The almighty Slayer released Reign In Blood (Def Jam) on October 7th, 1986, and completely changed the game. The follow-up to 1983’s Show No Mercy (Metal Blade) and 1985’s Hell Awaits (Metal Blade) was highly anticipated by fans all over the world, and the four legends delivered on every level. Reign In Blood immediately became an instant classic in the metal scene, and thirty years later, it’s still considered one of the most important records in the history of heavy metal.

Reign In Blood is only 28:56 minutes long, but that was all the time they needed. In less than thirty minutes Slayer took the speed and anger of their first two albums, and evolved it into a whole new monster. Their third album was meant to shock, awe, brutalize, and scare anyone that heard it, and Tom Araya, Jeff Hanneman, Kerry King and Dave Lombardo accomplished that feat with classics like ‘Angel Of Death’, ‘Necrophobic’, ‘Criminally Insane’, ‘Jesus Saves’, ‘Postmortem’ and ‘Raining Blood.’ This was their moment. This was the record that set them apart from the other bands of the thrash scene. Everyone knew the Slayer name, but after Reign In Blood hit the shelves, they became Gods amongst men, and continue their path of destruction to this very day.

Take the next 28:56 minutes of your life to blast Reign In Blood below, and raise up your horns to the almighty SSSSSSLLLLLAAAAAYYYYYEEEEERRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!