LP – Remastered Reissue On 180g Vinyl

Slayertook the leap to the big leagues with this, in the same wayMetallica,Megadeth, andAnthraxall did with their second albums. The only difference was this was Slayer’s third album, the previous two, ‘Show No Mercy‘ and ‘Hell Awaits‘, both plagued by rough production which thwarted Slayer from sounding as brutal as they should have been.’Reign in Blood‘ put matters straight, as Rick Rubin’s production put them over the top, with a precise and clean sound few have ever topped. This is the way to make a thrash album. Ten tracks clocking in at twenty-eight minutes, all fast, an easy way to make an impact and a point.

Overnight acts like Celtic Frost, Bathory, and Destruction were made to look as crude as they were, whileExodus,Metallica, andAnthraxseemed tame by comparison.HannemanandKingestablished themselves as thrash’s premier guitar duo, and rightfully so, the level of twisted genius running through “Necrophobic“, “Criminally Insane“, and “Angel of Death” something they themselves had trouble topping.

The main reasonSlayerdistinguished themselves from most was their ability to retain melody amongst such a vicious rampage.Every song has a discernible hook and melody line, something that was lacking from many, particularly Euro bores. Whether this is the greatest thrash album, I don’t know, it’s in the top five certainly,Slayerequaling this in many ways with ‘Divine Intervention‘. But it’s still thrash’s key point, a glorious reaffirmation of how superior 80’s metal was.

Tracklist:

Side A
A1 Angel Of Death
A2 Piece By Piece
A3 Necrophobic
A4 Altar Of Sacrifice
A5 Jesus Saves

Side B
B1 Criminally Insane
B2 Reborn
B3 Epidemic
B4 Postmortem
B5 Raining Blood