Goat-Man Satan King.
Hello FAN readers, I’m Blake Hammond and welcome to the first edition of, Classic Cuts.
The album we are looking at this week is Slayer’s 1986 release, “Reign in Blood.”
I bought this album when I was 17 years old at an FYE for the over-priced amount of $18.99. (Sidenote: Yes, I still buy records and yes, FYE is the worst possible place to do so. What can I say? I was young and naïve.) When I bought the album, I knew basically nothing of Slayer except that an acquaintance of mine told me that they were like “Metallica on meth,” which was reason enough for me to check it out.
As I examined the record in the parking lot, the front cover alone made me feel as if I just purchased a one-way ticket to Hell. A lake of fire, bodies hanging from the walls and ceiling, random heads strategically placed on stakes surrounding a half-goat/half-man satanic king on his black throne. If this wasn’t enough of a selling point formy teen angst clouded mind, the back cover was the icing on this delightfully blasphemous cake. The back cover dawned a picture of four goofy looking dudes (not unlike myself at the time) clawing at beers like they spent the last of their cash on them (which they probably did) and looking like any respectable metalband should; completely insane.
Unlike some CD’s, especially in the metal genre, the music lived up to the cover art. From the first track, “Angel of Death,” to the tenth and final song, “Raining Blood,” the album only has one speed; full-throttle, pedal-to-the-floor, “get the fuck off the sidewalk if you don’t like my driving” fast. About halfway through the record the slower, riff-heavy intro to “Jesus Saves,” tricks the listener into thinking the band is finally going to take the foot off the pedal, but ends up being arguably the most brutally relentless song on the whole effort.
Slayer’s undisputable masterpiece is the final track and only single on the album, “Raining Blood.” This song couples one of the heaviest riffs of all-time with the vivid imagery of heaven being overthrown by the damned, making “Raining Blood” the battle-cry for Slayer’s meteoric rise as one of the heaviest and most unforgiving bands in the history of music.
Tom Araya’s shrill screams and ultra-fast lyrical delivery through out the record is perfectly juxtaposed over the fiercely aggressive drumming patterns of Dave Lombardo and the chaotic, yet signature solos of both Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman. With this undeniable musical talent and lyrical content ranging from crazy Nazi doctor Josef Mengele (“Angel of Death”), to serial killers (“Criminally Insane”), to the dark lord himself (“Altar of Sacrifice”) Slayer created a sound that I had never heard before and to be honest, it kind of scared the shit out of me. That was in 2006. Imagine what it was like hearing it 20 years earlier.
Needless to say, in the mere 29 minutes that it takes to listen to “Reign in Blood”, Slayer birthed a new sub-genre of metal aptly titled, “death metal” by adding an aggressiveness in their music and lyrics that was then unheard of. On top of that, they have won two Grammy awards (not that the Grammy’s matter, but that’s neither here nor there) since “Reign” and have been cited as an influence to bands spanning genres from hard rock, heavy metal and even punk.
Without a doubt, “Reign in Blood,” kick-started Slayer’s career, making it an easy choice for our first, Classic Cut.
DADDD. STOP BEING SO METAL...