Eight in a series by my co-blogger (T) and myself (M)

Yes, it's 6/6/6. And National Day of Slayer! It’s a day to pretend you are some dark, evil person who wears a hooded robe and chants satanic verses in your bedroom while staring at the pentagram you drew on the mirror with eyeliner and waiting for Candyman to show up. It’s a day to look for the 666 carved on your child’s head, a day to read Good Omens, and a day accuse your boss of being the Anti Christ. And it’s a day to celebrate the wonders of Slayer.

Besides, I am a metalhead at heart. Yea, despite my playlist that seems to include nothing but Minor Threat and the like, I have a long, long history with metal. Heavy metal, speed metal, thrash metal, angry German metal, death metal, whatever there is. I've listened to it, banged my head to it, kicked a small child to it, and vomited up twenty shots of Goldschlager to it. And out of all my favorite metal bands - spanning from Motorhead to Meshuggah — none has won my heart, mind, and blackened soul like Slayer.

However, I am shunned by many a Slayer fan. Why? Because my choice of favorite album isn't the usual pick of Reign in Blood or the hardcore fan's pick of Hell Awaits. It's not even Season in the Abyss. No, it is 1998's Diabolus in Musica, the follow up to the much maligned Undisputed Attitude (see T's review of this album below).

For many Slayer fans, Attitude was a hard slap in the face. Punk songs? They are covering punk songs? They felt it was a departure as well as an insult. Of course, these were the people who remained ignorant of the fact that Slayer was actually influenced by hardcore punk bands like Minor Threat. But hey, why let a little history get in the way of your disdain? Anyhow, Slayer fans held their collective breath waiting for Diabolus to be released. Was Attitude a signal that the band had changed? Would this album be more punk than metal? Did we lose Slayer for good? I guess a two year wait in between albums will do that to a fan. Four years, if you are one of those who pretend Attitude doesn't exist.

I remember distinctly listening to this album for the first time. June, 1998. I slipped it into my car's CD player in the parking lot of the mall. I waited. Anxious. The slow bass of "Bitter Peace" kicked in. It was a trudging kind of metal, heavy in the pit of your stomach. So far, so good. I nodded my head a bit, the way people afraid to actually bang their head in public do. And then the short break in the song where it gets quiet, then you can feel the build up coming, the drums rolling, and...dude.