Metal’s most infamous half hour of power feels like the Hieronymus Bosch version of an ambient album – the satanic slaughter blasts by in a blur of apocalyptic aggression. Even if the mayhem in the middle blends together into a bloody mess, the gates in and out of this human-made hell led Slayer to instant legend status. Opening with a terrifying screech before plunging deep into the heart of Auschwitz’s most sadistic scalpel-wielder and closing with the blood of God pouring down from the skies as a demonic Philharmonic plays THAT RIFF, it wouldn’t matter if everything between sounded like Belle and Sebastian.

– Jeff Treppel