Slayer - Reign In Blood review
| Band: | Slayer |
| Album: | Reign In Blood |
| Style: | Thrash metal |
| Release date: | October 07, 1986 |
| Guest review by: | Edible Autopsy |
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]
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.
The opening track is the legendary 'Angel of Death' and starts things off with a scream. Tom Araya's voice is at it venomous peak having shed the "I have no testicles" sound of their earlier releases. He shouts gruesome lyrics, song after song with such serial killer conviction it sends chills down your spine upon first listening. The speed in which the vocals are delivered makes for a fun along with the lyric book, that is of course until you learn all the songs word for word.
Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman have crafted some of the most brutal guitar riffs in history. These riffs reach super-sonic speeds while never compromising their heaviness. King and Hanneman may not be the most technically dazzling players in the world, but their solos in Reign In Blood are nothing short of awesome. In 'Necrophobic', 'Jesus Saves', and 'Raining Blood' you would swear you were hearing animals being slaughtered in front of you and can practically feel King's fingers stabbing your skull each time he hits the fret board, not typical metal solos by any means.
The key element to Slayer has always been Dave Lombardo's stellar drum work. His amazing drum fills had already been demonstrated in the past ['Chemical Warfare'] but Reign In Blood shows that Lombardo is the double bass pedal master! Look no further than his spectacular drum solo at the end of 'Angel of Death' as proof. His uncanny ability to garner such pummeling momentum, and then slow down and create such a groove on the cymbals [the breakdown of 'Altar of Sacrifice' and intro of 'Criminally Insane'] is remarkable. Not to mention he is FAST AS HELL......I pity his snare.
With a running time of 28 minutes, listening to Reign In Blood is like a quick kick in the nuts and is guaranteed to knock the wind out of you. While it may not be the greatest metal record of all time, it is without a doubt the greatest Thrash record. Reign In Blood's content and brutality shocked the world in 1986 and is the basis for what would become Death Metal. ALL bands in extreme music today owe something to Slayer and this album.
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Rating:
9.2
9.2
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Rating: 9.2 |
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. Read more ›› |
Rating:
4.5
4.5
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Rating: 4.5 |
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 ›› |
Comments page 2 / 3
Comments: 66
Visited by: 282 users
| Syk myspace/bonerama Posts: 1504  |
I think it's funny how everyone seems to love Altar, it's my second least favourite... my top 3 are Angel, Jesus, Raining. Still, every song owns and this is easily one of the best albums of all time, 10/10. Pretty sweet review too
---- death ? thrash ? death/doom/prog ? Hail Zoldon! he's not the kind you have to [url=../bands/album.php?album_id=28982]wind up[/url] on Sundays
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| Harmonic Account deleted |
Harmonic
Account deleted
I was really into this album for a long time, but then it just got boring. The lyrics are silly. I know that could apply to a lot of metal music (Judas Priest, anyone?) but with Slayer it's like a B-grade horror movie. They even made up a word for one of their songs. "Modulistic" is not in any dictionary that I know of. (Check out http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/modulistic to see for yourself.) Honestly, you can't get any goofier than making up words because they sound cool. I found myself laughing my head off every time I listened to Reign in Blood, so in the end I had to give it away. Slayer might have marked their place in metal history with this album - I won't disagree with that - but I'd rather listen to Amon Amarth sing about the exploits of the Vikings. Those guys don't make up nonexistent words to sound cool. They just burn Christians alive inside the church. 
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| Syk myspace/bonerama Posts: 1504 |
Written by [user id=22888] on 14.10.2007 at 18:46 Did you check any technical dictionaries? Carcass had tons of stuff that wasn't in normal dictionaries, but besides, sometimes making up words is cool (in this case I say yes) and most of what Slayer have here is just fun as fuck. Some of the songs are equivalent to burning Christians anyway... normally I don't think much of lyrics at all, good or bad, but I really love what's yelled on this album. edit - I just remembered you were the one talking about stats and modulus is a mathematical term so my tech dict argument probably holds no weight 
---- death ? thrash ? death/doom/prog ? Hail Zoldon! he's not the kind you have to [url=../bands/album.php?album_id=28982]wind up[/url] on Sundays
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| Harmonic Account deleted |
Harmonic
Account deleted Written by Syk on 15.10.2007 at 16:00 Well you got me there, Syk. Didn't check any technical dictionaries - so I might be off-base. Wasn't Araya a med school student before Slayer? That could explain where the word came from... Still, every time he said "modulistic terror" it gave me a serious case of the giggles. I agree the album is a LOT of fun, there's no doubt about that. I think I just listened to it too much. Carcass does the same thing with made-up words, you say? Maybe I'll try out some of their stuff.
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| Syk myspace/bonerama Posts: 1504 |
Written by [user id=22888] on 16.10.2007 at 06:24 Definitely, I recommend the Necroticism album first, you can search youtube for "carcass solvent" and "carcass quandary" (/jigsore/jigsaw if that doesn't work) for a couple promo vids while Forensic Clinicism/The Sanguine Article and Lavaging Expectorate of Lysergide Composition (/Compostion) are some other fantastic tunes. Back to modulistic terror, for a long time I actually thought it was "optimistic terror" 
---- death ? thrash ? death/doom/prog ? Hail Zoldon! he's not the kind you have to [url=../bands/album.php?album_id=28982]wind up[/url] on Sundays
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| IllNiñoSweden Posts: 331  |
This album is very good. One of the best album in world. Because it is, fucking so good songs.
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| totaliteraliter Posts: 656  |
Written by [user id=22888] on 14.10.2007 at 18:46 I hate to inform you of this, but your laughter is due to your own ignorance rather than any lyrical ineptitude on Slayer's part. It shouldn't be to hard to figure out what "modulistic" means - "module" = part, component, etc. and "-istic" = "having some characteristics of." The terror in question is modulistic in nature, in keeping with the theme of the song - as the body is dismembered into components, so is the associated horror. I guess it's goofy if you normally find "big" words funny, but it's actually a typical example of the above average lyrical prowess displayed by Slayer on this album. From the punchy accuracy of lines like "Epidemic, permanent disease" to the iconic "Trapped in purgatory / A lifeless object, alive..." it's hard to find fault anywhere on Reign In Blood, least of all in the lyrics.
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| Harmonic Account deleted |
Harmonic
Account deleted Written by totaliteraliter on 21.01.2008 at 23:43 I never said I found "fault" with the lyrics. I said I found them to be funny. Also, I didn't say "modulistic" was meaningless, I said it was made up. If I wanted, I could make up a word that had a "meaning" based on its component parts. The word still wouldn't exist in a dictionary, or as a part of the English language. Actually, "segmentistic" (segment: verb, to separate or divide into segments) is more accurate than "modulistic" in the context of the song, but Slayer's word is the most entertaining of the two. Still, I would have gone with "carnivistic" (carnivor: noun, a flesh-eating animal) as the most fitting and amusing word for Slayer's song. How did the Slayer boys miss a great made-up word like that? 
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| totaliteraliter Posts: 656 |
I see the concept of poetic effect is foreign to you - never mind that it took me all of ten seconds to find a handful of online dictionaries listing "-istic" as a valid suffix for "module" (and why wouldn't it be? That's how our language works). I don't know, maybe Slayer is just a bit too highbrow for you?
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| Harmonic Account deleted |
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| totaliteraliter Posts: 656 |
Written by [user id=22888] on 29.01.2008 at 08:19 This (poetry) is a realm where made up (or not) words are perfectly acceptable - that one as pedestrian as "modulistic" is enough to get you giggling doesn't speak highly of your appreciation abilities. It's not that Slayer is particularly highbrow, it's that your reaction suggests that you are better acquainted with more lowbrow material - your criticisms are neither interesting nor valid in this case. Written by [user id=22888] on 29.01.2008 at 08:19 Wikipedia and encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com both have it redirecting to module. Seems to be some kind of scientific term as well. Written by [user id=22888] on 29.01.2008 at 08:19 I see the concept of poetic effect is foreign to you...
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| Harmonic Account deleted |
Harmonic
Account deleted Written by [user id=22888] on 29.01.2008 at 08:19 The hilarity is not a consequence of the word itself but the context in which it is employed. Here we have these great lyrics about a cannibalistic serial killer - really satisfying, gruesome stuff - and Slayer throws in this artsy, poetic "word" that is simply not an aesthetic fit with the overall tone of the song. My appreciation abilities, as you call them, are perfectly intact. But, try as I might, I am unable to appreciate Slayer's version of poetic effect. (That's my valid opinion, and you can quote me on it.) Quote: On the contrary, my lack of appreciation stems from being insufficiently acquainted with all that is lowbrow. Perhaps I should be more cognizant of those "diamonds in the rough" before turning up my nose. I might also add that I am truly sorry for failing to entertain you or raise valid points. I for one am certainly having fun.  Quote: The redirects happen because the search engines cannot find the word in question, so they come up with the closest fit - but I'm sure you're already aware of that. I was intrigued by the last link, though. It appears the term "modulistic" is used to refer to the graphical output of cellular automata - although what precisely is being referred to is not made clear by the link. Most likely it is meant to describe some of the fractal-like features (self-similarity on different scales) that appear in the images. Computational mathematics aside, I am sure you will agree with me that those images were definitely not what Slayer had in mind when they penned their lyrics! Quote: Yes, well... we've already discussed that point before, haven't we?
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| totaliteraliter Posts: 656 |
Written by [user id=22888] on 30.01.2008 at 00:07 I don't see how the word is artsy and poetic, I'd describe it more as clinical and electric. Look at the structure of the chorus: Modulistic terror, a vast sadistic feast The only way to exit is going piece by piece "Modulistic", as previously discussed, is a rough thematic synonym for "piece by piece". So we have the song's key stanza being bracketed by parallel expressions of the main concept (with the obvious intent of reinforcing it). It's also notable that it's used as the first word in the song, making its connection to the title as intentional all the more probable. It's basic, effective, and frankly quite unremarkable which is why I'm having a hard time understanding why someone would find it inept, never mind humourously so. Written by [user id=22888] on 30.01.2008 at 00:07 Is that how they work? I am presuming the fact that they have a listing for the word must count for something - since if you enter, say, "modulistical" or "segmentistic" ( ) you get nothing.
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| Harmonic Account deleted |
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| Samuel550 Account deleted |
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| Warman Erotic Stains Posts: 7695  |
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| SlaytallicA Lycanthropy Posts: 1261  |
The first line says it all: "The greatest metal record of all time"
---- One Pound Of Flesh, No More No Less, No Cartilage, No Bones, But Only Flesh...
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| hearts_alive Account deleted |
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| Timelord Posts: 276  |
I remember picking up Reign in Blood about 2 weeks after it was released. I already owned Haunting the Chapel,Live Undead and Hell Awaits. I was eagerly waiting for the new Slayer album. First time I played it I was hooked. Angel of Death was the ultimate metal song I had ever heard. From that day forward RIB has never been absent from my playlists. For those of you who were not around in 86 there was nothing to compare RIB to. Some folks now think the record is overrated. That 1 release changed the face of metal and separated the true headbangers from the posers.(threw that word in for nostalgia purposes)Now there are thousands of releases to choose from. RIB is rip roaring good. It influenced alot of the bands most of you listen to nowadays. Lets not forget that thrash/speed metal was still in its infancy stage. I know some folks won't like it and thats cool. People have different opinions and they should. But give credit where its do. RIB is the sperm that fertilized the Death Metal egg. Slayer is still going strong!!
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| ioannisk Posts: 75  |
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| dreammetal Posts: 3 |
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| Deadmeat Necrobutcher Posts: 2437  |
Written by dreammetal on 08.03.2009 at 03:47 Reign In Blood is a thrash metal album, those you've mentioned are heavy except Metallica which albums are also heavy but have 3-4 thrash songs! So Reign In Blood in THRASH is a great album!
---- Υou've sold your human essence to the cold world of dead and empty things... You're SOLD!
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| dreammetal Posts: 3 |
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| Deadmeat Necrobutcher Posts: 2437 |
Written by dreammetal on 15.03.2009 at 07:04 the "before 90's" thrash metal wasn't melodic. i find metallica in some albums heavier than megadeth. megadeth are very melodic or at least much more than slayer, kreator, destruction etc. i dont call them thrash. they may sometimes play a bit fast, but the feeling of their music is not aggressive as thrash should be...
---- Υou've sold your human essence to the cold world of dead and empty things... You're SOLD!
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| K✞ulu Seeker of Truth Posts: 2574  |
Written by dreammetal on 08.03.2009 at 03:47 you mean Megadeth are not thrash, right? Cause I have the same feeling. KIMB was thrash, but then Peace Sells... heavy metal for me, So Far So Good... heavy metal, then Rust in Peace is thrash... and then you know.
---- Savor what you feel and what you see Things that may not seem important now But may be tomorrow R.I.P. Chuck Schuldiner Satan was a Backstreet Boy
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| Deadmeat Necrobutcher Posts: 2437 |
Written by K✞ulu on 15.03.2009 at 09:22 even rust in peace imo cannot be called "pure thrash".. also the vocals of megadeth remind me much more some heavy metal vocals than thrash. pm: you did a wrong quote 
---- Υou've sold your human essence to the cold world of dead and empty things... You're SOLD!
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| K✞ulu Seeker of Truth Posts: 2574 |
Written by Deadmeat on 15.03.2009 at 11:59 I'm abusing the system 
---- Savor what you feel and what you see Things that may not seem important now But may be tomorrow R.I.P. Chuck Schuldiner Satan was a Backstreet Boy
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62283  |
Written by dreammetal on 08.03.2009 at 03:47 I agree whit you but I would drop out some non TM albums and leave 2 metallica and look somehow into Europe, I would say Sabbat from Scotland can be even better
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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