10 Greatest Metal Anthems Of All Time
8. Raining Blood - Slayer
Metal has gotten a bad reputation because of the dark topics that lyricists decide to tackle in their songs. If there is an accolade for this kind of morbid wordplay, "Raining Blood" is the best example of metal music at its most evil.
After the initial falling of the rain amid Dave Lombardo's drum intro, the guitars seem to open the door into Hell as they creek and whine before giving way to a disturbed riff whose tempo is still unparalleled. Tom Araya's voice in the song is absolutely perfect, with its screaming cadence as he intones being trapped in a demonic wasteland. This song is the point where moshing went from jumping up and down at shows to all-out slamfests, with stage divers and circle pits becoming the new norm at all heavy metal shows that would follow. Thanks to Slayer, metal bands started to come out of the woodwork that played music that was equally as aggressive with no holds barred when it came to fast tempos and atonal guitar riffs.
Hands down, this song is the perfect encapsulation of all things metal and has scared the crap out of parents around the world for generations.