Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Kerrang!
Rock Hard	9.5/10
The Rolling Stone Album Guide
Spin Alternative Record Guide	10/10
Stylus Magazine	A+
The Village Voice	B+

Reign in Blood is the third studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer. It was released on October 7, 1986, by Def Jam Recordings. The album was the band's first collaboration with record producer Rick Rubin, whose input helped the band's sound evolve. Reign in Blood was well received by both critics and fans, and was responsible for bringing Slayer to the attention of a mainstream metal audience. Kerrang! magazine described the record as "the heaviest album of all". Alongside Anthrax's Among the Living, Megadeth's Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? and Metallica's Master of Puppets, Reign in Blood helped define the sound of the emerging US thrash metal scene in the mid-1980s, and has remained influential since then.

Reign in Blood's release was delayed because of concerns regarding its graphic artwork and lyrical subject matter. The opening track, "Angel of Death", which refers to Josef Mengele and describes acts, such as human experimentation, that Mengele committed at the Auschwitz concentration camp, provoked allegations of Nazism. However, the band stated numerous times that it does not condone Nazism, and are merely interested in the subject. The album was Slayer's first to enter the Billboard 200; the release peaked at #94, and was certified Gold on November 20, 1992.

Following the positive reception Slayer's previous release Hell Awaits had received, the band's producer and manager Brian Slagel realized the band were in a position to hit the "big time" with their next album. Slagel negotiated with several record labels, among them Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons's Def Jam Recordings. However, Slagel was reluctant to have the band signed to what was at the time primarily a hip hop label. Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo was made aware of Rubin's interest, and initiated contact with the producer. However, Slayer's remaining members were apprehensive at leaving Metal Blade Records, with which they were already under contract.

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