May 03, 2001 01:22 AM
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'Reign in Blood’ was one of the first albums I ever bought and it still sounds good today. Loud, brash, fast and ultimtely brutal, ‘Reign in Blood’ was the album that confirmed Slayer as a leading light on the thrash scene. Opening with the uncompromising ‘Angel of Death’ and roaring through to the superb ‘Raining Blood’, this album is a supreme piece of speed metal.
Despite appearances of being the usual satan obsessed death/thrash album typical of the early 80s, the band claim that it is more a tongue in cheek look at Christianity and a test of people’s beliefs rather than anything else. With an album sleeve packed with pentagrams, fire, a goatheaded protaganist etc. coupled with lyrics which invite you to ‘enter to the world of satan’, ‘praise hell, satan’ etc. you might question the honesty of this statement. Add to this insensitive references to Nazi germany and the Jews, and just about everything else which can be tackled to provoke a reaction and ultimately cause maximum offence and you have an album which is at best ‘lyrically misguided’ at worse damn offensive and guilty of everything it has been charged with. This is 80s thrash from a genre packed with snotty-nosed white-trash, ranting about stuff they have little comprehension of and vying to be the most brutal and most offensive, to provoke the biggest reaction and thus acheive notoreity and sell records to those impressed by such things. Hence its aimed at spotty teenagers and impressionable hard-of-thinking adults, yet get past the stupidity of the message, whatever it is, the basic numbskull lyrics and open up your mind, and you are ready to receive the 30 minutes of total aural intensity which is Slayer’s breakthrough album.
Your experience opens with the superb Angel Of Death, which is still Slayer’s best loved track. Guitars open up completely unaccompanied, with an amazingly fast riff, before Araya’s piercing scream assaults your ears, accompanied by thunderous drums and a blisteringly fast lead attack. This track is fast, brutal and unrelenting, nothing short of technically excellent and amazingly tight considering the sheer pace of the track. Clean breaks, screaming leads duelling over the thunderous drum cachophany and brash vocal barking, rising to bloodcurdling screams mark one of the most impressive displays of thrash musical excellence ever commited to vinyl. Araya’s final cry decends into a low guttural death rattle before a brief respite from the assault is smashed by the opening bars of Piece by Piece, continuing in wave after wave of aural assault from an album which Q Magazine declared as being “officially the heaviest album ever made” before the mysterious intro to the final track Raining Blood offers a little breathing room. But its not a pleasant time to relax. Thunder rolls, lightning flares in the distance and the heavy sound of the sky bleeding on gravel accompanied by the sound of stressed metal and distorted electric wailing torments your already battered senses. A final crash of thunder and your moment of respite is over. The guitars kick in, low and chugging, menacingly luring you into the madness which awaits. Then all hell breaks loose again, pounding drums, breakneck riffs, poisonous lyrics delivered with venomous gusto, once more into the maelstrom. Battered and bruised you hear Araya’s gurgling scream ‘Raining Blood’ one last time before a complete piece of lunacy, with leads played at breakneck speed in a full on assault aimed one last time at beating you into submission and then STOP! As quickly as it began it ends to a peel of thunder and the sound of distant rain…
I can not express just how powerful this album is in terms of its musical delivery. Q magazine voted it the heaviest metal album to date and I would have to agree. This is completely uncompromising from start to finish, not even the hint of a ballad, or even time to catch breath, it’s a full on sonic assault from start to finish and one which even if you do not appreciate the music from, you can not fail to respect in terms of its sheer power and technical prowess of its authors. Absolutely mindblowing, Reign In Blood is a worthy addition to any record collection, although be warned, that this is not a pretty experience…and it’s a shame about the lyrical content as well.
