Slayer plays a heavily souped-up version of Angel Of Death live

History lesson

Reign In Blood, the 1986 Slayer album, is considered by many to be one of the best trash metal albums ever made. The release of the album initially went far from smoothly, mainly due to the controversy surrounding Angel Of Death. The text refers to Josef Mengele, a doctor in Auschwitz during World War II, who performed gruesome experiments on prisoners in the camp. His nickname was ‘Angel Of Death’. Jeff Hanneman, who died in 2013, read about his atrocities and wrote about them in the lyrics for the song.

However, the text is not well received by everyone. “I think you should be able to write about what you want,” Hanneman said The Guardian in 1987. “Angel Of Death Is A History Lesson.” In an interview with KNAC.com in 2004, he says he understands why people misinterpret the song: “There’s nothing in the lyrics that suggests Mengele was a bad man, because to me that – well, doesn’t that make sense? I shouldn’t have to tell you that narrate.”

Angel Of Death in the NPO Radio 2 Top 2000

Angel Of Death will be at position 247 in the NPO Radio 2 Top 2000 in 2023.