Slayer are without a doubt the greatest thrash metal band of all time and along with Iron Maiden and Metallica the greatest metal band of the 80's. Reign in Blood along with Metallica's Master of Puppets is the very pinnacle of thrash metal. This is a completely flawless album: the production, the riffs, the arrangments, everything works incredibly well. The tracks function as small parts of a whole and not as loosely connected songs. The album is very short (just under 30 minutes) with all of the ten songs as being under three minutes except for Angel of Death and Raining Blood. The brevity of the album is one of the things that make this album work so well, were it longer the subject matter would just seem too ridiculous but as it is the lyrics come off as very effective (Angel of Death in particular is quite horrific). This is an album I recommend to any fan of metal or anyone who is even remotely interested in metal. Mandatory Slayer!