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Classic Album Reviews: 'Reign In Blood' - Slayer (1986)
50 Plays1 year ago
Slayer's 'Reign In Blood' is arguably the definitive Thrash Metal album of the 80s.
Boasting speed, aggression and intensity, Daria & Laz explain, in 4 reasons, why 'Reign In Blood' is so significant in its execution and achievement.
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Transcript
Introduction and Album Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to Minds of Metal. My name is Dariam. And I'm Laz. And today we're bringing you a review of a legendary album, Rain in Blood by Slayer.
Thrash Metal's Unique Appeal
00:00:17
Speaker
Now, Slayer's Rain in Blood, released in 1986, is undoubtedly one of the best and most iconic heavy metal albums of all time.
00:00:25
Speaker
It's appeal to a wider audience, however, is quite limited because thrash is quite hard to get into,
Origins of Thrash Metal and Slayer's Impact
00:00:31
Speaker
isn't it? Yeah. And some of the accessible traits and characteristics of metal that we saw coming throughout the 70s into the early 80s are kind of dumbed down a bit here, isn't it? Because Raid in Blood is an onslaught of speed and intensity. But having said that, this does not at all halt or stop Raid in Blood's impact on heavy metal and the legacy it left behind.
00:00:54
Speaker
So generalizing here, we do know that we got thrash as a result of a combination of extreme metal, traditional metal, slash new Averbridge heavy metal and hardcore pumps.
00:01:05
Speaker
Extreme metal literally presented to us how extreme we could make metal, whether this was vocal performance, musical tempo or some crazy guitar solos. Throughout the album, we interestingly see quite a lot of influence from these traditional and new wave of British heavy metal bands. You've got the dark dissonant riffs that you'd expect here from Sabbath. You've got speed and energy from Judas Priest and Motorhead.
00:01:30
Speaker
dual lead guitars from Iron Maiden and Judas Priest as well. Add to this the fact that we know that Slayer were fans of punk bands, DRI and the Dead Kennedys. That's where the punk influence comes in I think. Slayer and Rain and Blood played arguably one of the biggest roles in defining thrash metal because in the early 80s you got speed metal, extreme metal, thrash metal, all kind of still finding their feet and trying to figure out what it
Rick Rubin's Influence on Production
00:01:53
Speaker
was. But Rain and Blood firmly established what thrash metal was and could be.
00:02:00
Speaker
It's funny how you'd think that a record that defines thrash would be produced by a producer who knows thrash very well but actually it was produced by Rick Rubin who is very well known in a hip-hop field and they actually released this record on a hip-hop label.
00:02:17
Speaker
And how funny is that? Yeah, odd. Yeah, really odd. And maybe that's why it worked. Well, actually, you say that, but I read some interviews that Rick Rubin gave, and he talked about this record quite a bit. And he said that he thinks that the success of this record actually lies in the novelty. For him, it was new. It was his first heavy metal record that he produced. And he actually reckons that this fact contributed to the success of it.
00:02:46
Speaker
The production itself I think is very raw and in your face, isn't it? And apparently the album was recorded in just a few days, so it was quite a speedy recording process.
00:02:58
Speaker
which I reckon actually contributed to that aggressive and energetic feel. Yeah, definitely. The production itself is very well centered around guitars and drums, I think. They're very intense and very precise, actually, as well. And I think the guitars sound absolutely fantastic.
Musical Composition and Intensity
00:03:16
Speaker
They're aggressive, they're fast, they're raw.
00:03:19
Speaker
But with all this speed, we never lose precision in any instrument. And I think this is a really important point. Yeah, it's excellently recorded and produced. And I think you made a point about how it's centered on the drums and I think that's true. They spent a lot of time nailing those drums and making sure everything was perfect.
00:03:36
Speaker
Another thing that contributed to the rawness and the energy of this record is the fact that Rick Rubin didn't want to use many overdubs. Yeah you'd much rather just let the band sort of do a take and rely on what was in the take as opposed to going over and just correcting everything really. Intensity, aggression and speed are three key
00:03:58
Speaker
all throughout the album with eight out of the ten songs lasting for less than three minutes the album clocks in at a stunning 28 minutes the songs are short and to the point and the listener is never given a moment's rest there's not even a soft section in any of the songs where you can just breathe a minute and go all right okay let's calm down a bit if the intensity of the song lengths weren't powerful enough
00:04:20
Speaker
don't forget you've got Dave Lombardo drumming with incredible accuracy and technical precision on this album. His performance is executed magnificently. Add to this the speed and the aggression of the guitar riffs that are constantly filling our ears with complex high tempo riffage that also exude large amounts of darkness and dissonance.
Accessibility Challenges and Lyrics
00:04:39
Speaker
And if you didn't think all of those musical characteristics were intense enough
00:04:43
Speaker
Just look at the album cover and read the lyrics of the songs. It is just so intense is the only word we can use. The whole experience orally, visually and thematically is supremely intense. And that's what Thrash Metal is all about. Let's talk about the accessibility of this album. Is it at all accessible?
00:05:06
Speaker
So there are things that I think some people might find tricky when listening to this album. So first one is the guitar solos. They're just messy, screechy and not very pleasant to listen to, let's say that. There's not really a sense of melody or musicality in it. Sometimes you feel like the noise is more important than the note.
00:05:26
Speaker
Yeah, another thing is the vocals. I think that it really suits the genre. It really suits the album itself. But if we just isolate the vocals... Not many places you can sing along. No, not really. And it's really in your face, which I actually quite enjoy, but I see that some people might not.
00:05:47
Speaker
Another thing is the lyrics. I think it's really hard to ignore. There are some really heavy topics being discussed in the album. And I think, again, some listeners might not like that. But again, it suits the album. It suits the idea of the album. And it works. Yeah. And interestingly, Slayer's lyrics in this were very violent and very gory. And it kind of paved the way for Death Metal to kind of literally open up a whole subgenre about these violent topics.
00:06:17
Speaker
So as I said in the intro, I think it's very important to understand that this is a classic metal album, despite the inaccessibilities to some extent, and despite the niche it's in, you know, it is an out-and-out thrash album. It's not a prog thrash, it's not a death thrash, it's not thrash with lots of traditional parts of it. It is just an out-and-out thrash album.
00:06:37
Speaker
And that's why it's legacy will forever remain in the metal history books, because it brought together the extremeness, the darkness, but didn't fail to admit just those tiny little characteristics that we got from the traditional metal, new wave of rich heavy metal and new early pumps.
Legacy of Rain in Blood
00:06:55
Speaker
So there you have it, the four reasons why Slayer's Reign in Blood is a classic metal album. The intensity, the accessibility, the thrash definition and the production all lead to this album cementing its legacy as essentially the iconic
00:07:11
Speaker
thrash album whilst other bands were doing the same thing the same year we got master of puppets and threats did among the living not too long after but this is the album that when people say i want an out and out thrash album is the perfect example thank you so much for being here with us today i hope you enjoyed the video and our thoughts on rain and blood by slayer thank you for your support and joining us in each of the videos we produce make sure you like and subscribe so you stay up to date with our new videos and content have a metal day have a lovely day we'll see you very soon