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"CrowzRSA/Sandbox/Sandbox 2/Slayer/Raining Blood"
Song

"Raining Blood" is a song by the American thrash metal band Slayer. Written by Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King for the 1986 studio album Reign in Blood, the concept deals with religion, specifically said to be about overthrowing Heaven. Originally released on the Reign in Blood track listing on October 7, 1986, it was released as a single later that year.

The song is one of the only tracks on Reign in Blood that is longer than three minutes, itself being four minutes and seventeen seconds long. The piece ends with a minute of rain sound effect, concluding Reign in Blood. Described as a "classic" by Allmusic,[1] it is noticed as one of Slayer's most popular songs, being an almost permanent addition to their live sets. It was said by King and Hanneman that it is their favorite song to play live, despite playing it on almost all live setlists since its release.

Their has been many appearances of the song in the media and elsewhere, including the South Park episode, "Die Hippie, Die" and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, said to be one of the hardest songs in the Career Mode setlist. There is also a live appearance of the song in the compilation albums both Headbangers Ball and Hard N' Heavy Vol. 61. It was also covered by Tori Amos and sampled as riffs in Lil Jon's "Stop Fuckin Wit' Me". It recieved generally positive reviews by critcs, and is the first song by Slayer to chart, debuting at number sixty–four on the UK Singles Chart.

Writing and concept

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"Raining Blood" was written by Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King.[2] D. X. Ferris said that "when Hanneman wrote the song, he envisioned a scene from a dark street or bloody back valley," and later went on to say that the song "described a banished soul awakened and hungry for vengeance." The second verse was written by King, and "pick[ed] up on Hanneman's title and in his new direction."[3] The song, along with the rest of Reign in Blood, was recorded in 1986 in Los Angeles, California with producer Rick Rubin.[4]

Hanneman explained that "it's about a guy who's in Purgatory 'cause he was cast out of Heaven. He's waiting for revenge and wants to fuck that place up." King later said that "the rest of the song explains what happens when he starts fucking people up. The lyrics 'Return to power draws near' is because he's waiting to get strong enough again to overthrow Heaven. And then 'Fall into me, the sky's crimson tears' is everybody's blood flowing into him. So basically, "Raining Blood" is all the angels' blood falling on him.[5]

Structure

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"Raining Blood" is four minutes and seventeen seconds long, and is Reign in Blood's closing track.[6][1] The song is one of three songs that withstands the time durration of over three minutes.[1] Steve Huey from Allmusic proposed that "Reign in Blood opens and closes with slightly longer tracks (the classics 'Angel of Death' and 'Raining Blood') whose slower riffs offer most of the album's few hints of melody."[1] The composition's music was written solely by guitarist Jeff Hanneman,[2] (who is also a primary writter of the song's lyrics) whom presented both hostility and anger in his writting.[1] The song was originally composed by the thrash metal group Slayer with vocals, an overdubb of two guitars, bass, and percussion. Huey also noted that "the riffs are built on atonal chromaticism that sounds as sickening as the graphic violence depicted in many of the lyrics," and said that it was "monstrously" and "terrifyingly evocative."[1]

Clay Jarvis from Stylus Magazine wrote that the song posessed "a red-herring, scorched-earth intro, eerie thunderstorm-and-tom-tom-triplet interlude and one of the most recognizable riffs in metal history. It is a dynamic, explosive and fitting end to a remarkable, violent experience."[7] D. X. Ferris wrote that the song "lunges to life with its core riff, the ten most recognizable notes in metal, a diminished-scale run down the fretboard that's the most badass guitar riff since [Black] Sabbath's 'Sweet Leaf'."[8] Kerry King said that "The intro is big with the two harmony and then the first beat that Dave [Lombardo] does, that double–kick thing, and it's like this backwards gallop that gets the crowd going wherever you are."[9] The piece ends with a full minute of "rain sound effects," closing Reign in Blood "perfectly."[10]

Live performances

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"Raining Blood", along with Reign in Blood's opening track "Angel of Death", is an almost permanent addition to Slayer's live set-list, and is Hanneman and King's favorite track to play live.[11] At the end of the Still Reigning DVD, there is a finale with the band covered in fake blood during the performance of "Raining Blood".[12] When asked both Slayer guitarists "which song holds best," both replied "Raining Blood". Jeff Hanneman admitted that he "still love[s] playing that song live. You'd think we'd be tired of it - I mean, I'd love to know how many times we've played it live. That would be really interesting." King said "we could be playing in front of Alanis Morissette, and the crowd loves the part."[9]

Kerry King told D. X. Ferris that "whenever 'Raining Blood' comes in the set, it just electries the whole crowd. People just shit when you hit the first few notes. Like 'Jesus Christ it's a guitar—settle down.'"[5] In the past, Slayer used fake blood to cover there bodies when performing the song live. However, when asked about using fake blood in future performances, King remarked "It's time to move on, but never say never. I know Japan never saw it, South America and Australia never saw it. So you never know."[13]

Appearances

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The song was featured in the 127th South Park episode, "Die Hippie, Die", which aired on March 16, 2005.[14] Slayer guitarist Kerry King found the episode humorous and expressed his interest in the show, mentioning it in an interview, saying "It was good to see the song being put to good use. If we can horrify some hippies, we've done our job."[13]

The song was also included in the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City in-game radio station V-Rock.[15] "Raining Blood" is a playable song in the video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, where it is renowned for being one of the hardest songs in the Career Mode setlist: a 2008 job advertisment for future 'Guitar Hero playtesters listed the song as one of four that potential applicants had to be capable of playing on the highest difficulty level.[16][17] The song is also featured in Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, with the very first five note chord in the series.[18] At the mixed martial arts event UFC 97 on Saturday 18 April 2009, fighter Chuck Liddell made his final appearance in the UFC and used "Raining Blood" as his entrance music.[19] Live versions of the song also appear in the albums Headbangers Ball and Hard N' Heavy Vol. 61.[20][21]

Covers

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In 2001, the song was covered by Tori Amos on her studio album Strange Little Girls. The cover of "Raining Blood" was suggested by bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen, who told Amos that she "had tried pretty much every other genre of music, from rap to New Wave to punk to country to pop, why not some metal?"[22] Meldal-Johnsen chose the album Reign in Blood, and after listening to it, Amos agreed to make a cover version of "Raining Blood".[22] Slayer called the cover "creepy" and also that it was good enough to send Amos a Slayer T-Shirt.[22] King states the cover was odd; "It took me a minute and a half to find a spot in the song where I knew where she was. It's so weird. If she had never told us, we would have never known. You could have played it for us and we'd have been like, 'What's that?' Like a minute and a half through I heard a line and was like, 'I know where she's at!'"[23] In response, Slayer sent some T-shirts to Amos, which she said was appreciated.[24]

The song was also covered by Malevolent Creation, Chimaira, Cryptopsy, Vader, Diecast, Reggie and the Full Effect, and Erik Hinds, who covered the entire Reign in Blood album on a H'arpeggione.[25] The guitar riffs from "Raining Blood" and "Mandatory Suicide" were sampled by rapper Lil Jon in the song "Stop Fuckin Wit' Me" from the 2004 album Crunk Juice.[26] It was Rick Rubin's only collaboration with Lil Jon on the record.[27] Jon wanted to create a "black version" of Suicidal Tendencies' "Institutionalized".[28]

Reception

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Stylus magazine's Clay Jarvis said that "Raining Blood" "is a dynamic, explosive and fitting end to a remarkable, violent experience," and also noted that the song, along with other songs from Reign in Blood, has "manic, hacksaw guitars, monsoons of double-bass drum rolling and from-the-throat barking - all note-perfect and precise - that still smokes the asses of any band playing fast and/or heavy today."[7] J. Bennett affirmed that the song "still make[s] other metal bands sound like frail pussies."[29] Steve Huey said that it was a classic, and that its "slower riffs offer most of the album's few hints of melody"[1]

In a 2003 CMJ New Music Report, Kevin Boyce said that the piece was said to be a "bottom side of a steel toed boot in the pit."[30] Beth Winegarner said that the song "comes on like a quiet horror show, all suspense and dark shadows," and later said that it was a "slow, funeral ballad."[31][32] The song debuted at number sixty–four on the UK Singles Chart, and is the first song by Slayer to chart on any chart.[33]

Further reading

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  • Mudrian, Albert (2009). Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces (in English). Decibel. ISBN 978-0306818066. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  • Ferris, D.X. (2008). Reign In Blood (in English). Continuum. ISBN 978-0826429094.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  • Winegarner, Beth (2006). Read the Music (in English). Lulu.com. ISBN 1847287166.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Huey, Steve "allmusic ((( Reign in Blood > Overview )))". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-07-16
  2. ^ a b Reign in Blood (Media notes). Def Jam Recordings. 1986. {{cite AV media notes}}: |format= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |albumlink= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |artist= ignored (|others= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |notestitle= ignored (help)
  3. ^ Ferris 2008, p. 78–79
  4. ^ "An exclusive oral history of Slayer". Decibel Magazine. Archived from the original on 2006-08-13. Retrieved 2010-07-15.
  5. ^ a b Ferris 2008, p. 139
  6. ^ Reign in Blood (Media notes). Def Jam Recordings. 1986. {{cite AV media notes}}: |format= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |albumlink= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |artist= ignored (|others= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |notestitle= ignored (help)
  7. ^ a b Jarvis, Clay (1 September 2003). "Reign in Blood". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved 7 April 2007.
  8. ^ Ferris 2008, p. 138
  9. ^ a b Mudrian 2009, p. 53
  10. ^ Mudrian 2009, p. 54
  11. ^ Davis, Brian (2004-7). "Knac.com interview with Jeff Hanneman". KNAC.com. Retrieved 13 December 2006. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ Patrizio, Andy (11 January 2005). "Slayer: Still Reigning The landmark metal album performed in its entirety". IGN. Retrieved 5 February 2007.
  13. ^ a b Atkinson, Peter (24 April 2006). "Songs about God and Satan – Part 1: An Interview with Slayer's Kerry King". KNAC.com. Retrieved 9 February 2007. Cite error: The named reference "Songs about God and Satan – Part 1: An Interview with Slayer's Kerry King" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  14. ^ "Die Hippie, Die". Southparkstudios.com. Retrieved 2007-02-13.
  15. ^ "Vice City Radio - V Rock". Vicecityradio.com. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
  16. ^ bjwdestroyer (3 November 2007). "Raining Blood 5* Expert Guide". Scorehero.com. Retrieved 5 June 2008.
  17. ^ "Test the New Guitar Hero!-Neversoft is hiring now!". Become A Video Game Tester. 3 December 2008. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
  18. ^ "Guitar Hero: Smash Hits for Xbox 360 - Reviews". G4tv.com. Retrieved 2010-07-11
  19. ^ The Canadian Press (April 19, 2009). "Silva wins, Liddell loses at UFC 97". CBC.ca. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved June 15, 2009.
  20. ^ "Various - Hard N' Heavy Vol. 61 (CD)". Discogs. Retrieved 2010-07-11
  21. ^ "Various - Headbangers Ball (CD)". Discogs. Retrieved 2010-07-11
  22. ^ a b c S. Jacobs, Jay (2006). "Glory of the Nineties". Pretty Good Years: A Biography of Tori Amos. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 106–107. ISBN 1423400224.
  23. ^ Barker, Samuel (2002-02-09). "A Conversation With Kerry King". Rockzone.com. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
  24. ^ TORI AMOS | HEREINMYHEAD.COM | artistic expressions | others
  25. ^ Couture, François. "RIB - Erik Hinds". Allmusic. Retrieved 2007-04-07.
  26. ^ Jeffries, David "allmusic ((( Crunk Juice > Overview )))". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-07-11
  27. ^ "allmusic ((( Crunk Juice > Credits )))". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-07-11
  28. ^ Breihan, Tom (2005-01-14). "Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz "Stop Fuckin Wit Me"". Pitchforkmedia.com. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  29. ^ Mudrian 2006, p. 49
  30. ^ CMJ New Music Report. Kevin Boyce. Aug 18, 2003. p.24
  31. ^ Winegarner 2006, p. 10
  32. ^ Winegarner 2006, p. 11
  33. ^ "British Chart". Chart Log UK. Retrieved 2008-06-24.


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