When I sat down to write this review, I decided to do so while listening intently to the album and trying to absorb its essence. My efforts to listen and study the music failed miserably as by the time Tom Araya’s scream intro on the album opener Angel Of Death ended, I was headbanging furiously enough to forget my intention of trying to “study” the music. Which is, well, understandable given the average speed of the album is 120 beats per minute!
That, is truly the essence of Slayer. The effect this towering juggernaut of metal has on a listener is instant, merciless and truly mind-blowing. Reign in Blood was their third full length studio album and major label debut released through Def Jam records. Fans then were hungry for heavy, fast thrash metal, and so every band was trying to play faster and heavier than all the others, none more so than Slayer. The band have always written about war, death and satanism, although they have stated numerous times in interviews that they are not satanists. In this album they touch upon topics about insanity, murderers, death and religion with the satanic overtones of Hell Awaits.
The lyrics on Reign In Blood are hard-hitting, caustic and provocative. Slayer manages to write and effectively convey a message about the holocaust and about the futility of religion in the same album.
By releasing this colossal album, they paved the way for the insane thrash metal fan frenzy of the 80’s. Modern day death , thrash, progressive, technical metal are heavily influenced by what is now known as the “Slayer Sound”. Dave Lombardo revolutionized heavy drumming in a huge way, so much so that he is sometimes credited as the master of the double bass . Bands such as Cannibal Corpse, Atheist and Death cite Slayer as one of their biggest influences.
As far as the music in itself is concerned, the album hardly disappoints, with fast riffs, groovy breakdowns and physics-defying solos abound, while Araya screams over it all, like a necromancer raising the dead in a World War II battlefield.
The album opens with Angel Of Death, Slayer’s epic tale of the experiments of Nazi concentration camp doctor Josef Mengele at Auschwitz. The riffs are solid, pummeling and flow seamlessly. The drumming is aggressive and is heavy, laden with adrenaline and testosterone. King and Hanneman deliver complex, extreme-shredding solos effortlessly and turn the opener into one of the best songs of the album. Not to mention one of the best thrash metal songs you'll ever hear.
And before the listener recovers from the onslaught, immediately begins Piece By Piece, a two minute chronicle of murderous rage and terror and how the victim’s “only way to exit is going piece by piece”. Short and fast, it's thrash metal at its best. The drumming is flawless with brutal intensity executed effortlessly. King and Hanneman blaze through with lightning fast riffs and then progress to play, believe it, even faster solos. The drum fill at 1:20 just goes to show how Dave Lombardo savagely pounds his drumkit.
Next we have Necrophobic. A vicious ravage on the senses, this song simulates musically, the act of tearing a person limb from fucking limb. Excellent riffs executed exquisitely. Araya screams violently in his signature style which fits in well with the music, sometimes producing Hellish overtones which leave even hardened listeners spellbound.
The next song is Altar Of Sacrifice, a song with quick tempo and riff changes. The song leaves you wondering how the band manages to write such perfect riffs, while playing THAT fast. The intro riff tends to immediately induce violent headbanging. Hanneman and King play alternate solos in between riff changes, which gives an interesting feel to the song. The solos are some of the most melodic in the album and are different from the style Slayer usually employ. The song then proceeds into feedback which merges with the next track.
Jesus Saves starts slowly enough, almost as if they decide to take a small break, but quickly progresses to become one of the fastest songs on the album. It's really surprising how Tom Araya sings 10 words in 5 seconds, all adding to the intensity and ferocity of this number. King and Hanneman play solos with reckless abandon with intention to hurt, pillage and burn. In the intro riff, Dave Lombardo plays extremely heavy, slow drumming with fantastic fills and rolls.
The next track is Criminally Insane, which in my opinion is one of the sub-par songs of the album which reminds one of latter day Slayer. Slower riffs fail to showcase the best of the band's abilities. Although the breakdown in the song is worthy of mention, it is really not a cult favourite and almost feels filler-like. Araya’s vocals seem to lack their usual intensity. Although the solos are noteworthy with King employing the whammy bar most masterfully.
Slayer recover almost immediately with Reborn. Pulverizing drums pummel from the very first riff and those razor sharp riffs do not disappoint. Both King and Hannemann manage to fit in brilliant solos in all that chaos. Araya screams his way through with machine gun intensity adding to the violent mood. He holds words like reborn and torn which lead into insanely fast riffs and one of the most highly “to the point" solos.
Epidemic shows that Dave Lombardo is an innovative drummer, playing exhausting rolls and fills in between riffs which in turn complements the chaos laid out by the battle axes of the other three. Right from the intro roll, Lombardo shows that he isn’t an average drummer by anybody’s standards.
Now we come to Postmortem, one of my personal favorites off this album, the opening riff is an invitation to hell in itself, it goes from a slow, venomous series of riffs to the insane mind-melting chaos of the last verse. The last verse leaves one enraptured and before you pay complete attention, its over.
And then, you hear rain and thunder.
Raining Blood begins with one of the most recognized riffs in metal, the harmonization of the intro riff screams EVIL! This leads to an insane riff which is extremely technical even by today’s standards. Then, like a cannonball, the listener is launched into the verse and the subsequent numbing breakdown. Lombardo’s double bass madness is unrepentant. The song progresses into two of the most evil solos ever played. The album ends with the sound of thunder and rain, a brilliant concept, and an entirely brilliant album.
Overview:
Monstrous, terrifyingly hellish and aggressively beautiful all at the same time. The album that almost single-handedly inspired the extreme metal scene in North America. One of thrash metal’s finest and truest masterpieces, Reign In Blood made Slayer play faster and heavier than anybody else. With this album the band reached the pinnacle of thrash metal ever so gloriously. This album was not very successful on the charts, but then again who bloody cares? Everybody who has ever heard of metal has to have heard of Reign In Blood and that is the kind of recognition most bands can only dream of.
Genre: Thrash /Speed Metal
Track Listing :
# | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
1. | Angel of Death | Hanneman, King | 4:51 |
2. | Piece by Piece | Kerry King | 2:02 |
3. | Necrophobic | Hanneman, King | 1:40 |
4. | Altar of Sacrifice | Hanneman, King | 2:50 |
5. | Jesus Saves | Hanneman, King | 2:54 |
6. | Criminally Insane | Hanneman, King | 2:23 |
7. | Reborn | Hanneman, King | 2:11 |
8. | Epidemic | Hanneman, King | 2:23 |
9. | Post Mortem | Hanneman, King | 3:28 |
10. | Raining Blood | Hanneman, King | 4:14 |
Personnel/Contributors:
Tom Araya - Lead Vocals/Bass
Jeff Hanneman - Lead Guitar
Kerry King - Lead Guitar
Dave Lombardo - DrumsReign In Blood (1986)
Rick Rubin - Producer
Larry Carroll - Illustration
Howie Weinberg - Production
Release Date: October 7th 1986
Supporting Tour : Reign In Pain World Tour
Trivia:
"Raining Blood" was featured in a South Park episode, Die,Hippie,Die. The plot centers on South Park being overrun by hippies. Eric Cartman states "Hippies can't stand death metal" and proceeds to drill through a hippie concert onto the main stage to change the audio to "Raining Blood", making the hippies run away. King found the episode humorous and expressed his interest in the show ending the interview with "It was good to see the song being put to good use, if we can horrify some hippies we've done our job."
After the release of Angel of Death, the band, to this day, have had to endure accusations of being Nazi sympathizers and racists.
