Reign in Blood - Critical Response

Critical Response

Although the album received no radio airplay, it was the band's first release to enter the Billboard 200, where it debuted at number 127, and attained its peak position of 94 in its sixth week. The album also reached number 47 on the UK Album Chart, and on 20 November 1992 it was certified gold in the United States.

Reign in Blood was well received by the underground and mainstream music press. Reviewing for Allmusic, which was established in 1991, Steve Huey awarded the album five out of five, describing it a "stone-cold classic." Stylus Magazine critic Clay Jarvis awarded the album an A+ grade, calling it a "genre-definer," as well as "the greatest metal album of all time." Jarvis further remarked the song "Angel of Death", "smokes the asses of any band playing fast and/or heavy today. Lyrically outlining the horrors to come, while musically laying the groundwork for the rest of the record: fast, lean and filthy." Kerrang! magazine described it as the "heaviest album of all time," and listed the album at No. 27 among the "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time". Metal Hammer magazine named it "the best metal album of the last 20 years." Q Magazine ranked Reign in Blood among their list of the "50 Heaviest Albums of All Time," and Spin Magazine ranked the album number 67 on their list of the "100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005." Critic Chad Bowar stated: "1986's Reign in Blood is probably the best thrash album ever recorded."

Adrien Begrand of Popmatters observed that: "There's no better song to kick things off than the masterful ‘Angel of Death’, one of the most monumental songs in metal history, where guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman deliver their intricate riffs, drummer Dave Lombardo performs some of the most powerful drumming ever recorded, and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya screams and snarls his tale of Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele." When asked why Reign in Blood has retained its popularity, King replied: "If you released Reign in Blood today, no one would give a shit. It was timing; it was a change in sound. In thrash metal at that time, no one had ever heard good production on a record like that. It was just a bunch of things that came together at once."