Beast and the Harlot

This song is generally about the Book of Revelations, which is the last book of The Bible, specifically Chapter 17 with the beast and the harlot/prostitute: "There sat a 7-headed beast, ten horns raised from his head." In Revelations, it states that the beast had 7 heads each named blasphemous names.

This "Harlot" rides Babylon (the beast many heads and horns in the song lyrics) her and the beast represent the city dressed in gold and pearls (because the harlot's armor is gold and there are pearls around her neck). Revelation chapters 17 and 18 detail much about the three-fold Babylon of the End Times: Political, Economic and Religious Babylon. The events are mainly covered from an Earthly perspective. The Harlot riding the Beast represents Religious Babylon. She is portrayed as a "harlot" or a "prostitute" because she commits spiritual fornication with the kings or leaders of the world. This would be interpreted that she left her first Love - preaching the Reconciliation to God in Christ - pursuing instead pure monetary and political gain. Her primary purpose is to gain power over the Saints of God (and even non-believers) by any means possible. She is clearly identified as a city 10 times in Revelation 14, 16, 17 and 18. Therefore, she is a CITY that: 1) Has a Christian religious heritage 2) Is waxed exceedingly rich 3) Has the blood of Saints and Martyrs on her hands 4) Has tremendous religious influence throughout the world 5) Is clothed in purple and scarlet 6) Is located near the Mediterranean Sea 7) Is full of abominations, primarily idols 8) Is heavily adorned with gold and jewels 9) Is primarily represented by a woman instead of Jesus Christ 10) Is carrying a golden chalice, significant to her identity 11) Influences world political leaders because of her religious power 12) Sits on seven mountains or hills

Surprisingly for such an epic song and an epic theme, it was actually patched together. M. Shadows revealed: "We wrote it in my garage. We actually never played as a band before we recorded it. It only existed on my computer." (Source Kerrang! magazine)