When Slayer’s Reign In Blood was released in 1986 it kicked everyone’s arse and it still kicks arse today. So Slayer’s decision to perform the entire album in 2004 was a DVD no-brainer.
When Slayer’s Reign In Blood was released in 1986 it kicked everyone’s arse and it still kicks arse today. So Slayer’s decision to perform the entire album in 2004 was a DVD no-brainer.
With Dave Lombardo three years back in the Slayer saddle, Angel Of Death blasts open a sonic signature, while the other three aging metal heads help show why this is one of the best, if not the best, heavy metal album ever. Sure, they may be chunkier and slower on their feet, King might look like he’s gone quasi-tribal in the interim, and the music might now be rapidly approaching the 30 year mark, but it’s still brutal. Alter Of Sacrifice, Jesus Saves and Postmortem still threaten to tear the skin off of your face. It’s so good to watch, it’s as if you could feel a hernia forming through all the excitement.
But, then, to cap it all off there’s the album finale – Raining Blood. The guitar squealing, drum thumping intro is matched by ten gallons of red dye that rains onto the band; everyone gets soaked (except for Hanneman, who somehow manages to stay dry way longer than the others). Even Lombardo’s drums are drenched; Araya looks like he’s just been through a car wash.
Clocking in at little over 30 minutes, what would this concert be without some special features? They comprise six extra songs from the concert and a section called ‘Slayer In Their Own Words,’ where we see each of the band members talking about how they first met, early musical influences, developing the ‘Slayer sound’ and other footage from the setting up of the show. The DVD gives a fairly clear impression as to why fans seem unable to simply say “Slayer”; they have to scream it.
Not only for the premiere of the ‘blood raining’ construction and insight into why Slayer fans tend to bleed during a show, this DVD is a definite crowd pleaser.
