Slayer's pentultimate 1986 masterpiece.
Produced by Rick Rubin and released on Def Jam
The first satanic thrash
metal album ever released on a major label.
One of the most controversial albums of all
time.
One of the fastest albums of all
time: clocking in at just under 30 minutes.
Song list:
1) Angel of Death (90% of the controversy) 10/10
2) Piece by Piece 9/10
3) Necrophobic 9/10
4) Altar of Sacrifice 10/10
5) Jesus Saves (the other ten percent of the controversy) 10/10
6) Criminally Insane 10/10
7) Reborn 9/10
8) Epidemic 9/10
9) Postmortem 10/10
10) Raining
Blood 10/10
Reign in
Blood's release was delayed because of concerns regarding its lyrical subject matter and graphic artwork: several Catholic Popes drowning in a river of blood in
Hell; Satan on his throne; etc.
The opening track, "Angel of Death", references Josef Mengele and details acts committed at the Auschwitz concentration camp, which provoked allegations of Nazism. Slayer takes no pro or
con position on the matter in the song.
The album was Slayer's first to enter the Billboard 200; the release peaked at number 94, and in 1992 was awarded a gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of
America.
Kerrang! magazine described it as the "heaviest album of all
time" while
Metal Hammer magazine named it "the best
metal album of the last 20 years".
Inexplicably the ultra-mainstream Spin Magazine ranked the album number 67 on their list of the "100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005."
Slayer's "Reign In
Blood" was directly responsible for the rise of death
metal and cannot be bested. Bow down.
Reign in Blood is by far the best
metal album of the 1980s bar none.
