Raining Blood
Slayer
A dry, fast riff built on a diminished-scale run.
What is the Raining Blood guitar tone?
The Raining Blood guitar tone is a dry, fast riff built on a diminished-scale run, heard on Slayer's 1980s thrash metal recording. It is a distorted riff tone, and Slayer reportedly tracked it with a pair of B.C. Rich guitars with DiMarzio Super Distortion pickups, Jeff Hanneman's Bich, which he got from Kerry King in 1985 and fitted with a Kahler Pro bridge, and King's Mockingbird, through Marshall JCM800 2203 heads, which Guitar.com believes were stock after speaking to both guitarists' techs, and stock Marshall 4x12 cabinets per Mixdown; that is the album's rig rather than an account of this song; producer Rick Rubin left out the reverb the band had used before, which King said made the album sound way more threatening, and King credits Rubin's less-is-more approach for the stripped-back sound; Hanneman wrote the music and King the second verse, and the song closes Reign in Blood with its core riff, a diminished-scale run down the fretboard, a thunderstorm and tom-tom interlude, and a breakdown over which King plays a melodic lead; the album was recorded at Hit City West in Los Angeles with Andy Wallace engineering and came out on Def Jam in October 1986. Here Rick Rubin stripped the reverb off the album, which King said made it sound way more threatening, so a tight, saturated Marshall crunch played dry gets closer than a big, ambient high-gain sound.
You do not need that exact gear to land in the same place. What carries this sound is the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup choice and the order of the effects, and all four can be rebuilt on equipment that costs a fraction of the original. The numbers change from amp to amp, because a high-gain head and a small practice amp reach the same voicing from different knob positions. That translation is what Tonelify works out for the rig you actually own.
Raining Blood amp settings: a starting point
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 8, Bass 6, Middle 3, Treble 7, Presence 6, Reverb 1, with the bridge pickup.
- Gain 8
- Bass 6
- Middle 3
- Treble 7
- Presence 6
- Reverb 1
- Signal chain
- Marshall JCM800 2203 distortion, left dry
- The control that matters most
- Reverb at or near zero, then gain. Rubin left the album dry, so keep the reverb down and set a tight Marshall-style crunch rather than a modern saturated one; the riff is a fast diminished-scale run, so the picking has to stay even and the low end tight.
These positions are free and they are a starting point. A Katana, a Spark and a valve head reach this voicing from different knob positions, so Tonelify rewrites every value above for the amp and guitar you own. A first plan starts with 7 days free, $0 today.
Adapt these to my amp- Pickup
- Bridge pickup
These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. If you tell Tonelify which amp you own, it rewrites every value above for the controls that amp actually has.
Does the Raining Blood tone sound off on your amp?
Pick what you hear. You get the knobs to turn from the starting point above, and how far.
What gear did Slayer use on Raining Blood?
A pair of B.C. Rich guitars with DiMarzio Super Distortion pickups, Jeff Hanneman's Bich, which he got from Kerry King in 1985 and fitted with a Kahler Pro bridge, and King's Mockingbird, through Marshall JCM800 2203 heads, which Guitar.com believes were stock after speaking to both guitarists' techs, and stock Marshall 4x12 cabinets per Mixdown; that is the album's rig rather than an account of this song; producer Rick Rubin left out the reverb the band had used before, which King said made the album sound way more threatening, and King credits Rubin's less-is-more approach for the stripped-back sound; Hanneman wrote the music and King the second verse, and the song closes Reign in Blood with its core riff, a diminished-scale run down the fretboard, a thunderstorm and tom-tom interlude, and a breakdown over which King plays a melodic lead; the album was recorded at Hit City West in Los Angeles with Andy Wallace engineering and came out on Def Jam in October 1986.
Sources: Guitar.com: the guitar gear used on Slayer's Reign in Blood, Mixdown: gear rundown, Slayer's Reign in Blood, Wikipedia: Raining Blood, Wikipedia: Reign in Blood
Tonelify's tone matcher reads that chain and translates it to the amp and guitar you already own, returning gain, bass, mids, treble and presence values along with a pickup position.
How do you get the Raining Blood tone on your own amp?
Tell us your guitar, amp, and pedals
AI researches the original tone of Raining Blood
Get exact knob settings adapted to your rig
Raining Blood tone questions
What amp settings do you need for Raining Blood?
On a generic five-knob amp, start at Gain 8, Bass 6, Middle 3, Treble 7, Presence 6, Reverb 1, with the bridge pickup. These are positions on a generic five-knob amp with gain, bass, middle, treble and presence, each running 0 to 10. They are a starting point, not the settings used on the record, and they will not transfer unchanged to an amp with a different gain structure or EQ voicing. Tonelify rewrites the same values for the specific amp and guitar you own, because a high-gain head and a small solid-state combo reach the same dry, fast riff built on a diminished-scale run from different positions.
What amp did Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King use on Raining Blood?
Amp: Marshall JCM800 2203 heads, stock 4x12s (album rig). Guitar: B.C. Rich Bich (Hanneman) and B.C. Rich Mockingbird (King). Sources: Guitar.com, Mixdown and Wikipedia.
What were Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King's amp settings on Raining Blood?
None of the sources cited on this page gives Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King's full amp settings on Raining Blood. The numbers here are a starting point for that kind of part, not the settings from the session, and Tonelify rewrites them for the amp and guitar you own.
How do you get Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King's tone on Raining Blood?
Reverb at or near zero, then gain. Rubin left the album dry, so keep the reverb down and set a tight Marshall-style crunch rather than a modern saturated one; the riff is a fast diminished-scale run, so the picking has to stay even and the low end tight. Play it with the bridge pickup.
What tuning is Raining Blood in?
Half a step down: Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb, low string to high, according to MusicRadar.
Can you get the Raining Blood tone without the original gear?
Yes. The parts that define the sound are the gain structure, the EQ curve, the pickup position and the effects order, and those translate to other equipment. Tonelify's adaptation step works them out for the amp and guitar you own.
Does Tonelify cost anything to try?
A match for your own gear takes a plan, and a first plan starts with 7 days free with nothing charged that day: Stage is $6.99 a month for 20 matches, Headliner is $10.99 a month for unlimited matching within a fair use limit of 150 new matches a day, and yearly billing works out cheaper on both. Reading this page and the rest of the library costs nothing and needs no account.
