REIGN IN BLOOD
REIGN IN BLOOD (R.I.B.), the third full length offering by the mighty and powerful SLAYER, is quintessential Thrash perfection. It’s so sublime it’s practically one song with 10 distinct movements (think “Ten Degrees of R.I.B.”). It’s so superb that it can only be listened to from start to finish, front to back, in order. Period.
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Released: October 7, 1986
Recorded: June–July 1986
Studio: Hit City West, Los Angeles, California
Genre: Thrash metal
Length: 28:55
Label: Def Jam - Geffen
Producer: Rick Rubin - Slayer
Side One
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
Side Two
6. - "Criminally Insane"- 2:23
7. - "Reborn"- 2:11
8. - "Epidemic"- 2:23
9. - "Postmortem"- 3:27
10. - "Raining Blood"- 4:14
Total length: - 28:55
1998 re-issue bonus tracks
11. - "Aggressive Perfector"- 2:30
12. - "Criminally Insane" (remix)- 3:18
Tom Araya – bass, vocals
Kerry King – guitars
Jeff Hanneman – guitars
Dave Lombardo – drums
Larry Carroll – artwork
Rick Rubin – production
Andy Wallace – engineering
Howie Weinberg – mastering
Go ahead and hit up Smog Dog for some anti-relaxers to keep up during the sing-along, prepare the Goat Children cover models for guidance and JOIN US to rejoice and celebrate 35 years of the greatest thrash metal album ever, by the greatest thrash metal band ever, on the greatest thrash metal podcast ever* as Metal Nerdery Salutes SLAYER & REIGN IN BLOOD!!!
ANGEL OF DEATH:
No soft intro, no buildup. Just…BAM!
A song about Josef Mengele, a “doctor” for the SS (that’s Schutzstaffel…which served as bolth Adolf Hitler’s “special police force” and/or “protection squad”) who performed “medical experiments” at the concentration camps in Auschwitz during the World War II era abomination that was The Holocaust.
The lyrics are so horrific and brutal for one critically important reason: those who do not remember history are “condemned to repeat it”, just as those who don’t grasp the use of “air quotes” and italics above will surely also not grasp the subtle, modern parallels currently being witnessed in our world today. Don’t deny the power of “propaganda”.
“Rancid Angel of Death flying free…”
PIECE BY PIECE:
Devastatingly heavy groove metal before groove metal was actually groove metal. Again, no build up, no foreplay, no “easing in”, just…GO! Also, if you’re going to try to sing this and articulate each word clearly, you’re going to need to talk to Tony Montana about some anti-relaxers so you can keep up.
The lyrical content is most definitely early (seminal) death metal.
Fun fact: apparently Tony Montana is also a HUGE Slayer and Metal Nerdery fan. (Who knew?)
“Decapitated bodies found on my wall your head…”
NECROPHOBIC:
How many ways could one be scared to die? Most of the worst ways to go are summed up succinctly in the lyrics. Again…no foreplay, no lube, no soft intro, just a healthy dose of GO!
Also, which “chair” was being referred to? I can’t explain the feeling I had “after sitting in the chair” if I don’t know what kind of “chair” we’re talking about.
Is it a recliner? A folding chair? Maybe an electric folding chair?
“Necrophobic, can’t control the paranoia, scared to die.”
ALTAR OF SACRIFICE:
It would seem that Slayer had mastered the art of brutal grooves and even brutaler breakdowns by the time Reign in Blood had become part of Thrash history.
Interesting how a song about virgin sacrifice to Satan would be followed by a song about the anti-Satan.
Also, if you listen really closely, you can hear a very subtle, almost sarcastic, “laugh” when Tom sings “salvation”, right before the guitar solo, which adds another excellent layer of creepy, Slayer goodness.
“Endlessly searching for salvation.”
JESUS SAVES:
The beginning of Jesus Saves almost sounds like it could have been on South of Heaven, with the slower (than normal), heavy beginning. Obviously, that slow heaviness is soon replaced with more blisteringly fast, breakneck speed, R.I.B. goodness. But seriously, there’s this thing known as “breathing room”, and you definitely need it when you’re performing R.I.B. in its entirety, live (see also “Still Reigning”).
“You praise The Lord it’s all you say…”
CRIMINALLY INSANE:
That drum intro by itself is heavy; THAT is how brutally fantastic Slayer are/is!!! (Listen for that creepy laugh fading off into the ether before the vocals commence). The only thing more brutal than the brutally heavy drum intro is the brutally heavy breakdown where the rest of the band joins in. Call it brutally heavy sonic bliss.
“On his trail, I’ll make you follow...”
REBORN:
If you listen really carefully you can almost hear a “wrong note” at the intro right before the double-bass kicks in.
This track almost has a “Hell Awaits” feel to it. Just throw some “1985 reverb” in the mix and voila!
A song about being wrongly incarcerated and condemned for “witchcraft” because of the “proof” of some “authority”. (Although, in this case, it seems the lyrics are from the perspective of an actual witch
returning for retribution and/or reprisal after being burned at the stake.)
“Death means nothing, there is no end…”
EPIDEMIC:
Perhaps the best drum intro in all of Thrash!!! And such a perfectly appropriate song for a pandemic!
“Years will pass before it can be cured.”
POSTMORTEM:
If we ever do a “Best Next to the last Song” episode, THIS ONE will definitely be on it!!
It’s kinda hilarious that the last words to this song are actually the actual definition of the word that is also actually the title. See? Slayer is “educational”. We learn new words, we learn about history, we learn about crimes against humanity. Slayer is Educational Thrash, and since parents are encouraged to teach their children well, we feel it is incumbent of ALL parents to raise their children to listen to Slayer and to (most definitely) read those lyrics.
“Chanting lines of blind witchery to save yourself from extinction…”
RAINING BLOOD:
Easily the creepiest (and the awesomest) intro in all of Thrash!!! Absolutely glorious! The riffs, the speed, the groove, the breakdown, the cacophonic sound of souls screaming in Hell sonically represented by the brilliant, frenzied guitarwork of bolth Mr. Hanneman and Mr. King. Even the sound of “rain” after the jarring thunderclap at the conclusion of the song creates a vision of Hell during the rainy season.
“Awaiting the hour of reprisal, your time slips away…”
Show Notes
(00:01) - #foodhorror WELCOME BACK to the #MetalNerderyPodcast with #noextramayo #mayoisevil #mayojizzASMR #almosttoobigly / the #uncorking and #preshowclinky and a #tangentional story regarding #thisepisodes #beeroftheepisode #thisepisodesbeeroftheepisode #segment is #CowCow a #chocolatemilkstoutwithpeppermint (#hotdogs or #hamburgers) brought to you by #TheBrewingProjekt and #thisepisodesclinky is brought to us by #FireOnTheMountain and a story of an earlier #thisepisodesbeeroftheepisode #tragedy and #extreme #alcoholabuse #ontheedge #flavorvision
(05:13) – On the day of the release of #thisepisodesepisodeoftheepisode it will be the 35th anniversary of Slayer’s REIGN IN BLOOD!!! #happythirtyfifthanniversary #happy35 to #Slayer and #ReignInBlood (they’re #Slaytanic) #thegreatest / Twenty-eight minutes and fifty-five seconds of sonic, #thrashmetal #salvation and #bliss. #Behold the #albumart #helldicks and #covermodels / #horrormetal to some degree / #dickcovermodels #hail to #LarryCarroll (***how many atrocities can you spot on the REIGN IN BLOOD #albumcover?***) #markthetime #paperproducts #blotterpaperASMR / Certain #relaxers don’t go with #Slayer / #superrelaxed and on #instagram #instahammered #instabottle #instafucked #instaawesome #instathankyou (***Check out the #stonermetal #interpretation of #LedZeppelin #NoQuarter***). On #bolth IG and FB / #momentaryrant #blewoutthelines #welcometoskynet #unpulled / The Back album cover and #StellaArtois #teeeth #dontdenythepowerof #buttons
(13:59) – Loudwire Slayer Reign in Blood Facts (#producedwithnolube or #1985reverb) and the #facehole / The #unsettlingly #creepy #TomScream / #longname and Some of the various Slayer #RIB #LoreOfYore (or #YoreLore for short) ***GIVE US A CALL AT 980-666-8182 AND LEAVE US A VOICE MAIL!!!*** #TheVoicemailSegment #voicemailASMR / Opening for…#WASP!? Always Stay True to Your Arts and your Crafts!! / #moodlighting It’s #BloodRed in #MetalNerderyHQ33rdFloorIUBPStudios #ThirtyThirdFloorInvertedUndergroundBunkerPoonStudios / A moment of #causticity against #recordcontracts and #greedwhores and #corporations and also a strangely #tangentional moment of #promotion BUY OUR SHIT!!! (Seriously, #buyourshit at metalnerdery.com/merch) #talldenmarkian123 on the #gumapp
(21:54) – Just the next album… / Sensing the vibe of greatness contained within… / #nonstopbadassery Listening to #ReignInBlood on #shuffle is #strangeasfuck #dontfuckwiththeflow (“You can’t have #slaughter without #laughter” #itscomplicated) / #itwasntme #Fallon / ***The recent 11 year anniversary of #TheBigThree at #GwinnettArena with Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax*** / #MayhemTour at #Lakewood and the #motorcycleguys / Slayer’s incredible number of #tourstops in #Atlanta / Remembering Slayer at Lakewood and the stacking of their speaker cabinets in true #SlayerizedFashion / The #rerelease of #ReignInBlood with #bonustracks (#interesting and #unusual)
(29:20) – A moment of #tangentionalality with #Exodus and CLICKBAIT / #causticity and #viscosity #easein / ***PERSONA NON GRATA COMING IN NOVEMBER!!!*** #sorta #similar / The best #killeropener #evah ANGEL OF DEATH #killerthorax with the best #killerbreakdown #yogametalASMR #newgenre #stopitASMR #canihitthis #viciouslydescriptive in the lyrics and a #uncannilyvisual #aesthetic with #bolth the lyrics and the music…just the whole overall vibe. #itsthelongest #killerdoublebassASMR
(38:08) – PIECE BY PIECE (#modulistic #readthoselyrics) The definitive guitar sound and the #unofficial #SoundtrackToHell #VikingCutlery not #SamuraiCutlery (#rongregion for Vikings but #fajitafriedrice though…) / #heresthething #usethatdictionary NECROPHOBIC (vs Necrophiliac; Slayer is #educational) #onehundredfeetaway #notliterally #scaredtodie #tracktres #thrashbumpcore #thatbreakdowntho #readthoselyrics #deliciousagain / #andthen ALTAR OF SACRIFICE #backingvocals by the #MetalNerderyDogSquad #enterintotherealm #learnthesacredwordsofpraise #perfectlysyncedburp #recordscratch #myjeansaregettingalittletight #myjeanjeans (***Could Reign in Blood actually be a #conceptalbum of sorts?***)
(47:00) – JESUS SAVES #allonesong #badass #timetravelalbum #readthoselyrics #howthefuck #paperrelaxers and #Droopy #smogdog #Flash (see also #bassethound) #steppingalloverthecrickets #cricketmurderASMR / King of the #GoatChildren and #math #wouldyoujustlookatit? / Matt’s #SobStory #PunchUpService to help you go “all the way”!!! #sobbier / #KillerOpener on #SideTwo on the #Longplayer or #Cassette version CRIMINALLY INSANE (listen for the laughter…#creepy) #thatbreakdownisablessing #ohmygoodness
(55:00) - #howdareyou (and Matt’s unpopular opinion…) and another #foodanalogy using #pizza and #mexicanfood REBORN #agrower and another #perfectlytimed #readthoselyrics #couldyourepeatthat / The “Home Stretch”…the last 3 tracks and 3 of the best #backtobacktobacktracks in all of #Metal and its #thriceapproved to be #recognized as #oneglorioussong / #idontwannaknow #stillwarm / EPIDEMIC #ballsareout #yearswillpass and a #longdistancededication to #theplague #soundtrack of the covidolypse #enjoyyourtime / POSTMORTEM #thatswherethefunis #readthoselyrics and take your #antirelaxers #deepbreath #andbegin #trytokeepup #educationalthrashcore #newgenre / RAINING BLOOD (can you hear the footsteps? Or are those raindrops…of blood?) #rightontime #gourmet #crunchyballriffs ***The Most Metal Breakdown in Metal!!!***#thebigfinish #thundersclap
(1:11:11) – Remember the #magic of #autoreverse #tapedecks? / The 2 #boneus #bonustracks on the re-release AGGRESSIVE PERFECTOR and CRIMINALLY INSANE (Remix) a different #softintro #waitforit #thatsweird / A #newsegment: #FinalThoughts regarding R.I.B. / #brownbeaten #badgina ***SPECIAL GUESTS JOINING US IN THE #BUNKERPOONSTUDIOS ON THE NEXT EPISODE!!!*** #untilthenext #dontdenythepowerof #ReignInBloodForever #Amen #MetalNerderyASMR #AWordFromTheButler #waitforit #itjustdoesntfit #itsallbullshit #theresnomoon #myballsareasleepASMR ***GO BUY OUR SHIT!!! metalnerdery.com/merch *** PLEASE CONTINUE TO SPREAD THE WORLDWIDE WORDERY ABOUT THE METAL NERDERY AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!
* This podcast is strictly for adult entertainment & educational purposes only and is not, (repeat, NOT!) to be taken too seriously ever!!! It’s meant to be enjoyed as relaxably and responsibly as possible. We’re not sure if we are “the greatest thrash metal podcast ever”, but then again, like with R.I.B., this was also just “the next one” for us, so who knows? Perhaps after the unleashment of this episode upon the Metalverse, we WILL be the greatest thrash metal podcast EVER!
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