1986

With the release of the 29-minute album "Reign in Blood", SLAYER's music moved beyond thrash and death metal, becoming the yardstick by which practically every extreme metal band would be judged for years to come. This album has aged incredibly well, and is by and large still regarded as the absolute height of thrash metal. Gone were the reverb-drenched guitar tones and simple, thudding percussion. Serpentine atonal guitar harmonies jump out of the mix, pulsing and coiling around brawny, warp-speed riffs in tracks like "Reborn", "Altar of Sacrifice" and the crushing closer "Raining Blood". Lyrically, the album moved into uncharted lyrical territory for its time, churning up topics like murder, ritual killing, imprisonment, and religious hypocrisy. For extreme metal fans, "Reign in Blood" was the greatest thing since sliced bread, and for many remains so today.

Picks of the litter, 1986: