Slayer - Reign In Blood review
| Band: | Slayer |
| Album: | Reign In Blood |
| Style: | Thrash metal |
| Release date: | 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]
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.
"Reign In Blood" could be summed up in four simple words, strenuous, volatile, asymmetrical and brutal...maybe too brutal. At first I was completely blown away by its amazing structural proficiency, I couldn't get over it. Fortunately, there was a day when I realized that except Metallica, even a band from "the big four" could suck. The answer is pretty clear now, this is a notoriously inconsistent effort.
The journey commences with "Angel Of Death", an impressive opener , built around ultra-fast repetitive thrash riffs followed by... well, rigourous barks and high-pitched growls of Tom Araya, but that's vocally speaking, sure there's nothing inherently bad with it. However, even the most ardent fans of Slayer will admit that the one-dimentional vocals of Mr Araya are probably the thing that should be removed from Reign In Blood. In case you haven't noticed it yet, the singer tries his best to mix things up without resorting to clean vocals, and I don't blame him for that, at least he screams like a man not like Dave Mustaine. Songs like "Raining Blood" and "Angel Of Death" are the album's highlights, despite being too uniformed for some to stomach, they are quite catchy with their crushing guitar riffs and the furiously thunderous drumming. However, in its entirety, the album is not as consistently memorable as "South Of Heaven", but let's make it clear, I've never been a fan of Slayer and if they're going to stick on "Christ Illusion meets Reign In blood" style I won't be, but to be fair, there was a time when I liked Slayer pretty much, I liked Reign In Blood though but not anymore, these guys don't deserve to be a part of "the big four" neither does Megadeth.
In the end of the day, Slayer will always have an audience because their discography is worth picking up, but when it comes to this album here's my advice, listen to it for one year or maybe two and then throw it away. Folks, I give you "the most overrated album of all time"... Reign In Blood.
Rating:
10
10
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Rating: 10 |
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 ›› |
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 ›› |
Comments page 3 / 7
Comments: 207
Visited by: 689 users
| DayFly Posts: 383 From: Germany  |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 02.04.2010 at 17:19 Ignore him, nick like that means he's a complete moron.
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Posts: 40071 From: The Netherlands  |
Written by DayFly on 02.04.2010 at 17:43 Funny thing is he has SLayer amongst his favourite bands  Well, the nick doesn't make him a moron per se.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| DayFly Posts: 383 From: Germany |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 02.04.2010 at 17:47 Well, I am kind of biased towards anyone who puts a 666 in his nick or tries to appear as transgressive as possible and this guy does both. Putting Slayer in one's favourite bands and not liking Reign in Blood is really 
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| Lord_Regnier Posts: 1469 From: Canada  |
Written by DayFly on 28.07.2009 at 20:48 Old Slayer is among my favorites when it comes to Thrash and I like "Reign In Blood" to a certain extent, but it's not among my favorite Slayer albums. You say "One cannot ask more from a Thrash album". Well, I'd say there is something we could ask for more and this is variety. Songs on this album are so much alike (and at the same pace all the time with very little tempo changes) if you don't pay attention you won't be sure which one you're listening to. And that's why I prefer "Show No Mercy", "Haunting The Chapel", "Hell Awaits" and any Kreator album from "Endless Pain" to "Coma Of Souls" to Slayer's "Reign In Blood" when it comes to old school Thrash Metal. It's an excellent album and a groundbreaking record that marked the history of extreme metal forever but it's not flawless.
---- "Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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| Daggon Underpaid M.D. Posts: 1689 From: Mexico  |
Written by Lord_Regnier on 03.04.2010 at 07:08 Yup, it's not flawless, I think there isn't such thing like a completely perfect album, but the problem here is not the album but the review of it, the reviewer says too many bad things about this album, but still he rates some other albums higher, even if they are not worthy of that rating, for example he rates I - Between Two Worlds with a 9.0 and and Megadeth's freaking United Aboringations with 5.9, so those albums are better than "Reign In Blood"?, even if I like "Between Two Worlds", sometimes becomes boring, I don't think "Reign In Blood" has the same problem. Well... just my thoughts. 
---- "Les vers savent qu'ils n'ont pas d'ailes, c'est pour cela qu'ils se cachent sous terre"
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| Lord_Regnier Posts: 1469 From: Canada |
Written by Daggon on 03.04.2010 at 08:07 Imo, "Reign In Blood" is immensely superior to "Between Two Worlds", which is an album I utterly dislike even if I'm a big Immortal fan. Another pointless Motorhead-sounding record, and I always hated anything that sounds remotely like Motorhead. Quoting the reviewer: "Folks, I give you "the most overrated album of all time"... Reign In Blood." No way. Metallica's Black Album or Blind Guardian's NIME or "Wintersun" are much more serious contenders for the title. "Wintersun" is good but quite overrated. As for the other two, they both suck, imo. NIME is a filler-track-fest. As for the Black Album, it's commercial garbage.
---- "Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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| Slayer666 Posts: 2466 From: Serbia  |
Written by DayFly on 02.04.2010 at 17:51 Oh, is that so? Well, f**k you man!  I'm surprised how many people agree with this review. OK, Reign in Blood might be a tad overrated, but a 4.5? It should be respected for, if nothing else, historical value.
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| DayFly Posts: 383 From: Germany |
Written by Lord_Regnier on 03.04.2010 at 07:08 I am not sure what you mean with "variety". In my opinion this album offers plenty of it in terms of mood which is to me the only variety that matters. Tempo changes are just a means to that end and if a band can do without them it is all the more impressive. RiB is not flawless if one counts the vocals and perhaps the solos but I personally am never bored by it and I wouldn't change a thing about the album if given the opportunity. And honestly of all bands Kreator are the worst offenders when it comes to violent one-dimensional noise.
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| Lord_Regnier Posts: 1469 From: Canada |
Written by DayFly on 03.04.2010 at 15:34 I prefer Kreator's riffs in general. I agree that the old Kreator albums were pure uncompromising aggression (especially as vocals had more 'bite' than Slayer's vocals- it was almost Black Metal vocals) but the songs featured more tempo changes than what you can hear on RIB. Describing Kreator as noise is not right, imo, because I think there's lots of melody but it's melodic in a raw way.
---- "Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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| Daggon Underpaid M.D. Posts: 1689 From: Mexico |
Written by Lord_Regnier on 03.04.2010 at 14:41 Sorry, I missed a question mark after that phrase  I also think (obviously) that "Reign In Blood" is vastly superior to those albums.As for Wintersun, yes it's amazingly overrated, Blind Guardian's "NIME" is utterly booooring, too much fillers as you said and Metallica's mmm "Metallica" haha, it's also really boring and a shame for the band.
---- "Les vers savent qu'ils n'ont pas d'ailes, c'est pour cela qu'ils se cachent sous terre"
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| Litany666 Posts: 14 From: Nepal  |
I totally disagree with the review !!! Reign In Blood is one of the best thrash albums in the world !! Hail Slayer
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| ponderer Posts: 153 From: Aruba  |
That is the funniest fucking review I've read yet on Metalstorm, at least until my Enslaved review gets put up in December. Anyone with a few working brain cells knows Reign in Blood is easily one of the heaviest, fastest, most brutal offerings ever conceived. I did enjoy the fact that the reviewer took the time to bust out a dictionary and thesaurus so that this already totally misconstrued pile of shit of a review sounded even more contrived like that of some self-absorbed witless prick.
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| Guib Thrash Talker Posts: 3054 From: Canada  |
Uh did he actually said (Megadeth and Slayer don't deserve to be part of the big four?) First of all, how can the words "Big Four" change your view on Thrash Metal anyway? and then, you gotta be stupid to believe that the opinion of one person as an impact on the popularity and the musical quality of one band. Oh and about the overused "Overrated" word, what does this really mean ? How can something be overrated, I mean a shit-load of people loved the album, a shit-load of people still believe this album is great and another shit-load still listen to it... so whats that, overrated??? Explain please And im not only targeting the reviewer... Im really disapointed by all the people posting coments here, not only because of the ratings or the album itself but all the flaming and insults throwed around, im not proud to be a metalhead when I see shits like that -_-
---- - Headbanging with mostly clogged arteries to that stuff - Guib's List Of Essential Albums - Also Thrash Paradise Thrash Here
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| Daniell _爱情_ Posts: 6059 From: Poland  |
I wasn't aware that this hilarious outpouring of some Slayer hater's mind found its way onto this site. It's wrong in so many ways, that I won't even bother discussing them...
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
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| Deadmeat Necrobutcher Posts: 2437 From: Greece  |
Written by Guest on 15.10.2010 at 12:28 everyone has the right of not liking an album (on the other hand i find it stupid when i see people saying: "i used to like this album but now i almost hate it" or "listen to it for 1 or 2 years and then drop it" -hey man! you said 1-2 years or 1-2 times? cause listening an album often for 1-2 years is a long period) and i can accept it from the writer of the review. but i really think that this is not a well written review. almost no disadvantages of the album are analyzed here except that he didnt like it and that it is not as good as most people believe... imo only because of that reason it is a bad review.
---- Υou've sold your human essence to the cold world of dead and empty things... You're SOLD!
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| Deadmeat Necrobutcher Posts: 2437 From: Greece |
Written by Guest on 15.10.2010 at 13:08 thats right. on the other hand if i "hated" so much this album and wanted to show people how bullshit and overated it is i'd write a review where i'd point out all it's disadvantages in a way that the readers could understand my sense. now, i just see a man, angry at what this album has become through the years (a milestone etc...) trying to tell us without the "why part" how shitty it is. so i just believe that this is not a good review for the purpose that it has been written for...
---- Υou've sold your human essence to the cold world of dead and empty things... You're SOLD!
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted Written by Deadmeat on 15.10.2010 at 13:13 Angry venting is a lot easier than cold analysis
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| Deadmeat Necrobutcher Posts: 2437 From: Greece |
Written by Guest on 15.10.2010 at 13:16 unfortunately...
---- Υou've sold your human essence to the cold world of dead and empty things... You're SOLD!
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| vezzy Stallmanite Posts: 3493 From: Bulgaria  |
Written by Guib on 15.10.2010 at 07:45 *I don't have anything against this album and I completely disagree with the review, but as everything popular, it is overrated. Because when a popular band releases what is generally regarded as their magnum opus (and has had a lasting influence), it obviously deserves praise, but it usually ends up becoming bloated as if it's holy, not to be questioned or even mildly disliked and of course, a tirade of banger emotes. Plus after a while you get sick of hearing about the same old albums you've heard many times. **>implying that you should be proud because you listen to a certain genre of music
---- Licensed under the GPLv3. Relinquish proprietary software for a greater GNU/America.
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| Daniell _爱情_ Posts: 6059 From: Poland |
Let me summarise this "argument" with a remark: overything that is rated is overrated. "Overrated" is one most abused word in the world. Every four-feet half-wit and their leper uncle uses "overrated". And it always means one thing: "it's my opinion". And nothing fucking else. Why even bother with this word?
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| vezzy Stallmanite Posts: 3493 From: Bulgaria |
Written by Daniell on 15.10.2010 at 16:16 True, it is staggeringly overused, but in many cases it is true.
---- Licensed under the GPLv3. Relinquish proprietary software for a greater GNU/America.
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| Daniell _爱情_ Posts: 6059 From: Poland |
For the person that uses it, yes, but no more than that.
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| vezzy Stallmanite Posts: 3493 From: Bulgaria |
Written by Daniell on 15.10.2010 at 16:18 Nope, some bands and albums simply are overrated. A very done to death and obvious example would be Metallica. On the other hand, if you were to list the "most underrated bands ever", that'd be harder to do. When praise and acclaim to a higher level than deserved is thrown around for a certain group of bands, it's really easy to tell which.
---- Licensed under the GPLv3. Relinquish proprietary software for a greater GNU/America.
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| Daniell _爱情_ Posts: 6059 From: Poland |
You're an obstinate one, aren't you? Just think for a minute and tell me: How the hell can you justify that Metallica is "overrated"? How do you measure it other than by your own opinion? What level of praise is ok, and what level warrants the "overrated" label? Believe me, it's completely pointless even to try...
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| vezzy Stallmanite Posts: 3493 From: Bulgaria |
Written by Daniell on 15.10.2010 at 16:36 As are you, in your pursuit of utopia where everything is opinion and you cannot argue against that. Decline in quality, intense mainstream popularity (Metallica are really popular among newbies, including the t-shirts, up there with Iron Maiden and others), the ever continuous "first four albums" phenomenon and how they're all masterpieces, we get it. Not the same anymore, now they're a different band, much more accessible, soft and radio-friendly. (okay, Death Magnetic song lengths aren't radio-friendly, nor are St. Anger's, but accessibility and especially lower quality is evident). It's ridiculous, how is Metallica not overrated?
---- Licensed under the GPLv3. Relinquish proprietary software for a greater GNU/America.
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| Deadmeat Necrobutcher Posts: 2437 From: Greece |
Written by Daniell on 15.10.2010 at 16:36 i agree with vezzy here. 1) "You're an obstinate one, aren't you?" does that mean that when you say something the others have to agree without saying a word??? 2)i'll tell you something simple -i wont mention those people that think that metallica are overrated but all the others: i am at sure that most of them (cause i've been in this category for some months thinking that they are the best, hands down) if they gave so much attention to other bands out there (and not the highlighted by the media, magazines etc metallica) as they give to metallica, metallica probably wouldnt be that high now.
---- Υou've sold your human essence to the cold world of dead and empty things... You're SOLD!
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| Guib Thrash Talker Posts: 3054 From: Canada |
-_- I so should've kept my post for myself -_- Now look at Vezzy and Daniell...
---- - Headbanging with mostly clogged arteries to that stuff - Guib's List Of Essential Albums - Also Thrash Paradise Thrash Here
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| Death To Posers Hate Thy King Posts: 268 From: USA  |
I never really got into Slayer, but this album is one of their better ones (Probably my second favorite after the first one). It's undeniably a classic and extremely influential album.
---- The word gen means "illusion" or "apparition." In India, a man who uses conjury is called a genjutsushi ["a master of illusion technique"]. Everything in this world is but a marionette show. Thus we use the word gen.
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