Diabolus in Musica

Diabolus in Musica
Studio album by Slayer
Released	June 9, 1998
Recorded	1997–1998 Oceanway Studios Hollywood Sound, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genre	Thrash metal, groove metal, nu metal[1][2][3]
Length	40:24
Label	American
Producer	Slayer, Rick Rubin
Slayer chronology
Undisputed Attitude (1996) Diabolus in Musica (1998) God Hates Us All (2001)

Diabolus in Musica is the seventh studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer. Released on June 9, 1998, it is the second studio album to feature drummer Paul Bostaph. Although receiving mixed critical reviews, the album sold 46,000 copies in its first week to peak at number 31 on the Billboard 200.

Guitarist Jeff Hanneman wrote most of the album's content which has been described as Slayer's most experimental album. It is the band's first studio album to be played mostly in Drop C# tuning. The album's title is a Latin term for "The Devil in Music", a musical interval known for its dissonance. Lyrical themes explored on the album include religion, cultural deviance, death, insanity, war, and homicide.

Writing and recording

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] The album was produced by Rick Rubin and was recorded at Oceanway Studios.^[5]

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.^[1] Drummer Paul Bostaph claims the album is his favorite as he thought the album was "as experimental as Slayer got".^[6] This included incorporating groove metal elements and strange vocal effects as said by an interview for High Times.^[7] Bostaph returned to Slayer after his short-lived side project The Truth About Seafood, and the band entered the recording studio four months later.^[6]

Album title and lyrical themes

	"Bitter Peace" "Bitter Peace" demonstrating Slayer's new musical approach incorporating down tuned guitars
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Diabolus in Musica is a Latin term for "The Devil in Music" or tritone. Medieval musical rules did not allow this particular dissonance.^[8] 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!'"^[9]

Touring and promotion

The Diabolus in Musica Tour Sampler.

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.^[10] Slayer released a promotional 3 track album called Diabolus in Musica Tour Sampler. The album features 3 tracks from Slayer, and tourmates Clutch and System of a Down; "Stain of Mind", "Ship of Gold" and "Suite-Pee" (Clean Version). It was released on CD and Cassette.^[11]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[12]
Entertainment Weekly	C+[13]
Metal Forces	[14]
Q	[15]
Rock Hard	[16]

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^[17] and debuted at number 31 on the Billboard 200 Chart.^[18] As of August 16, 2006 the album has sold 290,000 copies in the United States.^[17] Reviewing 2003 Slayer box set Soundtrack to the Apocalypse, Adrien Begrand of PopMatters dubbed the album "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."^[1]

However, not all reviewers were so positive. 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."^[19] In a 1998 review, The New York Times' Ben Ratliff complained: "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."^[20] Songs from the album are rarely played live following the return of drummer Dave Lombardo in 2002, with "Stain of Mind" being the only constant.^[21]

Track listing

Japanese edition

• Australian Edition does not contain track # 8

Personnel

References