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Rating:
9.2 |
Slayer - Reign In Blood
7 October 1986
01. Angel Of Death
02. Piece By Piece
03. Necrophobic
04. Altar Of Sacrifice
05. Jesus Saves
06. Criminally Insane
07. Reborn
08. Epidemic
09. Postmortem
10. Raining Blood
11. Aggressive Perfector [1998 Re-release bonus]
12. Criminally Insane [remix version] [1998 Re-release bonus]
Where does one begin reviewing an album with as much hype and influence as this? An album branded as revolutionary and with such a fanatical following. It is always going to be a difficult task, so I ask that for a moment we forget the hype surrounding this album and we look at the musical value it holds.
Reign in Blood was in many ways a brave new world for Slayer. It had a completely different sound to anything before it; they abandoned all the pretentiousness of the long, drawn out, complex song structures they had experimented with on Haunting the Chapel and Hell Awaits. In this, it was far more accessible, yet they didn't sacrifice any of their integrity or alienate any of their core fan base. Their intention was quite clear, that this was to be the fastest, heaviest, angriest music ever to be unleashed on human ears.
The opener "Angel of Death" smacks you in the face right from the beginning with a tumultuous riff tour de force and a blood curdling high pitched scream to shatter mirrors. It tells the tale of Nazi doctor Joseph Mengele and the Death Camps of Auschwitz. After the initial onslaught of brutality the song dances nicely around dual guitars, ever evolving riffs and warring guitar solos.
There is the occult connection, "Altar of Sacrifice", another brutally fast, well constructed piece of speed metal dealing with human sacrifice and Satan worship flowing effortlessly (and ironically) straight into "Jesus Saves", this deceivingly slow intro turns into the ultimate punk/metal hybrid hurtling at a hundred miles per hour.
A final comment on all before it comes "Postmortem/Raining Blood". Musically one song in two parts, the opening riff is foreboding of what is to come, the pace increases with each tempo change peaking with the summary of the albums lyrical content with the line "What I am, what I want, I'm only after Death". Raining Blood starts with a hauntingly slow drum track and the guitars kick off with a groove heavy riff extravaganza, the song eventually descends into complete madness and tuneless chaos.
The album is filled with short high paced tracks (speed metal/punk metal/thrash metal, call this insanity whatever you like) about dismemberment, the obsession with death, witches being burnt at the stake and worldwide epidemics threatening to destroy all mankind.
So, we ask ourselves: Is this album worthy of all the hype surrounding it? The answer is a definite yes. Where a few tracks failed as individual songs the album succeeded as a single body of aggression, hatred and sheer brutality and that was the intention of this album. The subject matter is controversial and the music groundbreaking. The success of this album is embodied by the fact that it is still, more than two decades later, widely regarded as one of greatest metal albums ever made.
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Performance:
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9 |
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Songwriting:
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8 |
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Originality:
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10 |
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Production:
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10 |
written by Stuart | 04.04.2008 |
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
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Guest review byEdible Autopsy
Rating:
10
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The greatest metal record of all time. This topic is often debated upon in the Metal Kingdom and to most there is no definite answer. A worthy contender for this title is Slayer's 1986 masterpiece, Reign In Blood. Few albums withstand the test of time as well and even fewer have had such a huge impact on the metal world as this one.
Read more ›› |
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| published 24.09.2003 | Comments (59)
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Guest review byMindheist
Rating:
4.5
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For more than a decade, Slayer has proudly fused thrash and speed metal into loud, offering doomish dirges, voraciously boisterous and blasphemous songs groaning over lyrics that depict madness, suicide and murder in excess, a style which should definetly suit a ten-year-old metalhead. On October 7, 1986, Slayer released what was to become their masterpiece, "Reign In Blood". An album discribed by Kerrang! Magazine as "the heaviest album of all time" and peaked at number 22 on Metal Storm's "top 100 albums of all time" survey, a position that only "the crème de la crème" bands could get. Believe me, reviewing a very popular album from a very popular band isn't easy at all, but sometimes justice must be done.
Read more ›› |
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| published 14.08.2008 | Comments (184)
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Comments
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As much as I hate reviews for albums that already have reviews, I gotta say this one is a little more accurate than the other one. Good job.  |
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 Ether - 06.04.2008 at 02:41
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MiseryKind ~ Well thought out. I'm currently reading reviews to gain some tips for my own which will start up one day. This was a great example for what a reviewer should look at and how they should approach the task. Reign In Blood is one of my all-time favourite metal albums, and I can tell you feel the same way although that didn't come across in a biased way.
Overall, a well balanced account of an album that it's hard to not get over-excited about.
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I also prefer this review...
Good done man.. and that's probably the rate it deserves IMO |
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Written by Ether on 06.04.2008 at 02:41
MiseryKind ~ Well thought out. I'm currently reading reviews to gain some tips for my own which will start up one day. This was a great example for what a reviewer should look at and how they should approach the task. Reign In Blood is one of my all-time favourite metal albums, and I can tell you feel the same way although that didn't come across in a biased way.
Overall, a well balanced account of an album that it's hard to not get over-excited about.
Thanks for your nice comments. I tried very hard not to be bias on this one. |
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The ultimate offering from Slayer which saw them finally break through into a wider audience before they unleashed South of Heaven on the planet.
"Altar of sacrifice, crypts of the damned, confronting the evil you dread, coalesce into one your shadow and soul, soon you will meet the undead... ENTER TO THE REALM OF SATAN!!!!!!!!!"
epic |
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| Slayer's best album! Surely influence for thousand bands. One of my favorite reviews, I totaly agree with you Stuart.. |
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Elio - 21.10.2008 at 22:23
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Written by ponderer on 28.06.2008 at 21:33
The ultimate offering from Slayer which saw them finally break through into a wider audience before they unleashed South of Heaven on the planet.
"Altar of sacrifice, crypts of the damned, confronting the evil you dread, coalesce into one your shadow and soul, soon you will meet the undead... ENTER TO THE REALM OF SATAN!!!!!!!!!"
epic
I thought it was CURSE of the damned  btw great album, can't stop headbanging  |
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Written by Elio on 21.10.2008 at 22:23
Written by ponderer on 28.06.2008 at 21:33
The ultimate offering from Slayer which saw them finally break through into a wider audience before they unleashed South of Heaven on the planet.
"Altar of sacrifice, crypts of the damned, confronting the evil you dread, coalesce into one your shadow and soul, soon you will meet the undead... ENTER TO THE REALM OF SATAN!!!!!!!!!"
epic
I thought it was CURSE of the damned btw great album, can't stop headbanging
Just checked the album lyric sheet and you are right it is "curse of the damned" |
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| Everyone says that Raining Blood and Angel of Death are the best on the album, but my high point pretty much has always been Altar of Sacrifice/Jesus Saves. I love it when bands combine songs. |
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Written by Dangerboner on 22.10.2008 at 06:45
Everyone says that Raining Blood and Angel of Death are the best on the album, but my high point pretty much has always been Altar of Sacrifice/Jesus Saves. I love it when bands combine songs.
Yeah, Epidemic is great too. I think even if you took out 'Raining Blood' and 'Altar Of Sacrifice' this album would still stand great. Another one of my favorites is 'Aggressive Perfecter' (I'm fully aware it is a bonus on the CD re-release version, and its actually from a previous release, but it just fits so well with the album.) |
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ms68 - 28.12.2008 at 00:05
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| What is your opinion about solos in reign in blood???? |
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This album only has reviews worshiping or destroying the album. I found it good, but nothing above a 9.
''Piece by piece'', ''Jesus saves'', ''Epidemic'' and ''Postmortem'' are great songs, but the rest is just normal in my opinion. An 8 is good enough.
wow forgot about Raining blood, very cool also. |
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Written by Uirapuru on 15.06.2009 at 07:25
This album only has reviews worshiping or destroying the album. I found it good, but nothing above a 9.
''Piece by piece'', ''Jesus saves'', ''Epidemic'' and ''Postmortem'' are great songs, but the rest is just normal in my opinion. An 8 is good enough.
wow forgot about Raining blood, very cool also.
You mean "Angel Of Death" is out of the list with best songs??? i bet that if there was a poll with fav slayer songs it would be in top 3 with ease. to be honest it may be the 1st... (basically i think there is one..!!  ) |
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Beastofmetal456 - 01.05.2011 at 23:43
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| Brutal album! Great review, Edible Autopsy! |
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| Songwriting:8 ? |
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Written by gneman on 28.08.2012 at 15:48
Songwriting:8 ?
sounds about right. awesome album, some songs have distinct personalities, others sort of just go by. they all have nice catchy bits to sing/shout along to, but the occasional lyric outbursts are what differentiate some of the tracks from the other.
Angel Of Death, Raining Blood are examples of top notch songwriting. some of the others are only good, just executed with a whole lot of vim, vigor, intensity, and caffeine. |
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| For me, this is the best album in the history of human race. The amount of joy and happiness that this album provided for me over the years is simply overwhelming. It's 11/10 |
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