Slayer: Reign in Blood [AMERICAN]

Why you'll love it

This 180g American Recordings reissue is remastered for a heavier, cleaner punch. Rolling Stone ranked it No. 6 on its 100 Greatest Metal Albums, and it was Slayer's first album to reach the Billboard 200.

This edition

• 180g vinyl
• Remastered
• Lyrics included

About the album

Rick Rubin had produced Run-DMC and LL Cool J and never made a metal record in his life, which turned out to be exactly what Slayer needed. Drummer Dave Lombardo tracked him down through Def Jam, Rubin came to a show, and the band left Metal Blade for a label best known for hip hop.

At Hit City West in Los Angeles, Rubin and engineer Andy Wallace stripped the sound down so every note hit hard and clean. Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman wrote most of the riffs on their own and taught them to Lombardo at speed. "Angel of Death" opens with Tom Araya's scream (Hanneman's idea, and the first take), "Postmortem" builds into a stampede, and "Raining Blood" closes the album with thunder and one of the most famous riffs in metal. Larry Carroll painted the cover.

It went gold in 1992 and stands with Master of Puppets and Peace Sells as one of the records that defined American thrash. Ten songs in under half an hour, which leaves ample time to flip it over and do it all again. Most people do.

Also at Kops: more Slayer on vinyl · browse Metal

Tracklist

Listen

On Def Jam / American Recordings (cat# B0018853-01), a reissue of the 1986 album.