October 7, 2023 is the 37th anniversary of Reign in Blood, the seminal album that kicked off the metal underground. Spinoza Ray Prozak over at Death Metal Underground gave it the following commemoration:
Death metal, like heavy metal itself, merged from murky origins that shoveled many influences into more of a classical style of through-composed music based on phrase and not harmony with vocals, basing the music around the guitar as a lead instrument, adding in lyrical tropes from Romantic poetry.
Reign in Blood solidified the death metal movement that began in nascent form three years earlier with bands like Bathory, Hellhammer, and earlier Slayer pushing toward a mythological-historical view of humanity and a musical style that made ugliness into cryptic and esoteric beauty.
At a time when most music was becoming more navel-gazing and trivial, Slayer launched its audience into a world beyond what was being talked about in social groups or the media. They revealed the nature hiding beneath the chrome, pro-printed signs, endless rules, and easy money.
Clocking in at a bare half-hour, Reign in Blood sandwiches brutal hardcore-style fast and pummeling tracks between two epics, "Angel of Death" and "Raining Blood," taking listeners on a wild ride through a world outside conventional morality and bourgeois materialism.
As a grimoire of technique, it became canon for the new death metal bands who practiced similar chromatic and angular riffs, epic song structures, and occasional use of melody to highlight themes which would emerge over the course of each song.
We live in the world that Slayer created, and we owe it to the future to carry on the spirit of this timeless and commanding release.
On June 6th, Hessians worldwide come together to do something upon which we can all agree - listening to Slayer! Finally, one of the most dismissed cultural groups in the world has a holiday to call its own. Join us in our cause to stand unified in our celebration of metal music and let us prove to the rest of society that we too have a voice.
Slayer is a band from California. Their music has come to epitomize Satanic speed metal music in the latter half of the 20th century. Their 1986 album Reign in Blood ranks as one of the single most influential metal albums of all time, typified by the modern classic "Angel of Death."
DO NOT use headphones! The objective of this day is for everyone within earshot to understand that it is the National Day of Slayer. National holidays in America aren't just about celebrating; they're about forcing it upon non-participants.
If you don't have at least one Slayer album in your collection, buy online! Save time and money -- buy Reign in Blood. Just be sure to order it in time for June 6th! Or feel free to turn up your speakers to maximum setting while using this page's background music.
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