Reign In Blood

I was gonna write something about the big 4, their skill as musicians, laying the groundwork for death metal, blah blah blah... but really, there is only one thing that needs to be said here: *deep breath* FUUCKIIIINNNGGG SLAAAAYYEEEERRRRRRRR!!!!!!

Uhh...mom come pick me up im scared?

This project has enabled me, for the first time, to be able to tell you the difference between a number of heavy metal bands. Slayer is no Metallica. In this relentless 28 minutes there is no variance of tempo, no recognizable riffs or remarkable solos, and neither melody nor rhythm to any of the lyrics. I couldn't tell you which song is which upon hearing a sample. Is it bad that I laughed out loud a few times listening to this? Is "How can we really freak mom out?" the sole driver of this creation? There is absolutely no meter or structure to the random, screamed lyrics. I was trying to imagine what else might be performed in this manner. Julia Child's recipe for Bœuf Bourgignon? And then it hit me that I wanted to hear the poem "This is Just to Say" performed in this manner. "...so cooooooooooooooooooold!" This isn't to say that it doesn't represent its genre well. It has a consistent badass sound and scary lyrics. I love the scream at the beginning of "Angel of Death" but it did make me laugh as I listened to it over and over, and I'm not sure that's the intended effect. Some of my favorite lyrics: "How long can you last in this frozen water burial?" "Dismembered destiny" "Transforming five toes to two" and "These shackles will be useless when your life is out of time" I love that the somewhat timely "Epidemic" ("pulmonary overthrow") ends with the ominous line, "Years will pass before it can be cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuured!" Hail, Satan!

I was today years-old when I discovered I was a Slayer fan...

Relentless power. Feels so frenetic and dangerous. Makes me happy that music like this exists. The solo at the end of Jesus Saves is a thing of beauty.

i had shitty taste in music at 15

J'ai fait écouter cet album à Satan qui m'a bien confirmé que c'était de la merde.

So I have mentioned this before, but I thoroughly enjoy hard/heavy music - so Zeppelin, Sabbath, Nazareth, UFO, Iron Maiden, Tool, Metallica, Dio, Scorpions, Priest etc. - as are all in my wheelhouse, but for some reason, speed and thrash metal, have never really appealed to me - and this album was NO different... Once again, we have a band that is trying to play as fast as possible, along with almost NON-EXISTIENT vocals - which did absolutely nothing for me... BTW - just because a drummer has mastered the double bass pedal from a speed perspective, doesn't mean that you should use it ALL the freakin' time... And vocally, there is no melody of any sort, no singing of any kind - just screaming, and the lyrics are just dreadful... I'm beginning to think that my issue with this genre, is that there is absolutely NO room for the music to breathe... Good music is a nice balance between the notes, and the empty spaces - with some arguing that the empty spaces - and the contrast that they create with the actual notes, is what creates musical magic... This band is trying to play as many notes as the possibly can, and trying to play them as fast as they possibly can, that there is absolutely no space for the music to breathe - like AT ALL... Not a decent song on the album in my opinion, and in fact, I was running through what some of the reviewers thought were the best songs on the album a 2nd time through... So I was listening to "Alter Of Sacrifice" and was about 35 seconds into it, when I REALLY began to regret my decision... Fortunately, right about then, a good friend called - which stopped my music app so I could take the call... I answered by saying "...Thank God you called, I really appreciate you saving me..." : ) Would truly give this a "0" (ZERO) if I could, and I think there may have been only 1 other album to date that I thought that about - so 1-star for this dreadful, dismal, awful-excuse-for-an-album...

Pummeling. In the first 30 seconds you know exactly what you're going to get. This album is ingrained in my psyche. There are some of the greatest metal songs ever on this record. The Raining Blood riff is a masterpiece, and then the drums kick in. Perfect dog walking music at 5am on a Saturday.

I fucking needed this. Extremely aggressive and extremely fast. Thrash's finest hour. And listening to this album in full makes "Raining Blood" just hit SO much harder

I have nothing smart to say about this. It's hard, fast, and utterly devoid of good taste. LOVE IT

Absolute genius in its own way. Essentially, this is the same basic musical setup as The Beatles or Booker T and the MGs but THIS music sounds like it’s from another planet which is terrifying and frightening. Slayer get this sound out of those same instruments. Music is incredible. I couldn’t listen to this too many times but I’m glad I have heard it.

I like the music, but the satanic lyrics make them look gay

Noise, shred, noise, shred, noise, shred. Is it possible to smell music? I could smell this, it smelt like sweaty men. There just seemed to be nothing melodic about it. I can't stand these sort of guitar shredding solos for the sake of it, "OK you can play notes fast, congratulations". Not for me.

A bunch of self-absorbed dweebs, hellbent on making their mothers dislike their art, stumble upon both the Nuremberg transcripts and a second brain cell. They resolve to make a completely tasteless first track in the name of being edgy. I imagine adolescent boys and maladjusted art critics spend forever trying to justify it, but literally nobody wants to be at that conference. 2 stars as a result, which is a shame, because the music was occasionally enjoyable.

Absolute masterpiece. Not just one of my favorite metal albums, one of my favorite albums ever! Extremely hype, intense, fast-paced, horrifying, heart-pounding...and PERFECT.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR ANGEL OF THE DEAAAAAAATH!!!!!

I bought this vinyl when it was first released, back when I was a sophomore in high school. The moment the needle dropped, it felt like a portal to the nice circles of hell had opened in my room. As the sound of rain slowly faded at the end of the last track, I just sat there, staring at the turntable, trying to comprehend what had just happened over the past 30 minutes. It was loud, aggressive—an all-out onslaught on my young ears. Eventually, I stood up, flipped the album back to Side A, and played it again.

Raining BLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD

Great album. Could listen to this on repeat all week and it would still be epic on the seventh day. In fact I'm sure that's what God was doing on the seventh day. He was so awed by their awesomeness he just had to kick back, drink some beers and listen to some Slayer.

Harmless satanism, breakneck speed, and some kind of purity--by which, I think I mean that, thanks to Rick Rubin, the songs are short and focussed. The lyrics and vocals are beyond silly, and all the better for it. Tom Araya yells like he's had wet cement poured into his veins and is trying to get his words out before it dries. All of which makes the technical showboating genuinely exciting rather than the drag it usually is. Deliberately overrating this because I can.

metal has never been my thing. I suppose there’s a certain level of artifice present within the lyrics and presentation of bands like Slayer. Songs like Angel of Death and Postmortem simply feel performative to me in terms of lyrical content. Maybe it’s more a rejection of the genre clichés than the music itself for me personally. It's competently made music, well put together and a pleasingly brief in a satisfying way. I simply have no wish to ever listen to it again, but am glad I did if only to gain insight into a genre I still have no draw towards. 6/10

angel of death: 1) lyrics about the holocaust? ok. 2) kinda repetitive 3) random ass guitar solo that doesnt really fit in? necrophobic: uhh so i would assume this song is about necrophilia...ok. actually idfk. again with the guitar solo. i feel like these lyrics are why people think metal bands are satanic. was about to say its not satanic and now the song im listening to is LITERALLY "Hail satan!!" LMAO??? also the drums in every song feel too similar. like they're just banging the same two thingies. WHY TF IS THE NEXT SONG "jesus saves" ???? im so confused. finally done. first, i have learned a lot more about thrash metal. and second, i have also learned i do not like it. 😁

- This one hurts, because this is the most disappointing album for me thus far. I like a lot of metal, but Slayer's work here was just not on my wavelength for the most part. - I find the message of "Jesus Saves" to be interesting and enjoy "Criminally Insane" and "Raining Blood" (the latter largely because I remember it being an absolute bitch to try and do well on in Guitar Hero III). - Unfortunately almost every track feels virtually identical despite the fantastic guitar work. The tempo never changes. The tone never changes. The lyrics never become less than overbearing. And any moments of innovation feel drowned out by the monotony. - Also, I do not believe that the members of Slayer are in any way Nazi sympathizers...but "Angel of Death" is admittedly tasteless. And a very hard sell for the first track.

This is my second favourite album from Slayer (first one is without doubt Seasons in the Abyss). Great work.

Produced by Rick Rubin, this legendary Thrash Metal album not only became one of the best known Metal albums of the 80’s with Slayer being one of the big 4 of Thrash but it also paved the way for how Death Metal was recieved in the eye of the common Metal listener and in a way being an important step in the full creation of the genre that would officially come with the debut album by Death a year later. But that came with a cost because of the way they made and showed of the album as this satanic and violent piece, it was banned for many children from their parents which did in a way make them wanna listen to it even more. One thing is clear, this is one of the best Metal albums of the 80’s and most likely of all time. The very energetic and fast paced ‘Angel of Death’ opens the album with some really good vocals that work perfectly with the songs sound and structure. It’s this really grimy and dark song that even though it isn’t even 5 minutes long, still stays as the albums longest track. I really like the riffs and the general playing as well as the overal performance that just plays really well with the ideas of Thrash Metal and this whole satanic image and results in an incredible track full of great moments like the guitar solo near the end. The hints of Death Metal appear on ‘Piece by Piece’ which still continues the obvious Thrash Metal sound and create a loud and energetic song that plays with apocalyptic imagery that is even portraited in the music itself. But it’s mainly the vocals that make this such a great listen. ’Necrophobic’ is the shortest song with less than 2 minutes of playtime and has even more of the hints of Death Metal as well as a really fast paced instrumental that really plays out into a manic solo that just helps the entire song feel even crazier and more out there. I’m also impressed with how fast the vocalist is able to get these words out of his mouth. This is a great song. With ‘Altar of Sacrifice’, they continue the loud and manic styles with a guitar solo that is really everywhere at once and switches between notes so fast that I am genuinely impressed with how they managed to pull all of this together. It’s genuinely such a great song even though it might’ve been even better if they put a bit more structure into the chaos but still better than if they had thought all of it out into the littlest detail and maybe ruined it in the end, so I am not mad with how unstructured it is because it is still really great. Side A of the album ends with ‘Jesus Saves’ which does take some time to start and once it does it feels unstructured but not really in the “great” way. It feels thrown together and unfinished. The hook of him saying the title is strong as is the guitar solo but it’s all a bit too fast and without enough focus which is why it’s good but not great. ‘Criminally Insane’ starts the second half with a still fast, chaotic and manic song but one that is fleshed out more and better. In fact, it’s a really entertaining song that pretty much does everything correct that it could’ve made correct. I don’t think that it’s perfect but it is close and I might actually prefer it over ‘Angel of Death’. The vocals are just so incredibly well made and every second feels at least somewhat valuable. This is really incredible. Sadly, ‘Reborn’ does the thing again where it just plays a bit too fast and makes the vocals sound washy at points. The chorus is pretty much perfect though and the solo also rocks but there are still moments pulling it down and leaving it at great although it could’ve been more. On ’Epidemic’ they do make a pretty strong song but I personally just think that some parts of it are just a tad bit samey and although it is a good song it does feel a bit like it’s been done already on the album and done better. It’s good and I like the solo as well as the vocal delivery but it doesn’t reach further although it very well could’ve. ’Postmortem’ pulls off the best riff so far and easily one of the best deliveries both vocally and instrumentally. This is what a Thrash song is supposed to be and I absolutely love it. There is not much to say here excpet that the song deserves its reputation and is without a doubt a perfect song. 80’s Thrash Metal perfection with hints of Death Metal and some amazing vocals… what would you want more? I tell you what you want more: the closing track ‘Raining Blood’ which is the 80’s version of ‘Black Sabbath’ (the song) with the rain and thunder sounds while still being their crazy Thrash Metal. It’s everything the previous songs tried to be but better and more METAL!!! Yeah, this is easily their best song ever made. The riffs, the vocals, the effects: All is just perfected to the most perfect possible. favourites: Raining Blood, Postmortem, Criminally Insane, Angel of Death least favourites: Jesus Saves Rating: strong 8 https://rateyourmusic.com/~Emil_ph for more ratings, reviews and takes

Brooooooo, no idea how anyone else will react to this (not well is my guess) but I was kind of bobbing along? Definitely not my type of music and I doubt I'll relisten but for what it is, great.

More punk than I thought, so that was kind of cool, but couldn't get behind the lyrics.

I find it intriguing how metal is, much more than any other genre of music, an island of its own. A lot of metal is exclusively listened to by metalheads, and reversely, a lot of metalheads exclusively listen to metal. Now I am most definitely not a metalhead, and as such, this music all sounds like the following to me: fast but unoriginal guitar riff - juvenile lyrics about death and/or christianity - formulaic guitar solo that sounds the exact same as all the ones that preceded it - back to singing - end. Clearly these guys really know their ways around their instruments, but the songs all sound tiringly homogenous and devoid of any authentic emotion to me, poor non-metalhead. I guess the world's simply divided into two groups of people: those who can identify with the phrase - as the top review so eloquently puts it - "FUCKING SLAYERRRR", and those who can't.

I should love Slayer given my metal tastes, but I just don't.

So back when I watched anime, the first song on this track used to be the intro music in one of those montages where they highlight all the upcoming shows. I only just realised this and the nostalgia is real. Always liked Slayer energy, so this is top for me.

The only thrash metal album (besides Metallica, Megadeth, and more song-oriented bands) that I come back to again and again. This is perfection, 30 minutes of relentless attack, up-tempo hardcore-infused thrash metal but with evil sound. Araya's vocals are perfect, even the falsetto screams, Dave Lombardo's pace is what pushes this combo to insane speed. And twin guitars shredding is just the definition of extreme metal. For those in the reviews, I have a couple of comments for you: - I've seen some reviews complaining about the lack of variation in the album. Ok, well, THAT'S THE KEY! If it lasts for just 30 minutes is for a reason! This is a trance-inducing album, not that much different from Repulsion's Horrified, King Crimson's Discipline, or Sleep's Jerusalem, each one in its own way. So please don't complain about something obvious. - Lyrics are childish. Yes, they are! Who cares? It's just this dude screaming about scary stuff, and it fits the music. Also, are you that critic with other albums? I think most of them has stupid lyrics, to be honest. - Is just about speed. Again, this is precisely what makes this album great. Don't complain about this, please. Is it like listening to Joy Division and saying is too dark, you get the point? Also, the only part of this album I don't like is the more downtempo breakdown parts. When I listen to Reign in Blood I only want Lombardo raising the bar of speed. - In sum, this is perfection. Probably the best extreme metal album ever.

I was VERY excited to see this on the list. But man, first thing in the morning and that first scream on Angel of Death... I had to put this one away till later in the day. You can love Slayer and still, there's a time and a place... Goddamn this album is so fucking brutal. I love the speed, the insanity. I could listen to this on loop. 🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘 also, I just recently learned this is a Rick Rubin production. It's amazing how many things that guy has touched. Hilarious he was working on this at about the same time as Licensed to Ill. LOL. oh and PS: Fuck all the people on this site who I'm sure have given this album a terrible review. If this has above a 3 global rating, I'll be shocked.

SLAYER!!!! This is the penultimate Slayer album. Rick Rubin is a genius producer and made Slayer sound like they were playing in a studio and not in a garage like they did on Hell Awaits. Raining Blood is the best song on this, but don't miss Angel of Death and Jesus Saves. 5/5 because SLAYER!!!! and this album was and may be one of the best metal albums of all time.

All time greatest no one can ever step to this album absolute best metal album ever.

nothing like listening to Slayer to remind you how garbage lars ulrich's drums are in comparison

I could write a long winded review or I could tell you about the time I blasted Raining Blood ear splitting volume to scare away seagulls trying to steal my fish and chips. This was done much to my then 3 year old daughter's delight

😲

Soul crushing and demonic I love it!

I mean, it's one of the big four so it's legendary - brutal, fast, true thrashy thrash metal. Tom doesn't really sing as such a lot of the time, and the mix has something to be desired, but it's still a classic.

This album is relentless, energetic and angry. The lenght of this album makes the record work, because if it was longer it would become tiresome. In my personal opinion, I wish it had a little more variety in the middle tracks, as I feel like some songs are almost identical. Nonetheless, a very solid album and one of the best trash albums of all time.

While not my favorite Thrash Metal band (that would be Anthrax), this is clearly an essential must-listen. Loses a half-star for the questionable nature of the lyrics for "Angel of Death", but then gets it back for helping lay the foundation for the Rick Rubin-sphere.

Angel of Death and Raining Blood are obviously some of the best thrash songs of all-time, but what's sandwiched between them never really did anything for me. Some songs are better than others, but in general I'm not a big fan of King's chest-pouding approach. Still a classic.

Wat een plaat! Live ook fantastisch om te zien.

SLAYER! But Seasons in the Abyss is my favorite.

Shock me shock me shock me with your lyrics, Slayer. Their music is tight and packs a powerful punch. Somebody's gotta push the envelope by writing about unsavory things, it might as well be these talented guys.

Times when I wished it was more like Metallica. Times I wished Metallica were more like this. Enjoyed it. Strangely relaxing to have on in headphones while all the other normies are sat on the train.

Not my cup of blood, but recording is really fascinating in comparison to other metal records of the time and previous Slayer records. Super tight and fast as hell!

Not as bad as I expected. Lyrically very silly. Not for me. So far have only given 1's to records that really annoy me or where I have strong feelings about the artists. This album has not elicited this response so I guess that makes it a low 2.

Reign in Blood _I don’t like Nazis, I'm just interested in them_ Everytime we get one of these types of albums it always seems to follow the same pattern - Try to have an open mind before listening - Kind of don’t mind the first song initially - Start to lose interest towards the end of the first song - Get increasingly bored with each song musically - Get increasingly bemused by the tedious, adolescent lyrical bollocks - Don’t want to listen again For no discernible reason I didn’t mind this as much as other metal / thrash albums, it’s only 29 minutes and I can appreciate Rick Rubin’s hand in adding some clarity so it isn’t just one big wooly sludge. And I kind of admire how they doggedly stick to their template, which philosophically is really no different from bands I love in different genres sticking to their templates and repeatedly making similar songs and albums. However the issue is I don’t like metal or thrash, and I keep trying to articulate to myself why. I think it’s because it all feels so hollow - in relying solely on such self serious performative edginess, loudness, speed and guttural noises they really are only creating a juvenile approximation of aggression and danger, there really is no substance or weight to it, no real power or hardness. It’s not difficult or challenging in any way, there’s no tangible sense of in your face combativeness and aural assault that I get from something like Public Enemy - ultimately it just all feels like very guitar heavy background music. For no real reason I found it better than your Sepulturas, your Panteras, your Napalm Deaths, so therefore it probably sits on a par with Megadeth and Metallica, meaning a low 2. I’ll never listen again but it did perhaps help me think more about why this type of music doesn’t resonate with me. 🩸🩸 Playlist submission: They’re all much of a muchness, I’ll go Jesus Saves.

I guess it’s a thrash metal classic but jeez, would it have killed these guys to vary their tone once in awhile? The album plays like a frenetic 30 minute primal scream for angsty teenage edgelords.

This album honestly had me laughing in spots. The vocals are straight up silly, even though there are some cool heavy guitar riffs. “Angel of Death” is a particularly dumb track in my humble opinion.

Noise, shred, noise, shred, noise, shred. Is it possible to smell music? I could smell this, it smelt like sweaty men. There just seemed to be nothing melodic about it. I can't stand these sort of guitar shredding solos for the sake of it, "OK you can play notes fast, congratulations". Not for me. 2⭐️

This was totally fine but all the songs sound exactly the same. I get why a lot of hardcore sounds like this and it seems fun to play but damn this shit was kind of boring!!

Again, the sort of continually and artlessly loud metal that turns (mostly) dull within a minute, and this one has some cringeworthy emo lyrics to boot.

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Satanist, something, something, death, something. WEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Meh

Not got long to live and want to make what little time is left to you feel much longer? Then boy do I have the album for you! This short album will make 28 minutes seem like over an hour with this one neat trick: playing the same song over and over and over again. Your early death will seem like a blessing after subjecting yourself to this.

No. 101/1001 Angel of Death 2/5 Piece by Piece 2/5 Necrophobic 2/5 Altar of Sacrifice 2/5 Jesus Saves 2/5 Criminally Insane 2/5 Reborn 2/5 Epidemic 2/5 Postmortem 2/5 Raining Blood 1/5 Average: 1,9 That's too heavy for me. Also was kinda repetitive.

I could appreciate the craft, but it was too loud and too angry for me.

Listened once. Just not my thing. 2/5.

Fun fact, the first known use of the word "cringey" was in 1986. I'm pretty sure it was used to describe this album.

Juvenile

Crap

Every song here basically sounds the same. I'm sure these guys are good if this is a genre you're into, but I'm not, and am rating according to my enjoyment of it.

I get it. I understand why people like it. It is still rubbish though

Man I try and give every artist a fair shake, but gogdamn, this stuff gives me a headache and makes me want to blowup the outside world. Thankfully, when I was debating this thought in my head, I thought of Soundgarden and Chris Cornell. Crisis averted. Not for me. Will never be for me. Looking forward to a great concert Saturday night and happy this album is behind me. Will not be revisited. 1

Hyper frenetic tempo throughout, vocals are simply dreadful …. If a zero star were allowable, this would be it ….

This is super not my kind of music. I finished it, but only because it's short. Maybe 1 star, I don't know. Really didn't enjoy this.

Not for me

No notes. This slays. Epic. What a great way to end a crazy ass day.

🤘🏻

An all-time classic!! One of the ones that started it all in the 80s!!

What's there to say that hasn't been said yet. A staple record in the thrash metal genre.

Slayer are top, killer album, no question! The drum work is superb, the overall musicianship is amazing. Guitar riffs are bad ass. Particularly like "Criminally Insane".

If you want thrash, this is it. Insanely fast, intricate, and heavy. Like driving 200 mph through hell. Tapped into the depths and unleashed it

Fucking SSSLLLAAAYYYEEERRR

Love it

A great album. Beyond starting a subgenre, it is just filled with great guitars and drumming.

The perfect soundtrack to the apocalypse

Without a doubt this is at least a Top 15 thrash metal album of all time - probably top 5 in the "Big 4" I'm not even that much of a Slayer fan

A much cleaner sounding album than the previous ones, you can tell they stepped up the production on this one. It feels like this album ends way too soon and leaves me wanting more but I kind of like that about it.

This is what I'm talking about! Look. I can appreciate an emotional album with well-crafted narratives and all that stuff. But there's something so awesome to me about heavy metal that just speaks to me in a completely different way. I love it. I love metal, and Slayer is no exception. This album rules! Slayer, of course, is one of the big 4 thrash metal bands (the last one to give me an album in fact!). Each of these bands has things that make them special, and that thing for Slayer in my eyes is just how extreme and heavy they are. Slayer's heaviness comes in two main ways. One of these is the writing and themes. Other thrash bands definitely write about serious things like religion and politics and stuff, but Slayer mixes that stuff in with brutal descriptions of the thing that Slayer loves mentioning the most, death. Perhaps the most interesting song in this album from a lyrical standpoint is the opener, "Angel of Death" which caught a bit of flack upon release due to its theme of experiments done at Nazi concentration camps in World War II. "Angel of Death" is a brutal song, but I don't think the members of Slayer are Nazi sympathizers or anything. Sometimes a song about something horrific can make someone feel that horror decades after that tragedy has happened. That's kind of the point of the song to me. The second thing that makes Slayer so heavy is their style. Everything from Dave Lombardo's consistently insane drumming, to the awesome guitar riffs and frantic solos from both Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, to Tom Araya's strong basslines and blood-curdling screams makes Reign in Blood as intense of a listen as it is. Again, I love it. There's a lot of other things to say. I could say something about how all of this stuff is packed into only 29 minutes of music. I could talk about the remarkably clean production from Rick Rubin of all people. I could praise the closer "Raining Blood" as being one of the best metal songs ever made. I could talk about how this album helped lay the groundwork for the Death Metal subgenre. But I think there's really only one more thing that I need to say to justify my score. IT'S FUCKIN' SLAYERRRRRR!!!!! Light 5/5.

Somewhere lying within the fiber of my being, in the deep epigenetic recesses of my DNA, there is a part of me that yearns for a bar-fight, that yearns to swing the hammer of the gods on a battlefield, that yearns to hoist the black flag and commence to slitting throats. I am of Scandinavian lineage, so perhaps it's my long since diluted viking blood bubbling to the surface every now and again. I can't be the only one, either. Maybe all the toxic male masculinity in the modern world comes from our being the descendants of savages. If this sounds like you, here's your LIFE HACK of the day. Don't suppress those urges, bros! Put your headphones in and blast THIS ALBUM on 10 and go for a flat-out run or lift some heavy objects while doing so. For me, it scratches the pillage-itch and I can go back to being the gentle and devoted father and husband that I strive to be day to day. Remember: Slayer + some fitness = a safe and happy Mrs.

Slaaaaaaayyeeeeeeeeer!!!!!!! This album just kicks your ass efficiently for 28 minutes straight. Thrash distilled to its purest essence.

Kicks ass. You all ready know if you like this. And I love it.

Okay I don’t think that we need songs like Angel of Death but hard to deny the album despite it not being my genre of choice.

Metal masterpiece.

Makes you want to push the gas pedal through the floor. Great stuff.

So good I had to listen to it twice. Reign In Blood is easily my favorite Slayer album and something I've listened to for countless of years. It's hard hitting, insanely fast and aggressive. Simply relentless. All the songs follow a similar structure and if you've heard one of them you kinda get how the rest of the album sounds as there's little variation. But as this album clocks in about 28 minutes you'll be doing yourself a disservice not listening to the whole album. It's a masterpiece from beginning to the end. I especially like the transition between Postmortem and Raining Blood but the whole album is filled with bangers.

Slayer це, однозначно, найкращий #thrashmetal гурт усіх часів. А якщо говорити про екстремальну важку музику загалом - то і найвпливовіший. Адже саме їм ми маємо, в першу чергу, дякувати за народження такого жанру як дез метал. Що найменш, без Slayer він звучав би зовсім інашке. Slayer завжди були максимально «щирими» у підході до створення своєї музики. У них ми не чуєм оверпродʼюснутого звучання як це, наприклад, було у Metallica, та вони не намагаються вражати нас технічністю як Megadeth. І якщо говорити про конкретний альбом, що найкраще характеризує Slayer як гурт, то Reign In Blood (1986) - це якраз «той самий альбом». На ньому вони «видали максимум» та створили «есенцію» для майбутнього розвитку екстремальної музики. Звісно, почали вони це робити ще на Hell Awaits (1985). Але він відчувається ще дуже «сирим» та недоробленим. А ось вже на Reign In Blood (1986), не без допомоги блискучого Ріка Рубіна, вони досягли свого ідеального звучання. І що для мене є найбільш феноменальним у цьому альбомі, так це його спроможність залишатись таким само «сирими» та злими як і Hell Awaits, але при цьому мати гарне та «чисте» звучання. Також вражає ідеальний «таймінг» - кожна пісня тут закінчується саме тоді коли потрібно і встигає показати все, що в ній задумувалось. І як на мене, гітарні соло на цьому альбомі, якщо їх звісно можна так назвати, це ідеальний приклад того, якими вони мають бути в треш металі. Проте справжня перлина цього альбому - це його «енергетика». Вона тут, прямо «первисно-агресивна» і знаходиться на піку, який це жанр може подарувати. Адже щоб іти далі та, справді, експериментувати із «важкістю» - потрібно грати #deathmetal. А якщо хочеться більш «сирої» та «холодної» злості, то #blackmetal. І в цьому полягає проблема треш металу, як такого. Для мене він завжди залишався «перехідним жанром» між класичним хеві та спід металом та більш екстремальною важкою музикою. Навіть сучасні, найбільш цікаві треш метал виконавці, постійно інкорпорують якійсь елементи із блеку або дезу в свою музику, щоб надати їй додаткової потужності, атмосферності та цікавості. Є ще шлях більш «прогресивного трешу», але давайте не будемо про погане (пробачте мене Voivod). І цим всім, я хотів сказати, що «справжній сирий треш» на Reign In Blood і закінчився. Він став «фатально неповторним» альбомом, який багато хто намагався копіювати, і у багатьох виходило, навіть не погано. Але при цьому - це завжди було «щось не те». Ніби музично гарно, але саме тих емоцій - подарувати не взмозі. Між іншим, це розуміли і самі Slayer, та не намагались більше робити щось подібне. Той самий South of Heaven (1988) - це вже зовсім інша, в багатьох аспектах, музика. Коротше кажучі, Reign In Blood - це унікальна та неповторна робота, що зробила Slayer справжніми «зірками» мейнстріму, остаточно сформувала жанр і тим самим, фактично, «прикінчіла» йога. І якщо провести аналогію із відео іграми, то я би назвав Reign In Blood - Diablo 2 від світу важкої музики

Powerful heavy rock🤘🤘

Like all metal heads, I adore this album. In my opinion Slayer are the Metallica of heavier heavy metal, and this record is their "Master of Puppets". "Angel of Death" and "Raining Blood" are two metal staples. That first vocal yell on "Angel of Death" will forever be funny to me and I love how they start this album with such a fast bone crushing riff, only for the first voice sounded to be a bit silly before it gets to his normal singing voice. In most death metal outfits, you can't hear the lyrics that well; they are often grunted, shouted, or screeched through vocal chords into the diaphragm of a $100 dynamic mic. Tom Araya on the other hand actually has a really clear voice with wonderful diction. I love when death metal bands can do this and while you tend to get this a little more often in thrash metal compared to death metal, it's still a treat and always something that I enjoy. Great soloing by Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman (RIP) on this record. It's so chaotic and frenzied and wild. I haven't listened to this record in so many years and it's really bringing me back to being a late teens / early 20's long haired dude and blairing this while partying with my friends. I don't know if a night went by where one of these songs wasn't on the playlist. Hard rate for me. I want to say it's a high 4, but that feels like a disservice to such an important album to the genre. Is there a better thrash album? The best that come to mind are of "Master of Puppets" (although at this point they have shed their true thrash sound for a more "heavy metal" one)... "Kill Em All", Megadeth "Peace Sells...", or "Rust in Peace", Sepultura "Chaos AD"? To me, this album contends with all of those as being "best of the best", so it has to be a 5 for me. I'm writing this part of my review as I'm just getting to the start of "Raining Blood", and it's more clear to me that this is a 5. That intro riff is just so beloved and this song is so perfect for the style. Death/thrash metal struggles often with "catchyness", but here I am not hearing this song in probably decades and I can hum along to every riff, vocal part, and guitar solo. Can't say something isn't catchy if the hook is still in my mouth decades later. SSSLLLAAAYYYEEERRRRR

Relentlessly fast, but knows how to slow it down and get groovy. This album changed my life when I was 14. To the shock of nobody reading this, I was an edgy, athiest teenager and this music made me feel like I wasn't alone in my rural hometown. Slayer's Neo-Nazi imagery has aged poorly, which is unfortunate. What played as transgressive 40 years ago just doesn't work today. That being said, this music fucking rips and paved the way for so much music being made today. Any band that inspires people to literally carve the band's name into their body with knives is legendary in my book.

It’s slayer!

MF’n Slayer.

9/10

Probably the only thrash metal album you’ll ever need to hear Perfection

I'm not the biggest Slayer fan in the world but this is a bona fide classic. A pummeling, nonstop 28 minutes that continuously beats you down, and when it's done, you want to put it back on. Whilst it picks one lane and sticks to it, the brief runtime prevents it from becoming stale, it's a bit like how short a lot of old hardcore albums are, brief but it serves the music This is absolutely the best-produced 80s thrash album, it sounds fresh and punchy without sounding too sleek and lifeless like a lot of modern metal does This also deserves respect for the massive influence it had on death metal (side note, Pleasure to Kill by Kreator should be on this list for the same reason) and setting such a high bar for thrash metal (along with Master of Puppets and Rust in Peace) that everyone has tried to meet for nearly 40 years A must listen within the metal genre Highlights: Jesus Saves, Raining Blood, Piece By Piece

I feel bad to people who can't stand metal, but this album is very influential and important in music history. (Also just because someone screams does not make it screamo or death metal, but it will always be funny when I read these review) This is one of those bands you know the drummer is jacked even if you've never seen him. When I first heard this album I didn't like it, besides angel of death and raining blood. Every song really sounds the same when they play so fast and you dont pay attention, but over the years this album has really grown on me. It is short and sweet and has some great riffs. Like that breakdown in the middle of Angel Of Death *chef's kiss*. Also it is impossible not to head bang to the "your time slips away" breakdown. The angel of death scream is so cool too. The halftime parts in Piece By Piece are great. The Criminally Insane drum groove is criminally underrated. One of the funniest things is that the expanded version of this album on spotify adds one remix and that's it. Some expanded version. High 5.