Reign in Blood

Reign in Blood is Slayer's third studio album, released on 7 October 1986 through Def Jam Recordings. It followed Show No Mercy and Hell Awaits, and it was the first Slayer record to be produced by Rick Rubin, whose input helped the band's sound develop. Its opener, "Angel of Death", deals with Josef Mengele and his experiments at Auschwitz. The subject caused concern and held up the release, though the band defended the song and said they did not condone Nazism.

The record gave Slayer a way into the wider metal audience and became their first to enter the US Billboard 200, reaching number 94. It went Gold in 1992. It is often grouped with Master of Puppets, Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? and Among the Living as a record that shaped American thrash in the mid-1980s. Rolling Stone placed it sixth in its 2017 list of the greatest metal albums.