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Rating:
THE REVIEW
A ball that always rolls in the same direction... That's the only way to define this "Reign In Blood" by the thrashers Slayer.
Honestly, I have never heard, in the musical landscape I've dealt with, an album so repetitive. I don't want to call it dull, as the power and violence that one seeks in a metal album are evidently present and still able to captivate all true metal lovers, but it could definitely be more varied.
One of the shortest albums in the metal scene: 10 songs that, except for the first and last that exceed 4 minutes, are approximately around the average of two and a half minutes, bringing the album to a total duration of only 29 minutes, but they are too similar to each other, with little variety, and destined to repeat the same identical hammering riff in every track. The obsessive pace kept is almost always the same, and even when a song seems, from the beginning, to be different from the others, it always ends up channeling on the same track with the same hammering riff played at the same speed and in the same key, ending up seeming like a sort of reprise of the previous tracks. The album is pleasant to listen to, but it could also be more varied.
Fortunately, there are interesting cues that differentiate one track from another: just think of the beginning of "Jesus Saves," with consistently strong guitars at the start but with a more contained rhythm, although the song then culminates in the usual repetitive and predictable riff; just like the nice drum intro of "Criminally Insane," but even for that song, the fate is the same as the others. A track that perhaps truly differentiates itself from the others could be "Postmortem," where the rhythm is indeed more contained, and even the final acceleration does not reach the repetitive obsessiveness of the other tracks.
Pleasant, in the period when I listened to this album (now it's there in its case, molding for two and a half years now), I certainly found the numerous sudden accelerations that catch the listener off guard at certain moments in the songs. Now my thrash period has long passed, replaced by my expressly stated prog vein. But even as a judge now external to the facts, I say that this album is too repetitive and deserves a few more interesting cues.
I'm not going beyond three stars, pleasant album but boring, the hearing is adjourned.
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Summary by Bot
Slayer's 'Reign In Blood' delivers intense and violent thrash metal that appeals to true fans but suffers from repetitive riffs and similar-sounding tracks. The album is short, energetic, and filled with sudden speed changes that are initially captivating. However, a lack of variety makes it less engaging over time. The reviewer rates it as pleasant but ultimately boring, giving it three stars.Tracklist Lyrics Videos
Slayer
Slayer was an American thrash metal band formed in 1981 in Huntington Park, California. They are widely regarded as pioneers of thrash and extreme metal and remained active until their final shows in 2019.68 Reviews
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By mirkopianta
Uh-oh! It has been pointed out to us that this review also appears (in whole or in part) on truemetal.it and we have been asked to remove it.
