News |

Guitar World Column |

Interviews |

Pictures |

Album Reviews |

Gig Reviews |

Release Dates |

History |

Articles |

Setlists |

Upcoming |

Contact

Track Listing: Angel of Death Piece by Piece Necrophobic Altar of Sacrifice Jesus Saves Criminally Insane Reborn Epidemic Postmortem Raining Blood Aggressive Perfector - (bonus track) Criminally Insane - (remix, bonus track)

Reign in Blood is the 3rd studio album from legendary Bay-Area thrashers-SLAYER. The album was released on October 7, 1986, and was Slayer's first collaboration with producer Rick Rubin. The album garnered much controversy due to its violent artwork and lyrical content.

The album opens up with Angel of Death, which is about the infamous Nazi physician Josef Mengele. The riffs were instant classics, and the lyrics landed Slayer in some hot water with survivors of the Holocaust and the general public, who thought they were racists and Nazi sympathizers. The musicianship displayed on this track is mind blowing. From Kerry's intense speed picking, to Dave's thrashing drum work, this track has everything that a thrash masterpiece should have.

Some people will argue that Reign in Blood is Slayer's best album, but in all honesty, I don't see it. There's some great tracks on it like "Piece by Piece," and "Jesus Saves," but the sad fact of the matter is that people only listen to it for one reason, the play-on-words title track "Raining Blood."

"Raining Blood" is a classic in its own right. The intro/main riff has become one of the kings of heavy metal riffs; simplistic, but brutal. "Raining Blood" is the track that really put Slayer on the map and made people aware of their music, but it takes more than a catchy riff to make a killer song. For "Raining Blood" I look past the musical aspect and listen to the lyrics, which really solidify the song. Had Kerry and Jeff not written the lyrics, the song wouldn't be as infamous as it is today.

The other songs on the album such as "Criminally insane," and "Altar of Sacrifice" are always overlooked by most people; sad, but true. These songs are some of Slayer's best, and should be appreciated by all fans.

The production on Reign in Blood wasn't the best for its time, but they overcame this fact with incredible music. Rick Rubin did a decent job as a producer, and Reign in Blood will live on in heavy metal infamy forever.

Overall, Reign in Blood is an exceptional album to the die-hard fan, but if you take away the references to Nazism, hell, and violence, you'd be left with very little to listen to. From a musical standpoint, Slayer is a group of top-notch musicians and deserve respect for their 20+ years of effort and their extensive catalogue of music.