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Album info
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Release date:
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7 October 1986 |
Rating:
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9.1 | 904 votes |
Owners:
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1295 have it
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Review by Edible Autopsy [Guest reviewer]
The greatest metal record of all time. This topic is often debated upon in the Metal Kingdom and to most there is no definite answer. A worthy contender for this title is Slayer's 1986 masterpiece, Reign In Blood. Few albums withstand the test of time as well and even fewer have had such a huge impact on the metal world as this one.
The opening track is the legendary 'Angel of Death' and starts things off with a scream. Tom Araya's voice is at it venomous peak having shed the "I have no testicles" sound of their earlier releases. He shouts gruesome lyrics, song after song with such serial killer conviction it sends chills down your spine upon first listening. The speed in which the vocals are delivered makes for a fun along with the lyric book, that is of course until you learn all the songs word for word.
Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman have crafted some of the most brutal guitar riffs in history. These riffs reach super-sonic speeds while never compromising their heaviness. King and Hanneman may not be the most technically dazzling players in the world, but their solos in Reign In Blood are nothing short of awesome. In 'Necrophobic', 'Jesus Saves', and 'Raining Blood' you would swear you were hearing animals being slaughtered in front of you and can practically feel King's fingers stabbing your skull each time he hits the fret board, not typical metal solos by any means.
The key element to Slayer has always been Dave Lombardo's stellar drum work. His amazing drum fills had already been demonstrated in the past ['Chemical Warfare'] but Reign In Blood shows that Lombardo is the double bass pedal master! Look no further than his spectacular drum solo at the end of 'Angel of Death' as proof. His uncanny ability to garner such pummeling momentum, and then slow down and create such a groove on the cymbals [the breakdown of 'Altar of Sacrifice' and intro of 'Criminally Insane'] is remarkable. Not to mention he is FAST AS HELL......I pity his snare.
With a running time of 28 minutes, listening to Reign In Blood is like a quick kick in the nuts and is guaranteed to knock the wind out of you. While it may not be the greatest metal record of all time, it is without a doubt the greatest Thrash record. Reign In Blood's content and brutality shocked the world in 1986 and is the basis for what would become Death Metal. ALL bands in extreme music today owe something to Slayer and this album.
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Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
published 24.09.2003 | Comments (59) |
Rating:
9.9
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Review by Stuart [Guest reviewer]
Where does one begin reviewing an album with as much hype and influence as this? An album branded as revolutionary and with such a fanatical following. It is always going to be a difficult task, so I ask that for a moment we forget the hype surrounding this album and we look at the musical value it holds.
Reign in Blood was in many ways a brave new world for Slayer. It had a completely different sound to anything before it; they abandoned all the pretentiousness of the long, drawn out, complex song structures they had experimented with on Haunting the Chapel and Hell Awaits. In this, it was far more accessible, yet they didn't sacrifice any of their integrity or alienate any of their core fan base. Their intention was quite clear, that this was to be the fastest, heaviest, angriest music ever to be unleashed on human ears.
The opener "Angel of Death" smacks you in the face right from the beginning with a tumultuous riff tour de force and a blood curdling high pitched scream to shatter mirrors. It tells the tale of Nazi doctor Joseph Mengele and the Death Camps of Auschwitz. After the initial onslaught of brutality the song dances nicely around dual guitars, ever evolving riffs and warring guitar solos.
There is the occult connection, "Altar of Sacrifice", another brutally fast, well constructed piece of speed metal dealing with human sacrifice and Satan worship flowing effortlessly (and ironically) straight into "Jesus Saves", this deceivingly slow intro turns into the ultimate punk/metal hybrid hurtling at a hundred miles per hour.
A final comment on all before it comes "Postmortem/Raining Blood". Musically one song in two parts, the opening riff is foreboding of what is to come, the pace increases with each tempo change peaking with the summary of the albums lyrical content with the line "What I am, what I want, I'm only after Death". Raining Blood starts with a hauntingly slow drum track and the guitars kick off with a groove heavy riff extravaganza, the song eventually descends into complete madness and tuneless chaos.
The album is filled with short high paced tracks (speed metal/punk metal/thrash metal, call this insanity whatever you like) about dismemberment, the obsession with death, witches being burnt at the stake and worldwide epidemics threatening to destroy all mankind.
So, we ask ourselves: Is this album worthy of all the hype surrounding it? The answer is a definite yes. Where a few tracks failed as individual songs the album succeeded as a single body of aggression, hatred and sheer brutality and that was the intention of this album. The subject matter is controversial and the music groundbreaking. The success of this album is embodied by the fact that it is still, more than two decades later, widely regarded as one of greatest metal albums ever made.
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Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
published 04.04.2008 | Comments (13) |
Rating:
9.2
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Review by Whitebeard [Guest reviewer]
For more than a decade, Slayer has proudly fused thrash and speed metal into loud, offering doomish dirges, voraciously boisterous and blasphemous songs groaning over lyrics that depict madness, suicide and murder in excess, a style which should definetly suit a ten-year-old metalhead. On October 7, 1986, Slayer released what was to become their masterpiece, "Reign In Blood". An album discribed by Kerrang! Magazine as "the heaviest album of all time" and peaked at number 22 on Metal Storm's "top 100 albums of all time" survey, a position that only "the crème de la crème" bands could get. Believe me, reviewing a very popular album from a very popular band isn't easy at all, but sometimes justice must be done.
"Reign In Blood" could be summed up in four simple words, strenuous, volatile, asymmetrical and brutal...maybe too brutal. At first I was completely blown away by its amazing structural proficiency, I couldn't get over it. Fortunately, there was a day when I realized that except Metallica, even a band from "the big four" could suck. The answer is pretty clear now, this is a notoriously inconsistent effort.
The journey commences with "Angel Of Death", an impressive opener , built around ultra-fast repetitive thrash riffs followed by... well, rigourous barks and high-pitched growls of Tom Araya, but that's vocally speaking, sure there's nothing inherently bad with it. However, even the most ardent fans of Slayer will admit that the one-dimentional vocals of Mr Araya are probably the thing that should be removed from Reign In Blood. In case you haven't noticed it yet, the singer tries his best to mix things up without resorting to clean vocals, and I don't blame him for that, at least he screams like a man not like Dave Mustaine. Songs like "Raining Blood" and "Angel Of Death" are the album's highlights, despite being too uniformed for some to stomach, they are quite catchy with their crushing guitar riffs and the furiously thunderous drumming. However, in its entirety, the album is not as consistently memorable as "South Of Heaven", but let's make it clear, I've never been a fan of Slayer and if they're going to stick on "Christ Illusion meets Reign In blood" style I won't be, but to be fair, there was a time when I liked Slayer pretty much, I liked Reign In Blood though but not anymore, these guys don't deserve to be a part of "the big four" neither does Megadeth.
In the end of the day, Slayer will always have an audience because their discography is worth picking up, but when it comes to this album here's my advice, listen to it for one year or maybe two and then throw it away. Folks, I give you "the most overrated album of all time"... Reign In Blood.
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Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
published 14.08.2008 | Comments (58) |
Rating:
4.5
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