The Bloody Reign of Slayer

by Joel McIver

Joel McIver's expert biography traces the band's development, album by album, as well as exploring the headline-grabbing moments over Slayer's long and tumultuous career which have become an inseparable part of the cult which surrounds and defines them.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, Music Biography

286 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not really a fan of the gossipy tell-all—I want facts, and I want them with relative unobtrusiveness in these silly ‘serious’ music biographies. This does that job well; it’s a perfect fit for the lean, precise-as-fuuuuuuuuuck glorious racket that is/was Slayer.

I’ve been in their thrall since 1986; still thrill at Lombardo’s risk-taking fills; and consider them the epitome of Thrash (all Metal since Sabbath, really) by some distance. I still find it hard to believe that Hanneman, Viking god, has been dead eight years (Jeff can’t, ya know, die), and will always smile at the memory of listening to “Altar Of Sacrifice” with Mom in the minivan on the way to CCD for my First Communion. I’ve known the sacred words of praise now since my age was in the small numbers.

[Chris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let me start by saying, I gave this book 1 star because I was highly disappointed in reading it! It is more a documentary than a book written like a story about the band. I read "Ozzy", and Dave Mustaines' books, and LOVED them. They were funny, sad, engaging, etc. This book was written like a clinical class on each and every song that Slayer ever recorded. It was so BORING to read. IF you are the type of person who likes to whip out little known facts showing how much you know about a particular subject, and you want to be able to do that with Slayer.............. by all means get this book and read it! If you like to read about the antics, and life on the road re: Slayer........ not much of that is covered in this book. What IS covered is written very dully (is that a word?). Ugh........... time wasted reading 300 pages of boring material. On to the next..........

[Stephen Hines · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved reading about the history of metal's greatest band, but the author insisted on inserting his country club opinions of Slayer's musical output (spoiler: if the song isn't lightning fast, he doesn't like it) which was quite annoying.

[Rodion-z]

Such a great band.
Such a lazy biography.

[Konlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Przyzwoita biografia, kończąca się na wydaniu World Painted Blood. Styl trochę inny niż Szubrychta ale nie mogę powiedzieć że lepszy czy gorszy. Momentami oboje używają tych samych cytatów. Na uwagę zasługuje tłumaczenie Filipa Łobodzińskiego - rzadko było czuć że to tłumaczenie tak linzo i swobodnie było napisane.
Nie, tym razem wcale mi nie przeszkadzało że autor pisał na kolanach o swoich idolach :-) I to że różnimy się w ocenie Undisputed Attitude (dla niego - najslabsza płyta, dla mnie - moc i energia) nie stanowi problemu. Teraz tylko czekać na kolejne wydanie w związku z (zapowiadanym) końcem kariery Slayera w przyszłym roku.

Czas czytania: 11h

[David Dewata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buku yang sangat informatif terkait Slayer, baik tentang album rekaman maupun dinamika para personel tanpa harus masuk terlalu dalam ke ranah pribadi rumah tangga mereka. Saya suka tulisannya berimbang, sambil tetap menjaga jumlah halaman masih manusiawi.

Sang penulis sebenarnya ingin buku ini menjadi biografi resmi Slayer. Namun sayangnya hingga batas waktu buku ini harus masuk ke penerbit, manajemen Slayer tidak memberikan tanggapan (walau komunikasi sempat terbangun di awal).

Salah satu buku yang asyik bacanya di tahun yang nggak asyik ini.

PS: Ini buku lama. Cerita berhenti setelah Christ Illusion.

[Michael Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Given their importance to the evolution of Extreme Metal, a book covering the career and influence of Slayer is absolutely something that should exist.

I just wish this was more substantial.

Now there are definitely good bits, but it can often feel like Joel McIver is just rushing through things, breezing by how the four core members got inspired to make music and the creation of their albums. I don’t mind him reviewing every track on Slayer’s albums he covers, but I honestly would’ve preferred more time given to personal stories from the band members.

Perfectly readable stuff, but it can too often feel like an extended magazine article.

[Antti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Haastatteluihin vahvasti nojaava mielenkiintoinen kuvaus Slayerin historiasta. Helppoa luettavaa. Arvostelumaiset kuvaukset levyistä vähän valjuja ja kummasti ihmetyttää kirjailijan/toimittajan suhtautuminen useaankin klassikkobiisiin esim Seasons in the Abyssiin tai Eyes of Insaneen: aivan kuin Reign in Bloodin ja nopeampien tykitysten ulkopuolinen tuotanto olisi lähestulkoon mitäänsanomatonta kuraa. Niin tai näin ja makunsa kullakin, mutta ihan mukava kirja maailman parhaasta thrash metal-bändistä.

[Kenneth Stoclet · Rating 2 out of 5]

The whole book can basically be reduced to these two lines of the author in chapter 24: “... but once the electrifying Reign In Blood songs had appeared, the rest was average”

That and “Metallica are sell-outs”

We get it, you love Reign In Blood ...

[Randall Uerkvitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting History

Being a Slayer fan is almost a
lifestyle. At times I thought the authors critique of certain songs or albums harsh and wrong. But overall an interesting read...how could a book about SLAYER not be!

[Antonino · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very "personal" biography of Slayer until 2007. Objective biographies do not exist, but one should strive for them. There were too many opinions, sometimes the collection of too many quotes confused the story and made me skip many passages.

[Alex Grist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reigning good

A more than moderate book about Slayer, it probably didn't break new ground as far as the die hard fans are concerned but it was a nice collated piece about the work the band has put out.

[Daniel Levi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Muito bom, traz um apanhado completo da banda.

[Parsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Remember: it's a fan-written biography... So if you're looking for unbiased opinions, you'll find none. Other than that, highly recommended.

[Stefan Stanchev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Сравнително скучна биографична книга с досадно и дразнещо корично и вътрешно оформление.

[mark feenan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not written very well. Very opinionated which is a shame because SLAYER are the Greatest Thrash Metal band Ever. 3 stars for the author. 5 stars for the band.

[Gabriela Klimentova · Rating 5 out of 5]

обич!!!!! щастие!!!!!

[Aurélien Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let's be blunt: Slayer's fans won't learn anything new here and, when it comes to history, most of the content can be gleaned from merely reading a Wikipedia entry anyway. Having said that, it still is a very pleasant read. First, because going over Slayer's journey is always a pleasure. Then, because the writing style of the author (at times very fluid; at times breaking suddenly to leave others take over -when offering quotes etc.-) makes it even more enthralling, no matter how meagre the content otherwise. Of course, it has its flaws too!

First, as with most musical biography the author tends to be quite strongly opiniated. It's not a bad thing, but I found myself disagreeing more than I wished I had with a lot of his judgements. For example, I find it highly constricting to judge their whole career in light of 'Reign in Blood' (what he seems to do); I certainly don't find 'South of Heaven' being a step down when it comes to heaviness; 'Undisputed Attitude' is certainly not 'tedious' to me but, on the contrary, put hardcore punk to shame for its sheer energy (fun fact: I was one thinking that these were actually Slayer's songs when it came out! And I don't even like punk that much!); and I believe 'Diabolus in Musica' to be a very good album, where they managed to re-invent themselves without compromising (honestly, I don't get the beef with that one -it's not nu-metal for Pete's sake!).

Then, he took the parti-pris of analysing songs' contents for each album. That's something that I personally found both unnecessary and patronising (e.g. I can read lyrics -thank you!- and I can understand them too -it's bloody Slayer, not deep philosophy!). It also makes for a book ending up being longer than it should, with this type of content feeling like mere fillers.

Last but not least, he has this view that Slayer's work can be split into 'fast Slayer' and 'slow Slayer', and I tend to find this split a tat unfair and ridiculous. Slayer never compromised, and one surely can love 'Reign in Blood' and 'South of Heaven' without both being necessarily antinomic. I understand that he prefers 'fast Slayer' as embodied by 'Reign in Blood'. That's fair, since it's one of the (if not THE) best thrash metal album and extreme album ever released. Thing is, I am one believing that Slayer playing 'Reign in Blood' for 30 years would have been utterly boring, and so I am glad that they tried and inject their music with fresh blood at times (again, 'South of Heaven', 'Diabolus in Musica'...). In fact, as far as I am concerned, when they did try to re-do 'Reign in Blood' is when they got to their worse (e.g. 'Divine Intervention', which he loves but that I find meh -it goes back to differing personal tastes...).

All in all, and despite my negative points raised above, this is certainly not a bad book and I highly recommend it for the fans. It is, again, a very pleasant journey to reminisce about the band that truly embodied thrash metal in its most brutal form. The content might be weak at time, or, at least, not as deep as I would have expected. Nevertheless, the style of the author is engaging enough for me to have added some of his books in my 'to-read' list. And with that, I am off to my CD collection! SLAYER! SLAYER! SLAYER!

[Martin Bensch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like Joel McIve's style of writing. His book on Cliff Burton was superb, as well as "...And Justice For All: The truth about Metallica". As Slayer is one of my favorite bands, I was looking forward to reading this as well, and enjoyed it to some degree. The dilemma as I see it is that while some of the readers of this book might not be familiar with the catalogue of Slayer, I suspect that most that decide to read this book do. And thus does not need an in-depth presentation/analysis of the records. I enjoyed the chapters in which McIver does not talk about the records more. Still, it's a good book and if you're into Slayer it's worth checking out.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have not seen another book on Slayer, so I had to read it. It's a good book, but not a great one. Firstly, the author spends too much time giving his opinion on the songs from each of their albums, the photos of the band members on the back cover are horrible, and putting Kerry King on the cover by himself pretty much sums up the band currently for me. This is a 2nd edition of the book, which wraps up with World Painted Blood. If your looking for a book and the history, this is not a horrible book, but it could have been much better.

[Snem · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't recall ever seeing a book about Slayer before so I have appreciation for this read on that basis alone. At times this book felt like reading a college kid reviewing every Slayer album and DVD. Most of this stuff I think real Slayer fans probably already know, but I enjoyed some of the interview quotes I haven't seen.

[Damian Hope · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well researched book and great to read a biography on the thrash Giants Slayer. I have to say that the beginning of the book got lost through spelling and grammar errors which is frustrating and it was hard to read at first. A must read for fans of the band though.

[Bruce Denny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still reigning after 30 years. This book is a great account of the career of one of the world 's greatest Thrash bands.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

fucking awesome biography and the mighty SLAYER.thanks to the pacman for lending it to me.

[Steven Spoelstra · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the only books out there on this band. Learned a lot about the band. Highly recommend it to Slayer fans but non fans would like it too.

[Emmanuel Boldrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Li a versão de 2008.