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Angel of Death (song)
Encyclopedia
"Angel of Death" is the opening track on the American thrash metal
band Slayer
's 1986 album Reign in Blood
. The lyrics and music were written by Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman
and are based on Nazi
″physician″ Josef Mengele
, who conducted human experiments at the Auschwitz concentration camp
during World War II
. "Angel of Death" led to the band facing accusations of Nazi sympathizing and racism
throughout their career.
Despite the controversy surrounding the song and its contribution to the delay in the release of Reign in Blood, "Angel of Death" is featured on all of Slayer's live album
s and DVD
s and has appeared in several movies. The song was well received by critics; Steve Huey of Allmusic described it as a "classic."
wrote "Angel of Death" after reading books about Nazi
physician Josef Mengele
while on tour with the band: "I remember 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."
The lyrics detail Mengele's surgical experiments on patients at the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. Mengele's explorations were conducted on such groups as dwarfs
and twins
, and included both physical and psychological examinations. Among the tests he performed that are mentioned in "Angel of Death" are experimental surgeries performed without anesthesia
, transfusion of blood between twins, the sewing of bodies, isolation
endurance, gassing
, injections with lethal germs
, sex change operations, the removal of organ
s and limbs
, and abacination
.
Towards the end of the song, there is a line "Feeding off the screams of the mutants he's creating", which was taken from the film The Boys from Brazil
in which Dr. Mengele was the villain.
. The band were signed to Def Jam Records whose distributor, Columbia Records
, refused to release the album due to lyrical themes and artwork concerns, deeming the artwork "too graphic". Reign in Blood was eventually distributed by Geffen Records
on October 7, 1986. However, due to the controversy, Reign in Blood did not appear on Geffen Records official release schedule.
"Angel of Death" caused outrage among survivors of the Holocaust
, as well as their families and the general public. The controversy led to accusations of Nazi sympathizing which have followed Slayer throughout their career. People took Hanneman's interest in Nazi history and his collection of Nazi medals as evidence of sympathizing – his most prized item being a German Knight’s Cross
. Hanneman counteracted asserting: According to guitarist Kerry King
: "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."
The song drew accusations of racism
, although the band denied these claims. In addition, the band's producer and close friend Rick Rubin
has Jewish ancestry, their vocalist/bassist Tom Araya
is Chilean
, their drummer Dave Lombardo
is Cuban
, and King had a guest appearance on the Jewish hip hop
group Beastie Boys
' song "No Sleep till Brooklyn
". The band members are often asked about the accusations in interviews, and have stated numerous times that they do not condone racism and are merely interested in the subject.
In 2006, the song "Jihad
" from Slayer's 2006 album Christ Illusion
drew comparison to "Angel of Death". "Jihad" deals with the September 11, 2001 attacks
, and tells the story from a terrorist's perspective. Vocalist Araya was expecting the subject matter to create a similar backlash to that of "Angel of Death", although it did not materialise, in part, he believes, due to peoples' view that the song is "just Slayer being Slayer".
s and choruses
, where most tracks on the album eschew them. Hanneman and King deliver their 'intricate riffs', which offer the few hints of melody
on the album according to Pop Matters reviewer Adrien Begrand, and Araya bursts out his piercing scream, with Lombardo performing beats of 210 beats per minute.
When drummer Lombardo left the band in 1992, due to conflicts with band members and his desire to bring his wife on tour, the band chose T.J Scaglioni (from Whiplash) briefly, before the giving task to Forbidden
drummer Paul Bostaph
as his replacement. Bostaph made one mistake out of the nine songs the band trialled him with, on "Angel of Death". 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. 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.
Although "Angel of Death" did not enter any charts, it received strong praise from critics in reviews for Reign in Blood. Clay Jarvas of Stylus Magazine
noted that 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."
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, where guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman deliver their intricate riffs, drummer Dave Lombardo performs some of the most powerful drumming ever recorded, and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya screams and snarls his tale of Nazi war criminal Joseph Mengele."
In the documentary Get Thrashed
, the song is referred to many times as the best song ever written.
'Angel of Death' is ranked number five on Digital Dream Door's "100 Greatest Metal Songs".
Capitalizing on the publicity generated by the controversy, the band utilized Nazi imagery by adapting a logo to one similar to the eagle atop swastika, during the Seasons in the Abyss
period. Hanneman placed SS stickers on his guitar, and wrote "SS-3" a song about Reinhard Heydrich
, the second in command in the Schutzstaffel
organization.
; in a scene when the gremlin Mohawk is turning into a spider. It appears in Jackass: The Movie
during a car stunt, and features in the 2005 Iraq War documentary
Soundtrack to War
, which details the role of music on the contemporary battlefield. The half-time riff was sampled by Public Enemy in their 1988 song "She Watch Channel Zero?!", sampled by KMFDM
on their 1990 single "Godlike", and featured in the multi-platform video game Tony Hawk's Project 8
. Nolan Nelson, who selected the soundtrack for the game asserts the song is "one of the greatest heavy metal
songs ever recorded. Don’t know who Slayer is? I feel sorry for you."
A Slayer tribute band
called Dead Skin Mask released an album with eight Slayer tracks, "Angel of Death" being one of them. The death metal
bands Debauchery
and Monstrosity
covered the song, and the track was featured on "cello metal" band Apocalyptica
's 2006 album Amplified // A Decade of Reinventing the Cello. Al Sur del Abismo (Tributo Argentino a Slayer), a Slayer tribute album
compiled by Hurling Metal Records, featured sixteen tracks covered by Argentina
metal bands, Asinesia covered "Angel of Death".
The song was once again covered by deathcore
band, Carnifex
and appears on their third album, Hell Chose Me
as a bonus track included on the vinyl and iTunes editions.
A compilation album of bands that have been featured in the Ozzfest
line-up, of which Slayer have headlined multiple times, features "Angel of Death".
The song recently appears in the British teen drama television series Skins
.
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
band Slayer
Slayer
Slayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and...
's 1986 album Reign in Blood
Reign in Blood
Reign in Blood is the third studio album and the major label debut by the American thrash metal band Slayer. It was released on October 7, 1986 through Def Jam Recordings. The album was the band's first collaboration with record producer Rick Rubin, whose input helped the band's sound evolve...
. The lyrics and music were written by Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman
Jeff Hanneman
Jeffrey John "Jeff" Hanneman is a rhythm/lead guitarist and founding member of the American thrash metal band Slayer. Hanneman grew up in Los Angeles in a family of war veterans, and his fascination with warfare is attributed to his upbringing...
and are based on Nazi
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
″physician″ Josef Mengele
Josef Mengele
Josef Rudolf Mengele , also known as the Angel of Death was a German SS officer and a physician in the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. He earned doctorates in anthropology from Munich University and in medicine from Frankfurt University...
, who conducted human experiments at the Auschwitz concentration camp
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. "Angel of Death" led to the band facing accusations of Nazi sympathizing and racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
throughout their career.
Despite the controversy surrounding the song and its contribution to the delay in the release of Reign in Blood, "Angel of Death" is featured on all of Slayer's live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
s and 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....
s and has appeared in several movies. The song was well received by critics; Steve Huey of Allmusic described it as a "classic."
Composition and origins
Slayer guitarist Jeff HannemanJeff Hanneman
Jeffrey John "Jeff" Hanneman is a rhythm/lead guitarist and founding member of the American thrash metal band Slayer. Hanneman grew up in Los Angeles in a family of war veterans, and his fascination with warfare is attributed to his upbringing...
wrote "Angel of Death" after reading books about Nazi
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
physician Josef Mengele
Josef Mengele
Josef Rudolf Mengele , also known as the Angel of Death was a German SS officer and a physician in the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. He earned doctorates in anthropology from Munich University and in medicine from Frankfurt University...
while on tour with the band: "I remember 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."
The lyrics detail Mengele's surgical experiments on patients at the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. Mengele's explorations were conducted on such groups as dwarfs
Dwarfism
Dwarfism is short stature resulting from a medical condition. It is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than 4 feet 10 inches , although this definition is problematic because short stature in itself is not a disorder....
and twins
TWINS
Two Wide-Angle Imaging Neutral-Atom Spectrometers are a pair of NASA instruments aboard two United States National Reconnaissance Office satellites in Molniya orbits. TWINS was designed to provide stereo images of the Earth's ring current. The first instrument, TWINS-1, was launched aboard USA-184...
, and included both physical and psychological examinations. Among the tests he performed that are mentioned in "Angel of Death" are experimental surgeries performed without anesthesia
Anesthesia
Anesthesia, or anaesthesia , traditionally meant the condition of having sensation blocked or temporarily taken away...
, transfusion of blood between twins, the sewing of bodies, isolation
Solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...
endurance, gassing
Chemical warfare
Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from Nuclear warfare and Biological warfare, which together make up NBC, the military acronym for Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical...
, injections with lethal germs
Microorganism
A microorganism or microbe is a microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters, or no cell at all...
, sex change operations, the removal of organ
Organ (anatomy)
In biology, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in structural unit to serve a common function. Usually there is a main tissue and sporadic tissues . The main tissue is the one that is unique for the specific organ. For example, main tissue in the heart is the myocardium, while sporadic are...
s and limbs
Limb (anatomy)
A limb is a jointed, or prehensile , appendage of the human or other animal body....
, and abacination
Abacination
Abacination is a form of corporal punishment or torture, in which the victim is blinded by having a red-hot metal plate held before their eyes.-Notable instances:*The biblical figure Samson was abacinated after being captured by the Phillistines....
.
Towards the end of the song, there is a line "Feeding off the screams of the mutants he's creating", which was taken from the film The Boys from Brazil
The Boys from Brazil
The Boys from Brazil may refer to:*The Boys from Brazil , a 1976 novel by Ira Levin*The Boys from Brazil , a 1978 film based on the novel, starring Gregory Peck, Laurence Olivier and James Mason...
in which Dr. Mengele was the villain.
Controversy
The lyrical content of "Angel of Death" contributed to the delay of the release of Slayer's 1986 album Reign in BloodReign in Blood
Reign in Blood is the third studio album and the major label debut by the American thrash metal band Slayer. It was released on October 7, 1986 through Def Jam Recordings. The album was the band's first collaboration with record producer Rick Rubin, whose input helped the band's sound evolve...
. The band were signed to Def Jam Records whose distributor, Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, refused to release the album due to lyrical themes and artwork concerns, deeming the artwork "too graphic". Reign in Blood was eventually distributed by Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
on October 7, 1986. However, due to the controversy, Reign in Blood did not appear on Geffen Records official release schedule.
"Angel of Death" caused outrage among survivors of the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
, as well as their families and the general public. The controversy led to accusations of Nazi sympathizing which have followed Slayer throughout their career. People took Hanneman's interest in Nazi history and his collection of Nazi medals as evidence of sympathizing – his most prized item being a German Knight’s Cross
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...
. Hanneman counteracted asserting: According to guitarist Kerry King
Kerry King
Kerry King is an American lead and rhythm guitarist. He is best known as the lead guitarist and cofounder of American thrash metal band Slayer. He co-founded the band with Jeff Hanneman in 1981 and has been a member ever since...
: "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
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
, or do you think Slayer’s preaching fucking World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
?' People get this thought in their heads—especially in Europe—and you’ll never talk them out of it."
The song drew accusations of racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, although the band denied these claims. In addition, the band's producer and close friend Rick Rubin
Rick Rubin
Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin was the co-founder of Def Jam Records and also established American Recordings...
has Jewish ancestry, their vocalist/bassist Tom Araya
Tom Araya
Tom Araya is a Chilean musician, best known as the bassist and vocalist of the American thrash metal band Slayer...
is Chilean
Chilean people
Chilean people, or simply Chileans, are the native citizens and long-term immigrants of Chile. Chileans are mainly of Spanish and Amerindian descent, with small but significant traces of 19th and 20th century European immigrant origin...
, their drummer Dave Lombardo
Dave Lombardo
Dave Lombardo is a Cuban American heavy metal drummer best known for his work with American thrash metal band Slayer. He has performed with Slayer on seven albums, including their groundbreaking 1986 release Reign In Blood and their 2006 release Christ Illusion, for which he received critical praise...
is Cuban
Cubans
Cubans or Cuban people are the inhabitants or citizens of Cuba. Cuba is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
, and King had a guest appearance on the Jewish hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
group Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
' song "No Sleep till Brooklyn
No Sleep Till Brooklyn
"No Sleep till Brooklyn" is a song by Beastie Boys as well as the sixth single on their debut studio album Licensed to Ill. The name of the song itself is a play on Motörhead's No Sleep 'til Hammersmith album.-Production and play:...
". The band members are often asked about the accusations in interviews, and have stated numerous times that they do not condone racism and are merely interested in the subject.
In 2006, the song "Jihad
Jihad (song)
"Jihad" is a song by the American thrash metal band Slayer which appears on their 2006 album Christ Illusion. The song portrays the imagined viewpoint of a terrorist who has participated in the September 11, 2001 attacks, concluding with spoken lyrics taken from words left behind by Mohamed Atta;...
" from Slayer's 2006 album Christ Illusion
Christ Illusion
Christ Illusion is the tenth studio album by the American thrash metal band Slayer. Released on August 8, 2006, the album received generally favorable critical reviews, and it entered the Billboard 200 at number 5—the band's highest U.S. chart position to date...
drew comparison to "Angel of Death". "Jihad" deals with the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, and tells the story from a terrorist's perspective. Vocalist Araya was expecting the subject matter to create a similar backlash to that of "Angel of Death", although it did not materialise, in part, he believes, due to peoples' view that the song is "just Slayer being Slayer".
Music and structure
"Angel of Death" is the longest track on the album Reign in Blood, spanning 4 minutes and 51 seconds, where the total duration of the album is 29 minutes. Additionally, it has one of the most conventional song structures on the album, featuring prominent verseSong structure (popular music)
The structures or musical forms of songs in popular music are typically sectional, repeating forms, such as strophic form. Other common forms include thirty-two-bar form, verse-chorus form, and the twelve bar blues...
s and choruses
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
, where most tracks on the album eschew them. Hanneman and King deliver their 'intricate riffs', which offer the few hints of melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
on the album according to Pop Matters reviewer Adrien Begrand, and Araya bursts out his piercing scream, with Lombardo performing beats of 210 beats per minute.
When drummer Lombardo left the band in 1992, due to conflicts with band members and his desire to bring his wife on tour, the band chose T.J Scaglioni (from Whiplash) briefly, before the giving task to Forbidden
Forbidden (band)
Forbidden is a thrash metal band from the San Francisco Bay Area. Formed in 1985 as Forbidden Evil, the group was founded by Russ Anderson and Craig Locicero, who are both permanent members. Since their formation, Forbidden have broken up and reformed twice with numerous line-up changes...
drummer Paul Bostaph
Paul Bostaph
Paul Bostaph is a heavy metal drummer. His drumming career began in 1984, when he was 20 years old, and he had since worked with bands like Slayer, Forbidden, Exodus and Systematic. He is from Newark, California and currently drums for Testament...
as his replacement. Bostaph made one mistake out of the nine songs the band trialled him with, on "Angel of Death". 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. 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.
Reception
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
noted that 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."
Adrien Begrand of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
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, where guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman deliver their intricate riffs, drummer Dave Lombardo performs some of the most powerful drumming ever recorded, and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya screams and snarls his tale of Nazi war criminal Joseph Mengele."
In the documentary Get Thrashed
Get Thrashed
Get Thrashed is an American documentary directed by Rick Ernst and starring Lars Ulrich, Sully Erna, Frank Bello, Death Angel, Dave Mustaine and many others .-Plot:...
, the song is referred to many times as the best song ever written.
'Angel of Death' is ranked number five on Digital Dream Door's "100 Greatest Metal Songs".
Capitalizing on the publicity generated by the controversy, the band utilized Nazi imagery by adapting a logo to one similar to the eagle atop swastika, during the Seasons in the Abyss
Seasons in the Abyss
Seasons in the Abyss is the fifth studio album by the thrash metal band Slayer. It was released on October 9, 1990 through Def American Records, and later through American Recordings after the company changed its name. The album's recording sessions began in January 1990...
period. Hanneman placed SS stickers on his guitar, and wrote "SS-3" a song about Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich , also known as The Hangman, was a high-ranking German Nazi official.He was SS-Obergruppenführer and General der Polizei, chief of the Reich Main Security Office and Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia...
, the second in command in the Schutzstaffel
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
organization.
Appearances
"Angel of Death" has appeared in several movies, including Gremlins 2Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Gremlins 2: The New Batch is a 1990 American horror comedy film, and the sequel to Gremlins . It was directed by Joe Dante and written by Charles S. Haas, with creature designs by Rick Baker...
; in a scene when the gremlin Mohawk is turning into a spider. It appears in Jackass: The Movie
Jackass: The Movie
Jackass: The Movie is a 2002 American reality film directed by Jeff Tremaine with the tagline "Do not attempt this at home." It is a riskier and uncensored continuation of the stunts and pranks by the various characters of the MTV television series Jackass, which had completed its unique series...
during a car stunt, and features in the 2005 Iraq War documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Soundtrack to War
Soundtrack to War
Soundtrack to War is a 90 minute documentary by Australian war artist George Gittoes. Filmed throughout 2003-2004, Gittoes bypassed the U.S. military's media lockdown on the war in Iraq to capture an authentic account of the human experience of the war. Gittoes interviewed American soldiers...
, which details the role of music on the contemporary battlefield. The half-time riff was sampled by Public Enemy in their 1988 song "She Watch Channel Zero?!", sampled by KMFDM
KMFDM
KMFDM is an industrial band led by German multi-instrumentalist Sascha Konietzko, who founded the group in 1984 as a performance art project...
on their 1990 single "Godlike", and featured in the multi-platform video game Tony Hawk's Project 8
Tony Hawk's Project 8
Tony Hawk's Project 8, officially abbreviated as THP8, is the eighth installment in the Tony Hawk series of video games. It was released on sixth-generation and seventh-generation consoles...
. Nolan Nelson, who selected the soundtrack for the game asserts the song is "one of the greatest heavy metal
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...
songs ever recorded. Don’t know who Slayer is? I feel sorry for you."
A Slayer tribute band
Tribute band
A tribute act is a music group, singer, or musician who specifically plays the music of a well-known music act - sometimes one which has disbanded, ceased touring or is deceased. Probably the largest class of tributes acts are Elvis impersonators, individual performers who mimic the songs and style...
called Dead Skin Mask released an album with eight Slayer tracks, "Angel of Death" being one of them. The death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
bands Debauchery
Debauchery (band)
- History :They are currently signed to German label AFM Records and have toured extensively through Europe. The band was formed in 2000 as Maggotcunt, but changed their name in 2002 to Debauchery. Debauchery consisted of Thomas Gurrath and Dani until Dani was forced to leave the band in 2006...
and Monstrosity
Monstrosity (band)
Monstrosity is a death metal band originating from Fort Lauderdale, Florida during the death metal scene of the early 1990s. Vocalist, George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher and drummer, Lee Harrison, were the founders of Monstrosity. Harrison had just left the band Malevolent Creation and George Fisher...
covered the song, and the track was featured on "cello metal" band Apocalyptica
Apocalyptica
Apocalyptica is a band from Helsinki, Finland, formed in 1993. The band is composed of classically trained cellists Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen, and Perttu Kivilaakso and drummer Mikko Sirén...
's 2006 album Amplified // A Decade of Reinventing the Cello. Al Sur del Abismo (Tributo Argentino a Slayer), a Slayer tribute album
Tribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
compiled by Hurling Metal Records, featured sixteen tracks covered by Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
metal bands, Asinesia covered "Angel of Death".
The song was once again covered by deathcore
Deathcore
Deathcore is an extreme metal music genre that combines elements of death metal with elements of metalcore or hardcore punk, or both. It is defined by an "excessive" use of death metal riffs, blast beats and use of hardcore punk breakdowns...
band, Carnifex
Carnifex (band)
Carnifex is an American deathcore band from San Diego, California. Formed in 2005, they are currently signed to Victory Records and have released four studio albums...
and appears on their third album, Hell Chose Me
Hell Chose Me
-Personnel:Carnifex* Shawn Cameron - drums* Scott Lewis - vocals* Ryan Gudmunds - guitar* Cory Arford - guitar* Fred Calderon - bassProduction*Produced by Carnifex and Zack Ohren*Engineering, tracking, mixing and mastering by Zack Ohren...
as a bonus track included on the vinyl and iTunes editions.
A compilation album of bands that have been featured in the Ozzfest
Ozzfest
Ozzfest is an annual festival tour of the United States featuring performances by many heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon Osbourne, both of whom also organize each yearly tour with their son Jack Osbourne...
line-up, of which Slayer have headlined multiple times, features "Angel of Death".
The song recently appears in the British teen drama television series Skins
Skins (TV series)
Skins is a BAFTA award-winning British teen drama that follows a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England, through the two years of college. The controversial plot line explores issues such as dysfunctional families, mental illness , adolescent sexuality, substance abuse and death...
.