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Synopsis
D.X. Ferris explores the creation of the most universally respected metal album.Slayer's controversial "Reign in Blood" remains the gold standard for extreme heavy metal: a seamless procession of ten blindingly fast songs in just twenty-eight minutes, delivered in furious bursts of instrumental precision, with lyrics so striking that Tori Amos was moved to record a cover. Reign in Blood saw the emerging underground standouts from Huntington Beach team with Rick Rubin - 2007's Grammy-Award winner for producer of the year, then known strictly for creating hip-hop albums with groups such as Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys - to permanently fuse classic rock's technical proficiency, hardcore punk's speed and metal's brute power. Working in a much-maligned genre, guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King emerged as the Lennon and McCartney of speed metal, penning a collection of apocalyptic scenes comparable to the dark work of novelists like Cormac McCarthy and Herman Melville.The album came together though the efforts of a team that would go on to be some of the biggest names in the current music business.
Issued on America's premier rap label at the pinnacle of the thrash movement, Reign in Blood sparked a new genre called death metal and continues to serve as a touchstone for metal musicians. The disc marked Slayer's coronation as the kings of thrash and their ongoing twenty-five year streak of vitality places them in the small fraternity of rock's greatest groups. Through interviews with the entire band, Rubin, engineer Andy Wallace, and a who's who of headbangers from three decades, D.X. Ferris explores the creation of the most universally respected metal album."33 1/3" is a series of short books about a wide variety of albums, by artists ranging from James Brown to the Beastie Boys. Launched in September 2003, the series now contains over 50 titles and is acclaimed and loved by fans, musicians and scholars alike. New & Used
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What Reviewers Are Saying
I can tell you this- if you hold Slayer's Reign in Blood in your holy trinity of album releases that would go with you to your metal desert island, then this is definitely your new favorite book. * addictedtovinyl.com * Overall, 33 1/3: Reign in Blood will thrill those who've carved SLAYER into their skin (it's more common among fans than you'd think), as well as pique the interest of hard-rock aficionados curious about Slayer but who've not taken the sanguinity plunge yet. * OC Weekly * Reign in Blood' is notable for its brutality, but as the defining manifesto of thrash metal, it is transcendent for its purity. To love rock & roll is to love subcultures, and D.X. Ferris has explained, in stunning detail, how one subculture was defined and galvanized by that single album, and why that definition will never need to be written again. -- David Giffels A short, intense, meticulous history of Reign In Blood and really, the whole band... The result is an authorized, damn perfect look at this one album. * Martin Popoff, editor in chief of Brave Words Bloody Knuckles * D.X. Ferris has written an academic and thought-provoking book while at the same time presenting it as a general reader. Ferris does not give in to the tendency of 'dumbing down' metal; instead, he puts forth a very well argued statement that Slayer's 'Reign In Blood' is a classic album and should be treated as such. -- Laura Kowalewski and Andrew Carpenter * Ballet Deviare * If you don't learn something from this book then you are a liar. * Sage Francis * Ferris interviewed everyone who's anyone so he could deliver the last word on Slayer's first metal masterpiece. Rock-solid rock journalism that deserves its umlauts. * Dan LeRoy, author of 33 1/3: Paul's Boutique and The Greatest Music Never Sold: Secrets of Legendary Lost Albums by David Bowie, Seal, Beastie Boys, Chicago, Mick Jagger * D.X. Ferris breaks it all down person-by-person and track-by-track to separate fact from fiction, retracing the origins, occasional pitfalls and eventual triumph that brought forth in his words, 'the greatest heavy metal album ever.'... The book untangles a number of assumptions related to the band that should surprise even longtime fans.... The book provides not only a good introduction to the band, but capably answers on all fronts regarding the album in question.... Ferris pens a clean and even story; flashes his bona fides outright and is passionate enough about the work to sustain that fervor through to the end. -- Todd DePalma, The Left Hand Path D.X. Ferris's recent 33 1/3 book devoted to Reign In Blood is excellent. -- Joel McIver, author of Slayer biography The Bloody Reign of Slayer Declares Ferris, 'I wanted to present the story in a way that's compelling to both rabid Slayer fans and to NPR listeners who love pop music but have never lost a shoe in a mosh pit' -- and he largely succeeds. -- Dave Segal * OC Weekly * Writer D.X. Ferris pulls off an admirable tightrope walk. As both a fan and a critic, Ferris manages to convey a sense of excitement about the album even as he pulls the reader headfirst into the world of Slayer. By talking to band members, other musicians, friends and other people around the band at the time, hardcore fans..even respected studio engineer Andy Wallace...Ferris pulls together as complete a picture of the making of Reign in Blood as you'll likely ever read. * Trademark of Quality Blog * ... in writing one of the few 33 1/3 books on a metal album, Ferris knows he must argue persuasively for their inclusion. Toward that end, he conducted a raft of original interviews for the book (everyone from Slayer frontman Tom Araya to Tori Amos) to tell their story as clearly and as vividly as possible. -- Stephen M. Deusner * Pitchfork *