If, as some suspect, Beelzebub has a soft spot for hard metal, he'll be delighted with Slayer's raucous return to form on the group's eighth album. With producer Rick Rubin (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Johnny Cash, Run-DMC) back at the helm, the thrash-metal pioneers have trimmed the excess flab that weighed them down in the early '90s. Back in evidence is the clinical speed, power, and aggression that once made them metal's most revered extremists. But while their trademark breakneck riffing remains, Slayer reaches beyond the old routines to pack a greater punch. "Love to Hate" harbors a fat hip-hop groove, "In the Name of God" toys malevolently with grunge-rock flavors, and "Point" concludes the 11-song set at just under 110 miles per hour. Diabolus in Musica is an emphatic resurrection--and then some. --Steffan Chirazi
