Chuck Schuldiner Project

Friday, May 3, 2013

Repost of a review of Reign in Blood I wrote when I was 14


As part of our In memoriam for Jeff Hanneman I decided to repost a review I wrote years ago when I was first getting into Slayer.
I'd also like to take a moment to say that Two Guys is not going to see a lot of original content today to respect Jeff Hanneman. Also I'm so depressed from this I might actually throw up.
Finally, I want to say that the following week will be thrash metal week on Two Guys, I might not review exclusively thrash metal, but the vast majority is going to be thrash.

Anyway, here's the old review...I'm glad I've improved as a writer since then.
So now I'm doing my 2nd review of the day and I'm covering the classic Slayer album REIGN IN BLOOD (which is a really cool album name. The music is high powered and fast and has a very very explosive doom ridden feel. There are some classic metal songs on this album, like Angel of Death and Raining Blood among others. This was the breakthrough album for Slayer, they broke through when the other members of the Big 4 where breaking through 86-88. This is an awesome thrash album that is loud angry and features one of the worlds best metal bands at their peak. This is a spectacular album.
The musicality of this album is very good. There are insane guitar leads and spectacular riffs. This album basically defined the whole thrash genre at the time and continues to be one of the best albums ever made. The guitars just blow your head off, with their insane power chords and solos that seem impossible. The guitars writhe and scream like 2 dragons battling to death creating sounds that boggle the ears of normal man. The bass does have a few good riffs but is not overly prominent as it is taken over by the might of the guitars. The drums are fast paced and spectacular and provide a barrage of explosions and might that just makes the album that much better. The music is so fast paced that right now I am typing significantly faster than I normally do.
The lyrics are very dark and doom ridden but cover a variety of topics. The lead track Angel of Death talks about the torturing and experimentation upon holocaust victims at Aushwitz. The lyrics are often graphic and describe torture and the torture and destruction of people. Angel of Death is the most in depth but others like Piece by Piece discuss being chopped up into little pieces so that the singer may die. The actual vocals are classic thrash that just define the album and make it awesome. They compere with the guitars and make it like a clash between words and guitars. This makes an interesting conflict that provides more anger to the music.
Metal Hammer called this “The best metal album in 20 years” and I have to agree that this is easily one of the best pieces of music that I have reviewed. It is loud pure and angry thrash metal that explodes and makes for very powerful and dark music that you can not stop listening to. The music is high paced and amazing and the lyrics are dark and angry, the vocals help shape the music and make it awesome. In essence, I love this album, it is loud spectacular and rocks from the start with Angel of Death to the classic ending track Reign in Blood. Go listen to this now, or your head will explode with depression at not having heard this spectacular and very very heavy thrash metal album that helped define a genre.
OVERALL 10/10

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