Reign in Blood

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Editorial reviews

Description
Slayer's major-label debut remains one of the most brutal metal albums ever recorded, uncompromising in its extremes; ironically, it's their mainstream breakthrough release. Infusing its thrash sound with a hardcore-punk influence, the cacophonous quartet shifts from supernatural terror to real-life horrors with shorter songs such as "Necrophobic" and "Postmortem". The change is most notable on the gruesome depiction of Nazi butcher Josef Mengele on the frenzied epic "Angel of Death". Only the apocalyptic closing number, "Raining Blood", hearkens back to the semi-melodic Slayer style from SHOW NO MERCY and HELL AWAITS.
Throughout its short running time (28 minutes, an EP even by 1980s standards), the Rick Rubin-produced REIGN IN BLOOD unleashes a malevolent maelstrom of sound. Propelled by Dave Lombardo's pummeling percussion, Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King let loose their roaring guitars, often trading leads in their unorthodox, wailing style,while bassist Tom Araya barks and shrieks the lyrics with maniacal glee. Slayer is one of the few metal bands that genuinely sounds evil, and with REIGN IN BLOOD it would inspire a legion of thrash- and death-metal followers eager to join the horror show.

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Customer reviews

review by: TRUE METAL date: 2008-06-07 rating:
30 Minutes of pure Thrash Metal. What More Can I Say?
This album is awesome this is the album that put Slayer on the map, i can see why. It's an awesome album which contains 2 of Slayer most famous songs (some people consider their best) which are Angel Of Death & Raining Blood. Theirs nothing better then just listen to a Slayer album (God Hates Us All & Reign In Blood) full blast all the way through it will leave you breathless. Now i do admit this did take some listening to fully appreciate the album, when you do get into man it's amazing. If you're are thinking about buying this album just buy it and when it arrives get a spare 30 minutes put the album on full blast and listen to it the whole way through and you'll be blown away by the pure power of Slayer. SLAYER RULE!!!!!!!!!

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review by: date: 2008-03-09 rating:
Totally overrated, but still good..
Reign in Blood is a pretty decent album which made violent thrash more accessible through its polished production and catchy riffs. The album is a vicious onslaught from start to finish, with some great headbangers such as 'Angel of Death' and 'Altar of Sacrifice'. What lets this album down is the lack of dynamic in both speed and atmosphere, the overclean production doesn't help either. On the previous albums: 'Show no Mercy', 'Haunting The Chapel' and 'Hell Awaits', Slayer captured some truely sinister atmospheres through the use of lurching tempos,dissonant riffs and ritualistic drum patterns, which built up real suspense: these elements combined with Slayer's ferocious speed had a more violent impact than their 'faster! faster! faster!' approach on 'Reign'. I don't know if all the fuss over 'Reign..' is down to people's sheer ignorance of how much darker and violent thrash can be, or simply a case of not hearing the albums before. Although it is an important album in the metal world, it is certainly not as ground breaking as many think, and absolutely overrated. If you want to hear prime examples of thrashing violence, check out the other albums (especially 'Hell Awaits') as well as: 'Razor-Violent Restitution', 'Possessed-Seven Churches' and 'Vulcano-Bloody Vengeance'!

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review by: date: 2007-12-15 rating:
Slayers Masterpiece
This is one of the greatest if not the greatest thrash metal album of all time. I know that some of you might be thinking " Master of Puppets" is the best thrash album and I would also agree in some ways but I want to keep this review short and to the point. This album clocks in at under 30 minutes with two extra remix tracks which is a bit short but if it were a bit longer your head would probably explode! The general sound of the music is dark and could be a mix between death/thrash and black metal. The lyrics are about death and torture which Tom Araya compliments with his evil sounding vocals. The guitar work is just amazing, so many riffs and interchanging guitar solos between King & Hanneman, these guys must be cyborgs or something! And finaly the great Dave Lombardo "The Pulse" of the band on drums who is just phenomenal as always. This album is excellent from start to finish but can take a few listens to "get it" because this is seriously fast music. My top 3 tracks here are Angel of death, Criminaly insane and Reigning blood. If your a fan of extreme metal then this has to be in your collection. This is a "Thrash Metal Classic"!!

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review by: date: 2007-11-24 rating:
Great album
I like this. While the tracks may be a bit too similar eventually you get used to them. One exception to this is Altar of Sacrifice, which I can't get my head around and it doesn't do anything for me. It's pretty much a filler. The second weakest track is Reborn followed closely by Postmortem, both of which I find hard to remember over the others.

My favourite is Criminally Insane, while Angel of Death and Raining Blood are almost as good. The other 4 tracks are just good songs. Buy it, since the one track I don't really like is not bad, and it seems popular.


review by: Slayer Rule! date: 2007-11-03 rating:
Slayer, Thrash, Blood? The greatest thrash album ever!
I actually bought this album earlier today, and upon first listening I thought that it was incredibly heavy, repetitive, boring and I started to realise the reasons I didn't buy it earlier. BUT...

Upon SECOND listening, the album has knocked my fave thrash album (Master Of Puppets) of it's throne and this masterpiece has taken over the REIGN of thrash (A little humour there!)

'Angel Of Death' is obviously a classic in it's own right, and the same to the title track, however after previously undderating the other tracks on the album, I found that I was wrong (that doesn't happen often) and that EVERY track on this album is a masterpiece! But, if for some strange reason the music doesn't rise to your liking, if you're a true thrash fan, the sheer atmosphere during the recording of the album should be enough to send shivers down your spine!

I'll do a little track review section for you, just to let you know my feelings sensibly:

1. Angel Of Death - OH MY GOD! THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE CLASSIC! Seriously now, this song IS classic and should take the place of Metallica's 'Master Of Puppets' as the ultimate thrash song. A little slower towards the end, but we do like a change every once in a while!
Rating: 10/10

2. Piece By Piece - Another of my faves, this track was actually the first Slayer track I ever heard and upon first hearing, I didn't take to it that much, but already it is on my iPod, Phone, myspace page, pretty much anything! However, I wouldn't say it's the best song on the album because every song is one my iPod!
Rating: 9/10

3. Necrophobic - It's a bit short, but a Slayer classic. The solos are made to look so easy on this album, with Hanneman and King tossing solos back and forth to each other like playing a game of never-ending tennis!
Rating: 9.5/10

4. Altar Of Sacrifice - Good song, but not my favourite. The riff in the bridge and chorus is great, but it's a bit samey.
Rating: 9.5/10

5. Jesus Saves - Great song, one of my favourite thrash songs of all time (yes, that's including Megadeth, dare I say!) The intro is my favourite ever to a song, and then the actual song? Listen for yourself!
Rating: 9.5/10

6. Criminally Insane - I LOVE THIS SONG! Almost as much as the first track, but is let down by not being able to understand what Tom is saying (and screaming)
Rating: 9/10

7. Reborn - I don't really like this song as much as the others and if I were to create a list of my favourite Slayer tracks, I don't think that this would appear on it!
Rating: 8.5/10

8. Epidemic - This and the next track are two of my favourites on the album, this one more so than 'Postmortem'. A great thrash song, you could call it a Slayer classic.
Rating: 10/10

9. Postmortem - See above.
Rating: 9.5/10

10. Raining Blood - This is the classic, this is Reign In Blood, this is SLAYER!
Rating: 10/10

By the way, if you're new to Slayer, then I would reccomend 'Show No Mercy' first as it's not quite as heavy and fast as this, but if you're already a Speed Metal fan, then I would reccomend South Of Heaven, Seasons In The Abyss or Hell Awaits before preparing to open your wallet to buy this thrashmaster!

Overall Album Rating: 10/10

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