^ "Slayer's Kerry King: 'We've never tried to be anything we weren't'". Ultimate Guitar. August 15, 2007. Archived from the original on May 10, 2012. Retrieved November 8, 2007.
  31. ^ Coffman, Tim (October 9, 2022). "The Slayer Album That Kerry King Regrets Making". The Pit. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
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  36. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 7900". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  37. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Slayer – Diabolus in Musica" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
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  39. ^ "Lescharts.com – Slayer – Diabolus in Musica". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  40. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Slayer – Diabolus in Musica" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
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  43. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  44. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Slayer – Diabolus in Musica". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
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  47. ^ "Slayer Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 8, 2023.

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