Reign in Blood

Eh, nothing stands out. It was fun, but very one dimensional

I’m at a 5.

Just pure energy distilled into 28 of the most manic minutes ever put to tape. Rage incarnate, perhaps. The tempo of this thing almost loops back around to comical – this is a prime example of an album where “every song sounds the same” is used to an advantage, ala AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell”. Once this album’s momentum gets going off of that first guitar riff (oddly similar to PJ Harvey yesterday), it just doesn’t fucking stop. Pausing this thing at any point after the literal first note is probably tantamount to a crime.

Lyrically, just a monstrously brutal album, in a good way. I complained about “torture porn” on the Dr. Octagon album, and honestly, if we had gotten this first, I might’ve been a bit more receptive to that album’s more surgical, Hannibal Lecter-esque approach to brutality as an interesting dichotomy. However, I’m way, way more inclined to hear about decapitation, mutilation, blood raining down within purgatory & the entire bridge of “Necrophobic” coming from a raspy, raspy voice in Tom Araya, while guitar wails & percussion rolls. The surgical approach that Dr. Octagon takes isn’t terrible, but the rap instrumentals on that album aren’t really compatible with it to my ears. Here, though? The pure rage distilled into these instrumentals becomes infectious, and the lyrical intensity enhances them. Sure, the mixing doesn’t really give each instrument the clarity that I wish it had, but that’s not the point; this thing is meant to be played loud, full blast, so that you can just fucking feel it. I definitely felt it.

The only real reason I’m not at a 10 is simply because I think this album went just a little bit too fast at times – I know that might be criminal to say, but as someone who likes to soak in all aspects of a track & not just the pure energy emanating off of it, I think the album could’ve benefitted from just a few more brief moments of letting the listener breathe. It’s a pure nitpick though; if anything, I’m probably just salty that I could barely pick up the lyrics to “Necrophobic” because it was going 100 miles an hour. Regardless, it’s an easy fucking 5.

P.S.: Yes, “Angel of Death” sort of deifies the torturous aspects of the Holocaust, and that’s a bit tonedeaf. On the other hand though, is that not kind of insane, and proving just how batshit evil & monstrous the Nazis were? If Slayer is taking all of this shit from real, heinous crimes that were done by Josef Mengele, in a way where it fully fits into the other over-the-top absurd violence & gore of the album… does that not say something obvious? I can see why people got mad at the track (and no shame to those who still hate it), and a line or two specifically condemning shit would’ve been nice, but it’s pretty strongly implied that the Nazis were pure fucking evil. I don’t know that I would’ve opened the whole album with it, but it has a place somewhere in here.

Take that Metallica and Megadeth this is the thrash metal I was looking for.

3.8

Writing a song about mengele and then claiming you just find him interesting is some serious edgelord shit.

'Destroying w/o mercy / To benefit the Aryan race.' The songs are short and Dave Lombardo's drumming is a mess of punky dynamism, but the lyrics cannot be thicker, and the ideas, if you can call them that, more flatly unimaginative. Reign In Crud, mostly.

I understand why metal fans love Slayer. They are completely uncompromising in their approach compared to the other big metal bands. I think if you aren't a purest metal fan though this will be a challenging listen.

This is the best and most influential thrash metal album of all time. While Metallica’s Master of Puppets has arguably better songwriting and Megadeth’s Rust In Piece is better technically, Reign in Blood perfectly captures the pure aggression, breakneck speed, and riff-centrism the genre is known for. Additionally, this album had a major a influence on the burgeoning death metal and black metal scenes. Not many albums on this list are as technically proficient as this one (shout out to Dave Lombardo’s drumming), very few are as influential, and none are as musically aggressive.

5.0/5.0: Iconic

these guys are metal royalty. easy 5. the raining blood blood riff is absolutely iconic and the rest of the album is just as good

Once was enough!!

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.

At least it was short 🙉

I enjoyed this way more than I expected to. Just glad the vocals weren't cookie monster style as I can't stand that. And it's not good when you're laughing at the lyrics at times because they're so juvenile and trying to be edgy and dark.

You listen to this for the guitar and drums, and they're excellent here.

This is not my favourite Slayer album, but you can't deny the influence this record had and still has on metal music. Classic thrash metal album, with a great sound and some great riffs. In 1986, this was the heaviest thing. Kerry King's nonsense still makes me wanna stab my eardrum though

I love hard rock and metal. But never been into the superfast thrash metal that this album represents. No real melody, indecipherable lyrics. On many occasions it seemed the band couldn't manage to keep in rhythm with itself!!.
I assume it's on the 1001 list because it was "groundbreaking". Possibly in the same way as an album of white noise would be, or 45 minutes of drilling?
However! I gave this album 3 listens and it did grow on me a bit. Besst track Jesus Saves

LACERATED SKY

caralho cortaro minha onda natalina na alta

não é minha pira, mas eu até que gostei.
pra mim esses cara fraga de trash metal. musica rapidinha e agressiva, ngm fica cansado, bao demais.

Aggressive riffs, snarling vocals, heavy hitting drums. It all sounds the same, but what a sound!

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.

Great for those times you need to break a detainee. Guaranteed to speed up any CIA interrogation.