Diabolus in Musica
Diabolus in Musica is Slayer's eighth studio album, released on 9 June 1998 by American Recordings. Its Latin title means "the devil in music", and it borrows the name of a musical interval famed for its dissonance. It followed Undisputed Attitude from 1996 and came ahead of God Hates Us All in 2001.
Jeff Hanneman wrote most of the material, and the record is often described as the band's most experimental. It is also their first album played mostly in C♯ tuning, which gives it a heavier, lower sound. The songs deal with religion, sex, cultural deviance, death, insanity, war and homicide. Critics were mixed at the time, but it reached number 31 on the Billboard 200 and sold over 46,000 copies in its first week. It is worth hearing for the sound of Slayer pushing at their own boundaries.
Diabolus in Musica: tracklist, credits and charts
11 tracks · 40:26Tracklist
- 1Bitter PeaceJeff Hanneman4:32
- 2Death’s HeadJeff Hanneman3:29
- 3Stain of MindJeff Hanneman and Kerry King3:25
- 4Overt EnemyJeff Hanneman4:42
- 5Perversions of PainJeff Hanneman and Kerry King3:31
- 6Love to HateJeff Hanneman and Kerry King3:06
- 7DesireJeff Hanneman and Tom Araya4:19
- 8In the Name of GodKerry King3:38
- 9ScrumJeff Hanneman and Kerry King2:19
- 10Screaming From the SkyHanneman, Araya, King3:13
- 11PointJeff Hanneman and Kerry King4:12
- Produced by
- Rick Rubin, Slayer
- Recorded at
- Ocean Way (Hollywood); Hollywood Sound (Hollywood)
- Recorded
- 1997
- Engineered by
- Greg Gordon
- Label
- American Recordings
- Length
- 40:26
Singles
- “Stain of Mind” · 30 September 1998
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 1998 | 27 |
| US Billboard 200 · 1998 | 31 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums · 1998 | 2 |
| New Zealand Albums · 1998 | 15 |
| Finnish Albums · 1998 | 18 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 1998 | 19 |
| French Albums · 1998 | 23 |
| Hungarian Albums · 1998 | 23 |
| Swedish Albums · 1998 | 29 |
| Canadian Albums (RPM) · 1998 | 30 |
All 16 charts
| Scottish Albums · 1998 | 30 |
| Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 1998 | 32 |
| German Albums · 1998 | 32 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 1998 | 35 |
| Austrian Albums · 1998 | 40 |
| Dutch Albums · 1998 | 52 |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
Released the same week
Also released on 9 June
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More on American Recordings
The label →Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 9 June 1998 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 9 June 1998 | |
| Wikidata | 9 June 1998 | |
| US release | 9 June 1998 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 9 June 1998 | earliest UK or European date |
14 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | XW | American Recordings | 0060254757976 | other |
| 1998 | XE | American Recordings | 731458680123 | other |
| 1998 | XE | Columbia | 5099749130265 | other |
| 1998 | XE | American Recordings | 5051011603921 | other |
| 9 June 1998 | US | American Recordings | original | |
| 9 June 1998 | XE | American Recordings | 5099749130227 | original |
| 9 June 1998 | US | American Recordings | 074646919224 | original |
| 24 June 1998 | JP | Sony Records | 4988009869896 | other |
| 6 August 1998 | XE | American Recordings | 5099749130296 | other |
| 12 March 2002 | US | American Recordings | 886971310825 | other |
| 24 July 2007 | US | American Recordings | other | |
| 14 October 2009 | JP | American Recordings | 4547366048858 | other |
| 2013 | US | American Recordings | 602537466856 | other |
| 6 May 2013 | GB | American Recordings | 602537352197 | other |
Cover art sources
itunes · native: native 1500x1500
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| itunes ✓ | 1500×1500 | native: native 1500x1500 |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |
| coverartarchive | 600×585 | upscaled |