Diabolus in Musica

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." The album was produced by Rick Rubin and was recorded at Oceanway Studios.

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

Album title and lyrical themes

Diabolus in Musica is a Latin term for "The Devil in Music" or tritone. Medieval musical rules did not allow this particular dissonance. 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.

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!'"

Touring and promotion

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. 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. It was released on CD and Cassette.

Reception

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 and debuted at number 31 on the Billboard 200 Chart. By August 2006, the album has sold 290,000 copies in the United States. 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." 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.

However, not all reviewers were so positive. The New York Times panned the album for its murky production and "wearying sameness". 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." 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." 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.

Band members' views

In the "Nu Metal" episode of the 2011 VH1 documentary series Metal Evolution, Kerry King said the following in retrospect about the album:

Japanese edition