Slayer, Reign in Blood (Def Jam, 1986)
Yes the album is Slayers Reign in Blood, and again I have a reason. This is a blog on albums that I feel were not only missed by most people. But also to albums I feel that never sold enough.
Slayer were one of the many thrash metal acts coming out from America in the mid 90s. But they were different to the others. Not just on the style of music they played but how they went about there business. Signed to Metal Blade Records they were doing well and selling more albums as each album came out. But to have a real chance of selling albums you really need help and that is where a major label comes into the mix.
Slayer were managed very well and so well that future producer Rick Rubin was asked to attend one of the bands gigs, he did so and was blown away by the band asked if he could sign them to his label. this is where things go in a different direction, Def jam was at the time a Hip Hop label and a very successful one at that. Even Rubin himself at the time was considered a hip hop producer. So for an underground metal band to sign to a hip hop label is pretty much the end of a band.
Not so, Rubin is an amazing producer and here we have one of the finest metal albums ever made.
The thing about this album is the production, the guitars sound so real and in your face. you pretty much have no bass from the guitar at all with a wall of treble to rock your teeth out. it is a sound that was never done before and again a big gamble.
Fast are the guitar riffs but the drums and bass really are not that frantic and still follow that same metal neck chugging speed. Rarely does the rhythm section get you feeling as if the album is at all that fast or even heavy. Even the vocals are as clean as you would have heard all year in 86. Vocalist Tom Araya is also the bass player in the band so this would help to explain some of the set up of the bands sound (It's hard to play fast and sing fast at the same time).
Songs are again unusual as at the time other bands were singing about political subjects and drugs. Slayer choose Satanic influences and Nazi experiments. All so grim and linking to the hip hop world very real. Same goes for the cover of the album, designed by Larry Carroll it was so controversial the album release was delayed. With the album cover including the Reichsadler (Considered a Nazi symbol) and the 'S' in Slayer written in the style of the Nazi SS style. I am not going to give you a history lesson but we all know that these symbols existed 1000s of years before Hitler was even born. You simply can't say any subject matter is not allowed to be used for a song or book. If so then the cinema would be very empty as would be the book shops. Also to sweep these subjects away under the carpet is nothing but censorship and the less of that the more people learn what the world is like and know what is right and what is wrong.
This album would go onto influence so may bands and artists and not just in metal music. The lyrics, artwork and recording technique were all new. The PMRC Filthy Fifteen list made a year previous tried to ban 15 songs that were deemed too extreme due to drug or sexual references now looks like a children's cartoon.
We have all heard of this album but have you heard the album? It was not a hit album at the time so much so it took 6 years to go gold in America. I feel it should have sold more than Metallica as they sold six million units of Master of Puppets in the U.S. alone. Slayer would easily win the award as the most progressive and ground breaking metal bands ever.
Reign in Blood is easily available just about everywhere apart from countries that have banned it.
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