RIP Jeff Hanneman: His 5 Greatest Slayer Songs

5. Raining Blood

http://youtu.be/Sb-DTrMG4vs Taken from the album Reign In Blood (1986) Raining Blood is Slayer's defining song and a guaranteed crowd pleaser at any gig or club night. Opening with an eerie thunderstorm sound effect which is accentuated by Dave Lombardo's thunder-clap tom-tom triplets, Hanneman and King then utilise eerie echoing feedback before unleashing the first notes of one of Thrash Metal's most successful and thrilling riffs; a song that never fails to impress even after 27 years. Played at virtually every Slayer concert, Hanneman himself admitted to this being one of his favourites to perform live, Raining Blood's use of dynamics is outstanding, expertly contrasting balls-out speed with crushing, heads-down riffs culminating in 4 minutes of Thrash delirium. One hell of a way to close their magnum opus and a true Hanneman classic.
Contributor
Contributor

I love Heavy Metal, and generally anything that involves a guitar and loud noises, so I figured it was about time I put all the useless information in my head to good use and start writing a few things. Most of the time I'll be writing nonsense but occasionally I may surprise myself and appear half-way knowledgable.....but you can be the judge of that. Thanks for your fleeting attention!