When Ice-T and Body Count decided to post their very first Periscope video last week (June 29), they did it in typically grand fashion—by covering Slayer's "Raining Blood."
True, they filmed it vertically, but as stated on the YouTube version of the clip, it's Ice-T's "first time [on Periscope], so get over the vertical camera filming"!
For a completely impromptu, on-the-fly cover, we have to admit it's pretty badass.
"Raining Blood," which turns 30 years old this fall, was written by Slayer's Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Author D.X. Ferris said that "when Hanneman wrote the song, he envisioned a scene from a dark street or bloody back alley" 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, like the rest of the Reign in Blood album, was recorded in 1986 in Los Angeles with producer Rick Rubin.
Body Count are set to release a new album in 2017. It will be the followup to 2014's Manslaughter. For more about the band, visit bodycountband.com.
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Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.
