Beyond this, there were a few things going on. In May 1992, drummer Dave Lombardo, the engine room of the band, quit Slayer, essentially due to wanting to be able to spend time with his family but also through disagreements with the rest of the band. It was something that took the fan base by surprise. In his place the band brought in Paul Bostaph, who had previously been the drummer for the band Forbidden. The band continued touring through 1992 and 1993, and also contributed songs with rapper Ice-T for the soundtrack to the movie “Judgement Night”.
It wasn’t until March 1994 that they band returned to the studio to begin writing and recording for the follow up album. It was already far longer between albums than the band had ever spent, and they now also had four months ahead in the studio. Vocalist and bass guitarist Tom Araya was quoted after the album’s release that more time was spent on the production for this album than they had on any of their previous releases.
The other thing that had occurred during this time of course was the elevation of grunge music to the top of the charts, and the influence that that had had on other heavy metal and thrash metal bands throughout the world. Bands had changed their sound to incorporate the new wave, or to completely embrace it, with mixed results. Other bands had literally disappeared into the ether as a result of this change in the music world. Slayer, with Bostaph appearing on his first Slayer album, and with such a long time between releases, came out and provided their response to everything that had occurred in that time frame… by producing an album that sounded exactly like you would expect a Slayer album to sound. Aggressive. Topical. Heavy.
Kerry King dominates the first side of the album when it comes to composition. “Killing Fields” is all over the place tempo wise, and the way Bostaph plays. The timings don’t really seem to fit together at any point in time, until finally the song kicks into gear at the three-minute mark, when everything comes together. I’ve never really been able to get my head around the concept of this opening track. A mix of slower tempo music with over-the-top double kick drums that are filling too much of the song than necessary. The last minute is fine. The first three are strange. It sounds like it was a chance to introduce Bostaph to the band, get him to showcase every skill in the book to prove he could replace Lombardo. Anyway. “Sex. Murder. Art” is more like the Slayer everyone knows. Straight into the fast tempo song that Slayer are renown for. Short, sharp and to the point. Excellent. “Fictional Reality” is more of what you expect from a Kerry song. Great riff, driven by the drums, and Tom’s vocals chant over the top. We then jump straight into “Dittohead”, and I’ve always loved this song. Pure thrash from start to finish, as fast as you can play and then play a bit faster. Awesome riffage, and could fit anywhere in Slayer’s discography and be brilliant. The title track “Divine Intervention” channels “Skeletons of Society” from the previous album, in the mid-range tempo guitars. The song is built on the scream side of Araya’s vocals, which does get tiresome at times when you know what he could do on earlier albums and on other songs on this album. The song goes too long, over five and a half minutes, especially given the length of the entire album as a whole. But the twin guitar solos toward the end make it worthwhile. “Circle of Beliefs” jumps back into the faster bandwagon, the type of songs that are the better side of Slayer. Flying along musically, especially those riffing guitars, and Araya’s vocals are at their best here, not screaming but pointedly booming out of the speakers at you. It’s a great song.
“SS-3” is the real start of the Jeff Hanneman composed or co-composed tracks, and now we are off to the races. “SS-3” is scintillating throughout, and those guitar solos are now back in the iconic areas that we know so well from this duo. Once again Tom’s vocals seem more natural and enjoyable on this track. Following this is “Serenity in Murder”, which was released as a single/EP, with three live songs attached to it (which is also awesome by the way). Tom experiments with his vocals throughout this song which improves it dramatically. Nice riffing, and a drop back in tempo, but it is pulled together by the dramatic effect of the track. “213” differentiates itself with the clear doom guitar intro to the track, a slow and foreboding build up right to the two minute mark, when Araya joins up and the riff breaks in. It’s an unusual Slayer song, one of Hannemann’s ‘out of the box’ compositions that may well be a step too far for some fans, but which I have always really enjoyed. The album then concludes with “Mind Control”, back into the swing of a typical Hannemann track, with both he and Kerry charging along both riff wise and solo wise. It’s a perfect way to end an album that keeps thrash alive in the mid-1990’s.
It was ridiculous how long we had to wait for this album. Given the ‘bang-bang’ release of those first five albums, four year between this and “Seasons in the Abyss”, even giving the release of “Decade of Aggression”. So when this finally surfaced it was a very exciting trip into the city to purchase my CD copy of the album. My memories of those initial reactions to the album are slight ambivalence. I had certainly built up the anticipation of this album far too much, and expected something that was going to blow my socks off from the first time I played the album, and I definitely didn’t get that. Some of it I found great from the beginning, but other parts of the album left me less than excited. Looking back from all of these years later, I can understand what 24 year old me was thinking. Because when I listen to this album today, I still get those feelings. I’ve had another couple of weeks revisiting the album, and it is the same songs today that light a fire, and the same songs today that I think miss their mark, and in some cases not inconsiderably. In trying to understand that, when I think about all of the band’s other albums, and perhaps “Divine Intervention” just suffers in my mind from being the sixth album in line behind five amazing opening albums of the band’s discography. I certainly don’t consider this a bad album, but it doesn’t rank against those other albums that came before it. On the other hand, it stands up pretty well compared to a couple of albums at least that are yet to come. So what is it missing that makes those other albums great? I don’t know the answer to that as such, except to say that there are some changes on this album that perhaps don’t retain the same intensity, drive and attitude of the music that preceded this. I was certainly in a different place in my life at the time, and I imagine Slayer as a band was also. “Divine Intervention” is still a very good album, one that defied the era in regards to metal music, and stuck true to the band’s ideals for what it wanted to produce musically. For that alone it deserves your attention.
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