Angel of Death (Slayer song)
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"Angel of Death" is the opening track on American thrash metal band Slayer's 1986 album Reign in Blood. The lyrics and music were written by guitarist Jeff Hanneman. They detail the Nazi physician Josef Mengele's human experiments at the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II.
"Angel of Death" led to accusations of Nazi sympathizing and racism against the band, which they vigorously denied but which followed them throughout their early career. Despite the controversy and the resulting delay in the release of Reign in Blood, the song remained a live favorite, and has appeared on all of Slayer's live albums.
The song has been described as highly influential in the development of thrash metal or speed metal, and is highly regarded by some critics; AllMusic's Steve Huey called it a classic and the album "the pinnacle of speed metal".<ref name="Reign in Blood - Review ">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The half-time riff was sampled by Public Enemy in their song "She Watch Channel Zero?!" from the 1988 album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.<ref name="An exclusive oral history of Slayer"/>
Background and lyrics
Template:QuoteboxSlayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman wrote "Angel of Death" after reading books about Nazi physician Josef Mengele while on tour with the band.<ref name="An exclusive oral history of Slayer" /> He said that he remembered "stopping someplace where I bought two books on Mengele. I thought, 'This has gotta be some sick shit.' So when it came time to do the record, that stuff was still in my head—that's where the lyrics to 'Angel of Death' came from."<ref name="An exclusive oral history of Slayer" />
Although the lyrics are written both from Mengele's point of view and from that of a detached observer condemning his actions, Adrien Begrand of Decibel assessed that the lyrics have "no bias towards either side whatsoever."<ref>Ferris, D.X. "Slayer's Reign in Blood". p 114</ref><ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> They detail Mengele's surgical experiments on patients at the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II.<ref name="SLAYER's KING Says RICK RUBIN's Collaboration With METALLICA Was 'Slap In The Face'">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Mengele's explorations were conducted on such groups as dwarfs and twins, and included both physical and psychological examinations.<ref name="Josef Mengele">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="moreorless : heroes & killers of the 20th century - Josef Mengele">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Among the tests he performed that are mentioned in "Angel of Death" are experimental surgeries performed without anesthesia, transfusion of blood between twins, isolation endurance, gassing, injections with lethal germs, sex change operations, the removal of organs and limbs, and abacination.<ref name="Westworld Online interview with Kerry King ">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Composition and music
The song opens with stop-start guitar riffs utilizing power chords and tremolo picking, accompanied by cymbal hits that are muted by Dave Lombardo. According to Adrien Begrand of Decibel, guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King "[announce] their presence with grandeur and intimidation," and according to him, the track's intro "epitomized [the genre] in 30 seconds."<ref name=":0" />
At 4 minutes and 51 seconds, "Angel of Death" is the longest track on the album, which is 29 minutes in total.<ref name="An exclusive oral history of Slayer" /> It is one of the most structurally conventional songs on the album, featuring prominent verses and choruses, which most of the songs eschew. Araya's vocal performance begins with a piercing, wordless scream. "[G]uitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman deliver their intricate riffs [and] drummer Dave Lombardo performs some of the most powerful drumming ever recorded" at 210 beats per minute.<ref name="The Devil in Music">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Andrew Haug speaks with Dave Lombardo from Slayer">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
When drummer Lombardo left Slayer in 1992, they recruited a full-time replacement in Forbidden drummer Paul Bostaph.<ref name="PAUL BOSTAPH of Exodus, ex-Slayer">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Bostaph made one mistake out of the nine songs the band trialled him with, on "Angel of Death".<ref name="PAUL BOSTAPH of Exodus, ex-Slayer" /> Before the "big double bass part" there is a lead section, which Bostaph could not understand, as he had to learn from live records recorded with Lombardo.<ref name="PAUL BOSTAPH of Exodus, ex-Slayer" /> Bostaph could not tell how many revolutions the guitar riff goes before the bass sequence. The band members told him there were eight, "perfecting" the song afterwards.<ref name="PAUL BOSTAPH of Exodus, ex-Slayer" />
The song is also linguistically significant for containing the only recorded use of the word "abacinate", as mentioned in Christopher Foyle's Foyle's Philavery: A Treasury of Unusual Words.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Controversy
The lyrics of "Angel of Death" delayed the release of Reign in Blood which was originally scheduled for April 1986.<ref name="Rolling Stone 2016-10-07">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The band was signed to Def Jam Records, whose distributor, Columbia Records, refused to release the album due to its subject matter and artwork, which they believed were "too graphic".<ref name="An exclusive oral history of Slayer"/> Reign in Blood was eventually distributed by Geffen Records on October 7, 1986, but it did not appear on Geffen Records' official release schedule because of the controversy.<ref name="An exclusive oral history of Slayer"/>
"Angel of Death" caused outrage among Holocaust survivors, as well as their families and the general public. The controversy led to accusations of Nazi sympathizing and racism which have followed Slayer throughout their career.<ref name="An exclusive oral history of Slayer">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The band members have denied the accusations, stating that they do not condone racism and are merely interested in the subject.<ref name="Slayer's Tom Araya on Satanism, serial killers and his lovable kids">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1987, Hanneman told the NME magazine:<ref name="Guardian 2013-05-08">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} (material first published in NME magazine in 1987)</ref>
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I feel you should be able to write about whatever you want. Angel of Death is like a history lesson... I'd read a lot about the Third Reich and was absolutely fascinated by the extremity of it all, the way Hitler had been able to hypnotise a nation and do whatever he wanted, a situation where Mengele could evolve from being a doctor to being a butcher.{{#if:|
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People took Hanneman's interest in Nazi history and his collection of Nazi medals (his most prized item being a German Knight's Cross)<ref name="SLAYER - Jeff Hanneman">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> as evidence of sympathizing.<ref name="An exclusive oral history of Slayer"/> Hanneman objected, stating:<ref name="Knac.com interview with Jeff Hanneman">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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I know why people misinterpret it – it's because they get this knee-jerk reaction to it. When they read the lyrics, there's nothing I put in the lyrics that says necessarily he was a bad man, because to me – well, isn't that obvious? I shouldn't have to tell you that.{{#if:|
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}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Blockquote with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | author | by | char | character | cite | class | content | multiline | personquoted | publication | quote | quotesource | quotetext | sign | source | style | text | title | ts }} King also dismissed the accusations, stating "Yeah, 'Slayer are Nazis, fascists, Communists'—all that fun shit. And of course we got the most flak for it in Germany. I was always like, 'Read the lyrics and tell me what's offensive about it. Can you see it as a documentary, or do you think Slayer's preaching fucking World War II?' People get this thought in their heads—especially in Europe—and you'll never talk them out of it."<ref name="An exclusive oral history of Slayer"/>
Hanneman also wrote "SS-3", a song about senior SS commander Reinhard Heydrich, which appeared on the band's 1994 album Divine Intervention.<ref name=":02">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The song "Jihad" from their 2006 album Christ Illusion has drawn comparison to "Angel of Death".<ref name="Slayer expects backlash with 'Jihad'">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> "Jihad" deals with the September 11, 2001 attacks, telling its events from a terrorist's perspective. Araya expected the subject matter to create a similar backlash to that of "Angel of Death", but it did not materialize<ref name="LiveDaily Interview: Tom Araya of Slayer">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>—in part, he believes, due to people's view that the song is "just Slayer being Slayer".<ref name="Luxi">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Reception and legacy
Although "Angel of Death" did not chart, it was highly praised by critics reviewing Reign in Blood. Clay Jarvas of Stylus Magazine observed how the song "smokes the asses of any band playing fast and/or heavy today. Lyrically outlining the horrors to come, while musically laying the groundwork for the rest of the record: fast, lean and filthy."<ref name="Slayer Reign in Blood">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Adrien Begrand of PopMatters remarked that "There's no better song to kick things off than the masterful 'Angel of Death', one of the most monumental songs in metal history."<ref name="The Devil in Music"/>
The guitar riff in the song's midsection is seen by some as a "turning point" for the band creatively and musically. Adrien Begrand of Decibel wrote, "They underachieved on Hell Awaits, coasting a bit, showing little to no progression in the wake of Haunting the Chapel, but that riff, that wicked groove shakes the band out of their creative stasis." Vocalist Tom Araya's opening scream in the track has been referred to one "for the ages."<ref name=":0" />
The song was sampled for use as the main riff in the 1990 song "Godlike" by industrial act KMFDM.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It was also sampled by Public Enemy for their track "She Watch Channel Zero", as well as by M.O.P for their song "Raise Hell".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
"Angel of Death" was featured in the opening scene of the 2002 stunt comedy Jackass: The Movie, where Johnny Knoxville rents and modifies a car before engaging in a crash-up derby.
In Tristan Egolf’s 2006 novel Kornwolf, the song serves to set off the werewolf.
Personnel
- Tom Araya – bass, vocals
- Kerry King – guitars
- Jeff Hanneman – guitars
- Dave Lombardo – drums
- Production
- Rick Rubin – production
- Slayer – production
- Howie Weinberg – mastering
- Andy Wallace – engineering