Beast and the Harlot
Encyclopedia
"Beast and the Harlot" is a song by American heavy metal
band Avenged Sevenfold
, the song was released as a single taken from their third album City of Evil
. The song peaked at #19 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart, #47 on the UK Singles Chart
., and #1 on the UK Rock Chart
in 12 March 2006.
The actual song is about the fall of Babylon from the Book of Revelation
(particularly chapter seventeen), from which many quotes are taken, such as "Seven headed beast, ten horns raise from his head", "hatred strips her and leaves her naked", and other references. The Harlot referred to in the song is Great Babylon
, quoted in the song, "Fallen now is Babylon the great." On Avenged Sevenfold's All Excess
DVD
, Tony Petrossian
, who directed the video, says that M. Shadows
' lyrics for this song about the fall of Babylon is comparing Babylon to Hollywood, showing many Hollywood clichés such as the young, innocent boys being corrupted and losing their souls. In the music video the Harlot was played by actress Elizabeth Melendez
.
' different vocal style avoiding unclean vocals as well as a more hard rock sound as opposed to their previous work, with heavy and fast riffs and a relatively normal song structure (with the exception of the guitar solo, which comes after the first chorus rather than the second, atypical of a three verse song).
The song's rapid main riff was voted as the 14th greatest riff ever by the guitar magazine Total Guitar
in March 2007. Total Guitar wrote: "The main riff to Beast and the Harlot is a great piece of dropped-D riffing with Zacky
and Synyster
cleverly placing the second part of the riff across the beat to create an aggressive syncopated feel, once again avoiding all the usual metal clichés."
The song is featured in the soundtrack of the video games Burnout Revenge
, Guitar Hero II
, Guitar Hero Smash Hits and Rock Band 3
. The version in Guitar Hero II is a cover version, while Smash Hits and Rock Band 3 feature the master recording. The song was also featured in The Real World Road Rules reunion. The cover art for the single of the song was done by Avenged Sevenfold's close friend Cam Rackam.
CD
vinyl
A. "Beast and the Harlot" (Edit) - 4:06
B. "Burn It Down" (Live) - 5:45
literature, history, and old literature, including, as previously mentioned, segments of the Book of Revelation, as well as Dante
's Divine Comedy of Hell. Historically, the sexually deviant queen of Babylon provided the basis for the song, as well as the recurring theme of sexual temptation in the music video.
The seven headed beast with 10 horns, which is referred to many times in the song, is the anti-Christ. Since Babylon collapsed, ("fallen now is Babylon the great") presumably because of its moral deficiencies, it can be assumed that Dante and Shadows were correct.
The black tar which represents the departed soul in the corrupted victims in the video is derived from Dante's 5th Malebolge
in Hell. The demons wreck the sinners (in that case, those who betrayed the church) with hooked spears.
Production
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...
band Avenged Sevenfold
Avenged Sevenfold
Avenged Sevenfold is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California. Formed in 1999, the group consists of vocalist M. Shadows, lead guitarist Synyster Gates, rhythm guitarist Zacky Vengeance, bassist Johnny Christ....
, the song was released as a single taken from their third album City of Evil
City of Evil
City of Evil is the third studio album and first major label release by American metal band Avenged Sevenfold. The album was released on June 7, 2005 under the Warner Bros. Records label. Co-produced by Andrew Murdock, City of Evil contains a more hard rock and classic heavy metal sound than...
. The song peaked at #19 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart, #47 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
., and #1 on the UK Rock Chart
UK Rock Chart
The UK Rock Chart usually refers to the Top 40 Rock Singles and the Top 40 Rock Albums Chart compiled by the Official Charts Company from physical record sales in British retail outlets with larger than average genrespecific sales....
in 12 March 2006.
The actual song is about the fall of Babylon from the Book of Revelation
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
(particularly chapter seventeen), from which many quotes are taken, such as "Seven headed beast, ten horns raise from his head", "hatred strips her and leaves her naked", and other references. The Harlot referred to in the song is Great Babylon
Whore of Babylon
The Whore of Babylon or "Babylon the great" is a Christian allegorical figure of evil mentioned in the Book of Revelation in the Bible. Her full title is given as "Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and Abominations of the Earth." -Symbolism:...
, quoted in the song, "Fallen now is Babylon the great." On Avenged Sevenfold's All Excess
All Excess
All Excess is Avenged Sevenfold's first DVD which was released on July 17, 2007. The DVD includes a documentary with footage dating back to 1999, four live performances, along with four music videos, and several outtakes....
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....
, Tony Petrossian
Tony Petrossian
Tony Petrossian is an acclaimed director of commercials and music videos. Today, he is best known for his work in television advertisements and music videos. He has directed spots for brands including McDonald's, Nike, Subway, Zoo York, Beeline, Sony Ericsson, the Environmental Defense Fund and...
, who directed the video, says that M. Shadows
M. Shadows
Matthew Charles Sanders , better known by his stage name M. Shadows, is the lead vocalist, songwriter, and founding member for the American metal band Avenged Sevenfold.-Early life and musical beginnings:...
' lyrics for this song about the fall of Babylon is comparing Babylon to Hollywood, showing many Hollywood clichés such as the young, innocent boys being corrupted and losing their souls. In the music video the Harlot was played by actress Elizabeth Melendez
Elizabeth Melendez
Elizabeth Melendez born June 6, 1985 is an American actress and former model. She is of Cuban and Uruguayan descent and speaks fluent Spanish.-Background:...
.
Overview
The song is one of the first songs recorded with singer M. ShadowsM. Shadows
Matthew Charles Sanders , better known by his stage name M. Shadows, is the lead vocalist, songwriter, and founding member for the American metal band Avenged Sevenfold.-Early life and musical beginnings:...
' different vocal style avoiding unclean vocals as well as a more hard rock sound as opposed to their previous work, with heavy and fast riffs and a relatively normal song structure (with the exception of the guitar solo, which comes after the first chorus rather than the second, atypical of a three verse song).
The song's rapid main riff was voted as the 14th greatest riff ever by the guitar magazine Total Guitar
Total Guitar
Total Guitar is a monthly magazine based in the United Kingdom. The magazine is the best selling guitar magazine in Europe.The magazine is owned by Future Publishing, who publish many other magazines ranging from drums and video games to mountain bikes and knitting magazines.Total Guitar regularly...
in March 2007. Total Guitar wrote: "The main riff to Beast and the Harlot is a great piece of dropped-D riffing with Zacky
Zacky Vengeance
Zachary James Baker, better known by his stage name Zacky Vengeance, is the rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist for the American metal/rock band Avenged Sevenfold.-Biography:...
and Synyster
Synyster Gates
Brian Elwin Haner, Jr. , better known by his stage name Synyster Gates or simply Syn, is an American musician, best known for being the lead guitarist of the American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold.-Early life:...
cleverly placing the second part of the riff across the beat to create an aggressive syncopated feel, once again avoiding all the usual metal clichés."
The song is featured in the soundtrack of the video games Burnout Revenge
Burnout Revenge
Burnout Revenge is the fourth video game in the Burnout series of racing games, released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox on September 13, 2005 and Xbox 360 on March 7, 2006, alongside the PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS title Burnout Legends....
, Guitar Hero II
Guitar Hero II
Guitar Hero II is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane. It is the second installment in the Guitar Hero series and is the sequel to Guitar Hero...
, Guitar Hero Smash Hits and Rock Band 3
Rock Band 3
Rock Band 3 is a music video game, developed by Harmonix Music Systems. The game was initially published and distributed by MTV Games and Electronic Arts, respectively, with Mad Catz taking over both roles a year later. It is the third main game in the Rock Band series...
. The version in Guitar Hero II is a cover version, while Smash Hits and Rock Band 3 feature the master recording. The song was also featured in The Real World Road Rules reunion. The cover art for the single of the song was done by Avenged Sevenfold's close friend Cam Rackam.
Track listings
Digital single- "Beast and the Harlot" (Radio Version) - 4:03
- "Burn It Down" (Live In San Diego) - 5:45
CD
- "Beast and the Harlot" (Edit) - 4:06
- "Beast and the Harlot" - 5:42
vinyl
A. "Beast and the Harlot" (Edit) - 4:06
B. "Burn It Down" (Live) - 5:45
Inspiration
Shadows and the songwriting crew drew heavily from BiblicalBible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
literature, history, and old literature, including, as previously mentioned, segments of the Book of Revelation, as well as Dante
Dante Alighieri
Durante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...
's Divine Comedy of Hell. Historically, the sexually deviant queen of Babylon provided the basis for the song, as well as the recurring theme of sexual temptation in the music video.
The seven headed beast with 10 horns, which is referred to many times in the song, is the anti-Christ. Since Babylon collapsed, ("fallen now is Babylon the great") presumably because of its moral deficiencies, it can be assumed that Dante and Shadows were correct.
The black tar which represents the departed soul in the corrupted victims in the video is derived from Dante's 5th Malebolge
Malebolge
In Dante Alighieri's Inferno, part of the Divine Comedy, Malebolge is the eighth circle of Hell. Roughly translated from Italian, Malebolge means "evil ditches". Malebolge is a large, funnel-shaped cavern, itself divided into ten concentric circular trenches or ditches. Each trench is called a bolgia...
in Hell. The demons wreck the sinners (in that case, those who betrayed the church) with hooked spears.
Personnel
Avenged Sevenfold- M. ShadowsM. ShadowsMatthew Charles Sanders , better known by his stage name M. Shadows, is the lead vocalist, songwriter, and founding member for the American metal band Avenged Sevenfold.-Early life and musical beginnings:...
- lead vocals - Synyster GatesSynyster GatesBrian Elwin Haner, Jr. , better known by his stage name Synyster Gates or simply Syn, is an American musician, best known for being the lead guitarist of the American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold.-Early life:...
- lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Zacky VengeanceZacky VengeanceZachary James Baker, better known by his stage name Zacky Vengeance, is the rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist for the American metal/rock band Avenged Sevenfold.-Biography:...
- rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, backing vocals - Johnny ChristJohnny ChristJonathan Lewis Seward, , better known by his stage name Johnny Christ, is the bassist of the American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. Johnny was the fourth bassist to join Avenged Sevenfold in 2002, replacing former members Matt Wendt, Justin Sane, and Dameon Ash...
- bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocals - The RevThe RevJames Owen Sullivan , more commonly known by his stage name The Reverend Tholomew Plague, often shortened to The Rev, was an American musician, best known as the drummer for the American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, backing vocals
Production
- Produced by Andrew MurdockAndrew MurdockAndrew Murdock, also known as Mudrock, is an American record producer specializing in the rock and metal genres.He is best known for producing Godsmack's Godsmack and Awake albums...
- Artwork by Cam Rackam