By the time that this album came out, satanic thrash metal band Slayer had had a massive underground following. There weren't a lot of other bands as edgy as they were back in '83 when they released their first album, "Show No Mercy." However, as good as their 2 albums were prior to this one (including the latter one), "Reign in Blood" is truly a masterpiece.
Released by Def Jam records, a label that typically releases rap/ hip hop, e.g. the Beastie Boys, gave them better production than was predictable, given the St. Anger-esque drum sound on said debut album (which didn't hold Dave Lombardo back anyhow). Their production at this point was as perfect as it got.
Angry and way over the top, you'll know you love this album once you hear Tom Araya growl "Enter to the realm of Satan!" on "Altar of Sacrifice," as if the pig squeal at the beginning of the first track, "Angel of Death," wasn't enough. Excellence aside, the relatively mediocre tracks include "Postmortem" and "Criminally Insane." However, the mediocrity and musical disorganization of Postmortem will be worth it once you hear the all-too-short "Raining Blood" (Age old question: does this count as the title track?).
This album is not very accessible as it is to new-coming speed metal fans, especially to non-metal fans or anti-metal fans. One may want to start with the infamous debut behemoth or "South of Heaven" to ease into this album's greatness. However, this album deserves no less than a 5/5.
