Genre: Thrash Metal
Rating: 7.9

Track list:
1. “Angel of Death” 4:51
2. “Piece by Piece” 2:02
3. “Necrophobic” 1:40
4. “Altar of Sacrifice” 2:50
5. “Jesus Saves” 2:54
6. “Criminally Insane” 2:23
7. “Reborn” 2:11
8. “Epidemic” 2:23
9. “Postmortem” 3:27
10. “Raining Blood” 4:14
11. “Aggressive Perfector” 2:30
12. “Criminally Insane” (remix) 3:18

Slayer’s classic, Reign in Blood, is now 32 years old. Back in 1986 it was easy to like Slayer. They basically created the thrash metal genre along with their peers Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeath and became hugely successful after this monster addition to their catalogue. In 2018, liking Slayer is a bit more complicated. The Slayer Army is still strong and screaming “Slayer Rules” at a Slayer show is a right of passage for many metal fans. This is a great album, but fuck slayer.

The controversy surrounding this album started before it was even released. The album was delayed 2 years because the band refused to drop the first song “Angel of Death”. A super fast intense song about Nazi torture experiments. Honestly, there is nothing in the song endorsing Nazism or the human experiments. It was written from the perspective of Josef Mengele himself and from the perspective of an observer condemning his actions at Auschwitz. In interview, Kerry King says “I’ve said since 1986 if “Angel of Death” was a documentary on History Channel it would probably win awards”. OK, so Slayer isn’t racist, but they do have Nazi documentarian delusions of grandeur.

Speaking of delusions of grandeur…

Much like the current US President, whom they may publicly support (see “fuck slayer article” above), they can claim to be not racist all they want, but they’re not really out there being ‘not-racist’, and this can create a safe place for Nazi’s, who are unfortunately an actual thing in 2018, at their shows.

Controversy aside, these bumbling idiots have crafted a full speed classic and that deserves to be mentioned. It’s non-stop driving drums, intensely fast riffs and squealing solos and screams. Fav tracks, the live classic Raining Blood and the satanic Alter of Sacrifice.

Hail Satan!