Customer Reviews

Reign In Blood

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1 star:		(54)

 

 

To imagine the metal scene today if "Reign In Blood" had never been released, is impossible for me. This album is beyond any of my compliments. Every credible metal band today has cited this epic album as a major influence; and if they said otherwise, they'd just be lying. To be a metalhead and NOT own this album is a sin in itself. This album not only demolished and rebuilt new metal standards, "Reign in Blood" combined those Metallica-esque chugging riffs and completely off the wall, unorthodox guitar solos, and exposed them to a huge crowd that didn't know what to think at first (they obviously caught on in no time). Althought Kerry King's and Jeff Hanneman's guitar solos aren't the most musical and intelligible ones in the world, they are ALL about aggression, which is certainly what classic Slayer is all about. Even with so many excellent guitar players surfacing in modern metal, King and Hanneman's unmatched rhythm chops on this album continue to turn heads today. And although Tom Araya does no real "singing" on the CD, his screaming fits the music perfectly. From that legendary first scream of the infamous "Angel of Death", to the last growls of the epic, "Raining Blood", Tom's vocals are one of the most aggressive things about this album. But of course, what would Slayer be without that madman behind the drum set? Even today, in a world of black metal and death metal perfectionist drummers, Dave Lombardo is a thrash drumming god. Throughout the entire album, the drums are fast and pounding, never giving your ears a chance to "take a break" or "rest"; there's no such thing. Slayer never tries to mix it up with a soft breakdown or interlude either. The consistent brutality of this album is what makes it so epic, even today. If you're a relatively old Slayer fan, you probably shouldn't be reading this, because chances are, you already own it, and have owned for a long time. But if you're new to Slayer, starting with this album is a must. This is not one of those albums that is just a "good for it's era" recording. This epic blaze of an album would thrash just as much if it was released today.

If anyone, Slayer has to be, undoubtedly the definitive band in thrash metal. From the years of 1983, when such bands as Metallica and Queensrÿche also debuted, Slayer, unlike the other bands, is still making good music (just pick up either Metallica's "St. Anger" or Queensrÿche's "Tribe" and you will see how their music has changed). Reign In Blood is an example and a history lesson of what may be Slayer's best album ever. Every song is non-stop aggressive, upbeat and mean thrash metal at it's best. From the onslaught of the dual guitars to the pounding of the double kick drum, this one is great.

This recent fall, I saw Slayer in concert at the Mid Hudson Civic Center, and they hold together live faster and better than many bands wish they could. Not only did they come up with a 2-hour set, but after about the first 8-10 songs, Slayer's finale was, well, Reign In Blood. They played the entire album from start to finish, from Angel Of Death to Raining Blood, all in order. Damn, I guess that means that they like this album a little bit too. Well anyway here's the breakdown of it all.

Angel Of Death - To be brief, this is the best Slayer song ever, no kidding. You just can't get any better than this song. It is not only hyper fast but has a sick breakdown in it too.
Piece By Piece - It's a two minuter. Not bad by any means, in fact it's all well rounded song. This also has one of those good old breakdowns.
Necrophobic - This song wasn't as good as Angel Of Death, but hey, not really any of them are. But it's the general sound of the album here still. Fast and thrash.
Altar Of Sacrifice - This is one mean song. I love how Kerry and Jeff just abuse the whammy bar beyond belief! It's got a slow and heavy bridge. It bleeds right into the next song. 'Kin great.
Jesus Saves - This was the first song on the album where you realize that it doesn't start off at 100 miles per hour. But things change quickly and it picks up in the first minute. Also a killer.
Criminally Insane - You really get a taste of what Tom Araya loves to write his lyrics about. It's a slow song compared to the rest but it's also one of the best. Since it's slow it's pretty heavy.
Reborn - This is about the only moderate song on the album. It's pretty good but nothing spectacular.
Epidemic - It kicks off with one of those signature Slayer drum rolls. Pretty fast like, everything and well yeah it's good.
Postmortem - This song sounds like it's way out of it's time, like some band wrote it only a couple years ago. I wonder what people thought in 1986 when a song like this was around. Another one that bleeds right into the next...
RAINING BLOOD - This is Slayer's meanest, crudest, songs of destruction and violence ever!! You have to listen to it to understand. From the intro to the main killing riff to the, whole song it's just one of the best.

The absolute best songs on the album are Angel Of Death and Raining Blood. This album is home to two of Slayer's best songs to date, with the rest of the album rocking more probably than any other Slayer release.

Not much can be said about this album that hasn't already been said. Thus, I will try to write this review without sounding cliche. But mind you, if you've already read reviews for this album, then you already know how great it is, so what are you reading my review for?

Slayer weren't the first thrash-metal band to ever exist (that credit goes to Motorhead, Metal Church and Metallica), but they might as well have been. Tom Araya, Kerry King, Jeff Hanneman, and Dave Lombardo are the godfathers of thrash and extreme metal; they are to thrash as Bob Marley is to reggae and Ministry is to industrial. Slayer almost single-handedly popularized the genre and set the standard for what it should be like. Slayer is as important to heavy metal as any other band, and "Reign in Blood" is equally as influential and innovative as Metallica's "Master of Puppets" and Pantera's "Vulgar Display of Power."

Even though Slayer didn't give birth to thrash-metal, I do think their 1983 debut "Show No Mercy" popularized extreme/death metal. The bands Venom (a Slayer influence) and Death came along before Slayer, but I think of Venom as black metal, not extreme; and I believe Death are only thought of as the creators of death metal because of their name. The fact is, (at the time) nobody made music as fast, heavy, and extreme as Slayer. Slayer are the inspiration for (probably) 90% of all speed/thrash/death/extreme metal bands, including two other influential death metal bands from the 1980's, Sepultura and Morbid Angel.

No one does what Slayer do better than them, and this album proves it. Everything about "Reign in Blood" screams that this album is a pure, unadulterated masterpiece that has definitely withstood the test of time. It is full to the brim with explosive, rocket fast beats and tempos, propulsive riffs that fly by like lightning, scorching solos, insane drum work, and eerie, tortured screams. And it never lets up. Throughout these eleven tracks (or twelve, if you buy the remastered version) and 28 minutes of music, the massive onslaught only slows down for a few seconds, before picking up where it left off.

Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman won't go down as the all time best guitar soloists, but they do play precise guitar riffs at a speed that makes other guitarists want to chop their hands off in frustration. And, their solos may not be much more than a bunch of random notes played as fast as possible, but I've never heard solos that are as wild or blistering as Kerry King's. Furthermore, Dave Lombardo's drum work and Tom Araya's vocals are also super fast. With guitar riffs this fast, Dave and Tom sometimes fall behind, and have to play "catch up." The drum work is (obviously) very talented and Tom's words are so speedy, they sometimes sound like gibberish.

Since almost every second of every song is as fast as the one before it (and this album has only one tempo and mood), it is sometimes difficult to discern where one track ends and another begins. You're just not metal if you don't know the song "Angel of Death." As an album opener, it sets the bar high, and is also a good representation of the album as a whole. Slayer waste no time getting to the good stuff: "Angel of Death" shoots out of the starting gate; within three seconds, Slayer are waist-deep in blindingly fast riffs. This riff remains throughout the song, and five (count `em, five!) blistering, trademark guitar solos are also included. This song has brutal lyrics (which are about the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz, and Dr. Mengele torturing and killing Jews in a variety of ways) and fitting, equally as brutal music."Necrophobic" begins as fast as any other song on here, but it gradually slows down. It does pick up where it left off, however, before two wild solos."Jesus Saves" seems like a continuation of track four, "Altar of Sacrafice." It starts out fast, and from there it only gets faster (ending with a rocket fast beat and riffs). Similarly, "Raining Blood" has fast chugging riffs, then a tempo change kicks in and makes the riffs even faster. The drums on this song give the beat a "boom boom" sound.

With so much hype surrounding it, I, initially, didn't like "Reign in Blood" as much as everyone else. Luckily, it took me only a little bit of time to believe the hype about this C.D. and become addicted to it. I am so addicted to it, it has become worn out (the bottom has been worn off, because I almost always press the PLAY button again when the C.D. is over). Even if you don't like this C.D., or don't like this type of music, you should still give Slayer props for making an album that's as fast, extreme, and influential as this one.

In conclusion, (as aforementioned) there isn't much that can be said about this C.D. that hasn't already been said, because metalheads all around the world know how great it is. "RiB" is simply a standard-setting and genre defining album. If there ever was a landmark/milestone album, this is it. Oh, and in case I forgot to mention..."Reign in Blood" is also, hands down, the finest thrash-metal album to ever be known to man. (Note, however, that I consider Sepultura's "Beneath the Remains" to be death metal.) The bottom line is no heavy metal collection is complete without this C.D. If you're a metalhead, you should already own this C.D. (and you should have listened to it at least a dozen times by now). And if you're new to metal, you definitely need to make this one of your next purchases. Also, if you're new to metal, I have three words of advice for you: believe the hype!

This CD changed the landscape when it came out.

Thrash/Metal had been, at that point, "evolving" into long overly complex songs with lots of guitar solos. That's not to say some of those records aren't great but when I originally got this on vinyl I couldn't believe how raw and stripped down the whole thing was. Clocking in at just over 25 minutes Reign in Blood is rage, pure and simple.

There's nothing subtle about this record, it's just fury. To this day there's no other record that gives me the same adrenalin hit as this! There's no selling out and playing longer/slower songs, every song is fast almost the entire way through and the lyrics are more of the same. Araya never sounded better...screaming, cursing and blasting away at subjects from organized religion, serial killing, canabalism and Auschwitz. The lyrics of this LP were so intense that there original label dropped them rather than release it...thank Rick Rubin of Def Jam for saving this masterpiece and making it available to us all.

The cassette was the only full length LP I had that fit the entire record on both sides of the tape.

In closing, this is possibly the most important record of the 80's. It sums up how I felt and changed my life (I heard this in 6th grade....) I hope you enjoy it too.

I am a musician, and over the years I have grown to enjoy and play most genres of music from rock n' roll to jazz to electronic music, but I have never lost my love of heavy metal. I am 35 now. I first heard this album as a mullet-headed, scrawny, pimply 16 year old a few years after it came out. I dubbed a cassette copy from a friend and completely wore it out.

There are nearly 600 other Amazon reviews here, so there's not much to say that hasn't already been said about Reign In Blood. Still, indulge me - I just want to make a few comments about how influential and timeless this album is.

To me, Tom Araya's vocals have always been one of Slayer's greatest assets. He can't really "sing" per se, his voice of more of an aggressive, unhinged bark, full of aggression and rage. Within his limitations he has a surprising range, too. To me his vocal style is more effectively aggressive than the standard cookie cutter, Cookie Monster-like cookie cutter death grunts and shrieks that are now a hackneyed cliché in metal bands. Plus, you can understand most of the lyrics by just listening - a lyric sheet is required for most metal bands.

Also, at the time this came out, with the possible exception of Venom, nobody was as blasphemous as Slayer. I don't think the band has ever really been Satanists, and I think they would probably describe themselves as atheists more than anything else. I look at the satanic imagery as more of a broadside against organized religion, Christianity of course in particular. In fact the lyrics of lot of the more Satanic songs, particularly on this album, would be quite cheesy if not for the raw rage with which they were delivered. Slayer is interested in showing us the darker corners of human nature, not in converting us to any one worldview. But if you've got a grudge against religion, Slayer is the band and this is the album for your angry moments.

Lombardo's drumming on this album is phenomenal, too - the guy practically invented the double kick drum technique that is now such a standard element of death metal. He's a little looser here than on most of their other albums. This was the mid 80s - no one had ever heard a drummer play so fast. There were a few English grind bands like Napalm Death doing blast beats, but blast beats at the time were more of an expression of punk aggression, not really a metal thing.

A few of the criticisms of this album are justified. For one, there is little bass presence to speak of, the same problem that plagued Metallica's otherwise excellent ...And Justice For All. For another the unrelenting attack makes these tunes sound kind of similar at times - the familiar "all the songs sound the same" critique. That can be true of metal bands in general, particularly in the years since Reign In Blood and with the personalityless grunts and inhuman roars have become the norm for metal. There is also a case to be made that some of the satanic stuff can seem a little ridiculous, again true for a lot of metal bands in general.

It's good that they made this Reign so short - I don't see how keeping this level of intensity couldn't start to grate if it went on much longer. After this record they began to explore more varied tempos.

But to this day, Araya's demonic shriek at the beginning of "Angel Of Death" still chills my blood. He sounds like a scaly, horned demon swooping down from a lightning-filled black sky to devour souls! The aggression and intensity do not let up from there. There are hardly even any gaps between the songs. It's a blistering, full-frontal assault from beginning to end. Some metal albums can be a little cheesy, but not this one. It's genuinely scary and perfect for frightening your parents, as it certainly did mine. It's an album whose legendary status is entirely justified, and continues to inspire new generations of metalheads to raise their hands in the "devil horns" salute. It's that good.

Slayer first burst onto the metal scene with Show No Mercy. This album showcased their songwriting talents(Die by the Sword, Black Magic) but overall was just mediocre, their follow-up(the "Hell" album) offered much of the same. It wasn't until their third album that Slayer found the perfect formula for their type of music. It is called Reign in Blood.

Reign in Blood offers furiously fast & extremely dark music. Slayer's trademark barbaric chord progressions are still present(Angel of Death, Piece by Piece, Necrophobic, Reborn & Raining Blood) but the songwriting overall is much better. Jeff Hanneman finally matures as a writer & Kerry King contribtes his doomsday lyrics & bezerko solos as if he's in Hell himself. Tom Araya's vocals & Tom Lombardo's brilliant technical drumming add the finishing touches to this masterpiece.

Although this album is not musically complex in an extreme sense(why should thrash be anyway), there are enough meter changes, ambitious chord progressions & good to great song structures to make this a timeless classic for the genre it represents. This album has no weak spots. It contains the right mix of classic & transition songs to make it, arugably, the greatest thrash recording ever.

Bottom line: if you love dark, atmospheric metal, buy this now. Or if you're just looking for pummeling no mercy music, this will also do the trick.

Every track is good, but the ones to watch out for are Angel of Death, Necrophobic, Jesus Saves, Reborn, Epidemic, Postmortem & Raining Blood.

Chris Raye of Classic Albums Magazine

While some may say otherwise I personally feel the opening to Raining Blood is probably the most played by local bands the world over. Its no surprise either, Reign in Blood stands far above all others as the most extreme metal album ever created. The mindblowing speed kicks in from the first second of the album for gods sake, no time at all for rest. Sure Jesus Saves has a short little break at its start but then it gets so fast and brutal it starts to hurt. On it goes until it ends with THE greatest song ever recorded, Raining Blood. Some may dismiss this album as two dimensional with no real weight behind the songs. These people obviously are not Slayer fans, a band whose situation always has been that you either love em to death or just don't get it. If you like metal then you should buy this, though chances are you already have it somewhere (I won't say collecting dust, i've had this thing for years and its never gone out of rotation for more then three days). This is, simply enough, the greatest metal album of all time

Hands down, this is the best album to come out of the thrash genre of the late 80's.
Some may complain that it's only 30 minutes long, but really, this CD contains a good 2 hours worth of great riffs; they're just played so fast and furiously that it clocks in at a half hour.
This was Rick Rubin's first production with the band, and just by listening to their previous recordings, you can tell how much he was able to harness their sound into a manic fury. Where the earlier records suffer from that echoey, early 80's generic metal production, Rubin whacks everything up front and center. The sound is crystal clear and uncluttered. No gimmicks here,just in your face raging guitars and manic drumming. Tom Araya sounds like he's practically bellowing in your ear. Reign In Blood is bookended by 2 of Slayer's greatest songs: Angel Of Death (featuring Dave Lombardo's astonishing double foot pedal drum break) and Raining Blood, which has one of the most neck-snapping riffs ever. The guitar solos are typical Slayer noisefests, but fit perfectly with the mania of the music. Most of the time it feels like the songs are going to careen out of control into noise, but the band always harnesses it back in in the nick of time with a great bludgening riff or a blinding drum break.
Warning :This is not for the faint of heart. The lyrics would probably kill Tipper Gore before she was 5 minutes into it. If you are easily offended, stick with some happy metal band like Bon Jovi or something. Otherwise, pick this up, and move the furniture out of the way. You may need some room before it's all over.

First of all, let me get something out of the way - "Reign in Blood" is the best thrash metal album ever recorded, and it is truly godly. Metal fans already have it, so if you are reading this review, you probably have never heard it.

Thrash music is aggressive, heavy, and most of all it's FAST. Slayer's guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman deliver a phenomenal performance throughout this short but priceless album. Fast picking and amazing solos delivered by the two guitarists are Slayer's trademark, and this is the peak of their song writing, where they combine good song writing with aggressive, and almost sadistic guitar riffs. Tom Araya's vocals make this record very intense, as he spits out lyrics at unbelievably high speeds at some points (Necrophobic). Speaking of the lyrics, they make this album 100% aggressive. This album's lyrics and songs weren't written for the weak.

Slayer are one of the most recognized bands in the metal world. "Reign in Blood" is the album that catapulted them into stardom, and when hearing this album most people will understand why. If you are looking for an introduction to thrash metal, you must get this CD to hear one of (if not) the best thrash album ever compiled.

(Not under 13 just not registered) I will agree that this is not a 5 star album and is overrated, but it is still a 100 times better than the tripe that melissa likes. Slayer are a great band who have influenced many of todays metal bands. I am really writing in to say how retarded melissa is if she thinks any green day or any other pop-punk or emo c**p is better than this. It just proves what a plonker she is because her title for a green day album is g-e-n-i-o-u-s, I hate to tell you this pal but you spell it without th 0.