Raining Blood
Encyclopedia
"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 only three 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, it is noticed by fans as one of Slayer's most popular songs. As an almost permanent addition to their live sets, King and Hanneman said it was their favorite song to play live.
There have 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 album
s both Headbangers Ball and Hard N' Heavy Vol. 61.
and Kerry King
. 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, who "pick[ed] up on Hanneman's title and in his new direction." The song, along with the rest of Reign in Blood
, was recorded in 1986 in Los Angeles
, California
with producer
Rick Rubin
.
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."
Hanneman (who is also a primary writer of the song's lyrics), who presented both hostility and anger in his writing. 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."
Clay Jarvis from Stylus Magazine
wrote that the song possessed "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." D. X. Ferris wrote, author of the 33⅓ book Reign In Blood, 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
'." Guitarist 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." The piece ends with a full minute of "rain sound effects," closing Reign in Blood.
", is an almost permanent addition to Slayer's live set-list, and is Hanneman and King's favorite track to play live. 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". When asked both Slayer guitarists "which song holds best," both replied "Raining Blood". 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."
King told D. X. Ferris that "whenever 'Raining Blood' comes in the set, it just electrifies the whole crowd. People just shit when you hit the first few notes. Like 'Jesus Christ it's a guitar, settle down.'" In the past, Slayer used fake blood to cover their 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."
episode, "Die Hippie, Die
", which aired on March 16, 2005. 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."
The song was also included in the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
in-game radio station V-Rock. "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 advertisement 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
. The song is also featured in Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, with the very first five note chord in the series. At the mixed martial arts event UFC 97
on Saturday 18 April 2009, fighter Chuck Liddell
made his penultimate appearance in the UFC and used "Raining Blood" as his entrance music. The song also appears in the 2007 video game Skate
which the song appears on the soundtrack and the intro video for Colin McKay.
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
?" Meldal-Johnsen chose the album Reign in Blood, and after listening to it, Amos agreed to make a cover version of "Raining Blood". 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!" In response, Slayer sent some T-shirts to Amos, which she said was appreciated.
The song was also covered by Malevolent Creation
, Vader
, Diecast
, Reggie and the Full Effect
, and Erik Hinds
, who covered the entire Reign in Blood album on a H'arpeggione. 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
. It was Rick Rubin
's only collaboration with Lil Jon on the record. Jon wanted to create a "black version" of Suicidal Tendencies
' song "Institutionalized
".
s Clay Jarvis said that the song is fit to be the closing song for Reign in Blood, 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." J. Bennett affirmed that the song "still make[s] other metal bands sound like frail pussies". Steve Huey said that it was a classic, and that its "slower riffs offer most of the album's few hints of melody". Erik Hinds
from About.com
said that the piece has unexpectedly become a ballad. Derrick Harris, an editor of the official newspaper of University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, said that it had a "blistering solo." It peaked at number 64 in the United Kingdom, where it would stay on the chart for three weeks.
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
band Slayer
Slayer
Slayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and...
. Written by Jeff Hanneman
Jeff Hanneman
Jeffrey John "Jeff" Hanneman is a rhythm/lead guitarist and founding member of the American thrash metal band Slayer. Hanneman grew up in Los Angeles in a family of war veterans, and his fascination with warfare is attributed to his upbringing...
and Kerry King
Kerry King
Kerry King is an American lead and rhythm guitarist. He is best known as the lead guitarist and cofounder of American thrash metal band Slayer. He co-founded the band with Jeff Hanneman in 1981 and has been a member ever since...
for the 1986 studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
Reign in Blood
Reign in Blood
Reign in Blood is the third studio album and the major label debut by the American thrash metal band Slayer. It was released on October 7, 1986 through Def Jam Recordings. The album was the band's first collaboration with record producer Rick Rubin, whose input helped the band's sound evolve...
, the concept deals with religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, specifically said to be about overthrowing Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
. Originally released on the Reign in Blood track listing on October 7, 1986, it was released as a single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
later that year.
The song is one of only three 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, it is noticed by fans as one of Slayer's most popular songs. As an almost permanent addition to their live sets, King and Hanneman said it was their favorite song to play live.
There have been many appearances of the song in the media and elsewhere, including the South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
episode, "Die Hippie, Die
Die Hippie, Die
"Die Hippie, Die" is the second episode of the ninth season of the American animated television series South Park. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on March 16, 2005.-Plot:...
" and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is a music video game, the third main installment in the Guitar Hero series, and the fourth title overall...
, 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 album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
s both Headbangers Ball and Hard N' Heavy Vol. 61.
Writing and concept
"Raining Blood" was written by Jeff HannemanJeff Hanneman
Jeffrey John "Jeff" Hanneman is a rhythm/lead guitarist and founding member of the American thrash metal band Slayer. Hanneman grew up in Los Angeles in a family of war veterans, and his fascination with warfare is attributed to his upbringing...
and Kerry King
Kerry King
Kerry King is an American lead and rhythm guitarist. He is best known as the lead guitarist and cofounder of American thrash metal band Slayer. He co-founded the band with Jeff Hanneman in 1981 and has been a member ever since...
. 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, who "pick[ed] up on Hanneman's title and in his new direction." The song, along with the rest of Reign in Blood
Reign in Blood
Reign in Blood is the third studio album and the major label debut by the American thrash metal band Slayer. It was released on October 7, 1986 through Def Jam Recordings. The album was the band's first collaboration with record producer Rick Rubin, whose input helped the band's sound evolve...
, was recorded in 1986 in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
with producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Rick Rubin
Rick Rubin
Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin was the co-founder of Def Jam Records and also established American Recordings...
.
Hanneman explained that "it's about a guy who's in Purgatory
Purgatory
Purgatory is the condition or process of purification or temporary punishment in which, it is believed, the souls of those who die in a state of grace are made ready for Heaven...
'cause he was cast out of Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
. 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."
Composition
"Raining Blood" is four minutes and seventeen seconds long, and is Reign in Bloods closing track. The song is one of three songs from the album that exceeds three minutes in length. 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." The song's music was written solely by guitaristElectric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
Hanneman (who is also a primary writer of the song's lyrics), who presented both hostility and anger in his writing. 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."
Clay Jarvis from Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
wrote that the song possessed "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." D. X. Ferris wrote, author of the 33⅓ book Reign In Blood, 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
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
's 'Sweet Leaf
Sweet Leaf
"Sweet Leaf" is a song by Black Sabbath from their 1971 album Master of Reality. The song, a hymn to recreational cannabis use, got its title from a packet of cigarettes bassist Geezer Butler bought in Dublin that claimed the tobacco was "the sweet leaf." The song begins with a tape loop of...
'." Guitarist Kerry King
Kerry King
Kerry King is an American lead and rhythm guitarist. He is best known as the lead guitarist and cofounder of American thrash metal band Slayer. He co-founded the band with Jeff Hanneman in 1981 and has been a member ever since...
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." The piece ends with a full minute of "rain sound effects," closing Reign in Blood.
Live performances
"Raining Blood", along with Reign in Bloods opening track "Angel of DeathAngel of Death (song)
"Angel of Death" is the opening track on the American thrash metal band Slayer's 1986 album Reign in Blood. The lyrics and music were written by Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman and are based on Nazi ″physician″ Josef Mengele, who conducted human experiments at the Auschwitz concentration camp during...
", is an almost permanent addition to Slayer's live set-list, and is Hanneman and King's favorite track to play live. At the end of the Still Reigning
Still Reigning
Still Reigning is a live performance DVD by the thrash metal band Slayer, released in 2004 through American Recordings. Filmed at the Augusta Civic Center on July 11, 2004, the performance showcases Slayer's 1986 album, Reign in Blood, played in its entirety with the four original band members on a...
DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, there is a finale with the band covered in fake blood during the performance of "Raining Blood". When asked both Slayer guitarists "which song holds best," both replied "Raining Blood". 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."
King told D. X. Ferris that "whenever 'Raining Blood' comes in the set, it just electrifies the whole crowd. People just shit when you hit the first few notes. Like 'Jesus Christ it's a guitar, settle down.'" In the past, Slayer used fake blood to cover their 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."
Appearances
The song was featured in the 127th South ParkSouth Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
episode, "Die Hippie, Die
Die Hippie, Die
"Die Hippie, Die" is the second episode of the ninth season of the American animated television series South Park. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on March 16, 2005.-Plot:...
", which aired on March 16, 2005. Slayer guitarist Kerry King
Kerry King
Kerry King is an American lead and rhythm guitarist. He is best known as the lead guitarist and cofounder of American thrash metal band Slayer. He co-founded the band with Jeff Hanneman in 1981 and has been a member ever since...
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."
The song was also included in the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is a 2002 open world action computer and video game developed by British games developer Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the second 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise and sixth original title overall...
in-game radio station V-Rock. "Raining Blood" is a playable song in the video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is a music video game, the third main installment in the Guitar Hero series, and the fourth title overall...
, where it is renowned for being one of the hardest songs in the Career Mode setlist: a 2008 job advertisement 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
Difficulty level
In general usage, difficulty level refers to the relative difficulty of completing a task or objective.In computer and video games, the term specifically delineates the ease or difficulty with which an average user may complete a game or a part of a game. Arcade games as well as many early console...
. The song is also featured in Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, with the very first five note chord in the series. At the mixed martial arts event UFC 97
UFC 97
UFC 97: Redemption was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on April 18, 2009 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It broke the UFC attendance record that was set 364 days earlier in Montreal at UFC 83, by 61 people.-Preliminary card:*Light Heavyweight bout: Vinicius...
on Saturday 18 April 2009, fighter Chuck Liddell
Chuck Liddell
Charles David "Chuck" Liddell is a retired American mixed martial artist and former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion. Liddell has an extensive striking background in Kempo, Koei-Kan karate and kickboxing, as well as a grappling background in collegiate wrestling.As of his...
made his penultimate appearance in the UFC and used "Raining Blood" as his entrance music. The song also appears in the 2007 video game Skate
Skate (video game)
Skate is a skateboarding video game developed by EA Black Box for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It was released in North America on September 17, 2007 for the Xbox 360 and September 24, 2007 for the PlayStation 3 and in Europe on September 28, 2007 for the Xbox 360 and October 5, 2007 for the...
which the song appears on the soundtrack and the intro video for Colin McKay.
Cover versions
In 2001, the song was coveredCover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by Tori Amos
Tori Amos
Tori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...
on her studio album Strange Little Girls
Strange Little Girls
Strange Little Girls is a concept album released by singer-songwriter Tori Amos in 2001. The album's 12 tracks are covers of songs written and originally performed by men, reinterpreted by Amos from a female's point of view. Amos created female personae for each track and was photographed as...
. The cover of "Raining Blood" was suggested by bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen
Justin Meldal-Johnsen
Justin Meldal-Johnsen is an American musician and bassist, best known for his work with Grammy Award-winning artist Beck. He served as the touring bassist for Nine Inch Nails during their final tours.-Recording career:...
, who told Amos that she "had tried pretty much every other genre of music, from rap
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
to New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
to punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
to country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
to pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, why not some metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
?" Meldal-Johnsen chose the album Reign in Blood, and after listening to it, Amos agreed to make a cover version of "Raining Blood". 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!" In response, Slayer sent some T-shirts to Amos, which she said was appreciated.
The song was also covered by Malevolent Creation
Malevolent Creation
Malevolent Creation is a death metal band originally hailing from Buffalo, New York. Moving to Florida in 1987, they became a part of the emergent local death metal scene, landing a deal with Roadrunner Records...
, Vader
Vader (band)
Vader is a Polish death metal band from Olsztyn, formed in 1983. According to Piotr Wiwczarek, the band's founding singer and guitar player, the band's name was inspired by Darth Vader from the Star Wars film series. Lyrical themes include stories by H. P. Lovecraft, WW2, horror and anti-christian...
, Diecast
Diecast (band)
Diecast is a five-piece metalcore band originating from Boston, Massachusetts. There are no active members that date back to their inception.-History:...
, Reggie and the Full Effect
Reggie and the Full Effect
Reggie and the Full Effect was a Kansas City indie rock band, the solo project for The Get Up Kids keyboardist James Dewees.-Early years, Greatest Hits 1984-1987, Promotional Copy and Under the Tray :...
, and Erik Hinds
Erik Hinds
Killick Erik Hinds of Athens, Georgia is active as a composer, performer, and promoter of a wide range of music. He plays quartertone electric guitar, as well as Big Red harp guitar and the H'arpeggione, an 18-stringed upright acoustic instrument with sympathetic strings, both built by Fred Carlson...
, who covered the entire Reign in Blood album on a H'arpeggione. The guitar riffs from "Raining Blood" and "Mandatory Suicide" were sampled by rapper Lil Jon
Lil Jon
Jonathan Mortimer Smith , better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, music producer, entrepreneur, and occasional disc jockey who was a member of the group Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz. Lil Jon formed the group in 1997, and the group released several albums between then and 2004...
in the song "Stop Fuckin Wit' Me" from the 2004 album Crunk Juice
Crunk Juice
Crunk Juice is the fifth studio album by American recording artists Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz, released in November 16, 2004, on TVT/BME...
. It was Rick Rubin
Rick Rubin
Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin was the co-founder of Def Jam Records and also established American Recordings...
's only collaboration with Lil Jon on the record. Jon wanted to create a "black version" of Suicidal Tendencies
Suicidal Tendencies
Suicidal Tendencies is a U.S. crossover thrash band founded in 1981 in Venice, Los Angeles, California by Mike Muir, its leader and only permanent member. The band is sometimes credited as one of "the fathers of crossover thrash"...
' song "Institutionalized
Institutionalized (song)
"Institutionalized" is a song by the American hardcore punk band Suicidal Tendencies. It was released in 1983 as the only single from their debut album, Suicidal Tendencies. It is often classified as the band's signature song and would be re-recorded for the album Still Cyco After All These Years...
".
Reception
Stylus MagazineStylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
s Clay Jarvis said that the song is fit to be the closing song for Reign in Blood, and also noted that the song, along with other songs from Reign in Blood, has "manic, hacksaw guitars
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, 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." J. Bennett affirmed that the song "still make[s] other metal bands sound like frail pussies". Steve Huey said that it was a classic, and that its "slower riffs offer most of the album's few hints of melody". Erik Hinds
Killick Erik Hinds
Killick Erik Hinds of Athens, Georgia is active as a composer, performer, and promoter of a wide range of music. He plays quartertone electric guitar, as well as Big Red harp guitar and the H'arpeggione, an 18-stringed upright acoustic instrument with sympathetic strings, both built by Fred Carlson...
from About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
said that the piece has unexpectedly become a ballad. Derrick Harris, an editor of the official newspaper of University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, said that it had a "blistering solo." It peaked at number 64 in the United Kingdom, where it would stay on the chart for three weeks.
Personnel
- Tom ArayaTom ArayaTom Araya is a Chilean musician, best known as the bassist and vocalist of the American thrash metal band Slayer...
– bass, vocals - Jeff HannemanJeff HannemanJeffrey John "Jeff" Hanneman is a rhythm/lead guitarist and founding member of the American thrash metal band Slayer. Hanneman grew up in Los Angeles in a family of war veterans, and his fascination with warfare is attributed to his upbringing...
– guitar - Kerry KingKerry KingKerry King is an American lead and rhythm guitarist. He is best known as the lead guitarist and cofounder of American thrash metal band Slayer. He co-founded the band with Jeff Hanneman in 1981 and has been a member ever since...
– guitar, backing vocals - Dave LombardoDave LombardoDave Lombardo is a Cuban American heavy metal drummer best known for his work with American thrash metal band Slayer. He has performed with Slayer on seven albums, including their groundbreaking 1986 release Reign In Blood and their 2006 release Christ Illusion, for which he received critical praise...
– drums - Rick RubinRick RubinFrederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin was the co-founder of Def Jam Records and also established American Recordings...
- record producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Andy WallaceAndy WallaceAndrew or Andy Wallace may refer to:*Andy Wallace , music producer*Andy Wallace , race car driver*Andy Wallace , keyboard player...
- engineering