18ANGEL OF DEATH SLAYER

(1986)

Thrash metal’s peak

“We were not schooled musicians,” said Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman. “But we knew what sounded dark. All you do is go a step up or down till you get it right, and it sounds huge. I recognised that when I hit certain notes I’d get a certain feeling. This is the way I played it in my head: if it sounds like I’m standing over a body that’s just been stabbed to death, then it’s perfect.”

The darkness and brutality in Slayer’s music was most vividly illustrated in the band’s third album Reign In Blood, and in particular its opening track, Angel Of Death. Widely recognized as one of the greatest metal albums of all time, Reign In Blood is also, for many, the definitive thrash metal album. And what Jeff Hanneman created in Angel Of Death was a song as brilliant as it was controversial. The lyrics detailed the atrocities performed by Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele. The music was a high-speed riff onslaught in which Hanneman and fellow guitarist Kerry King were locked in tight.

The equipment the pair used was the classic 1980s metal arsenal, with both men turning to Marshall JCM800S for amplification. The former was playing a black Jackson Soloist with retrofitted EMG pickups, while King had recently begun an endorsement with BC Rich that lasts to this day. His Warlock and Hanneman’s Soloist were both run through MXR distortion and Dunlop Cry Baby pedals, with onboard effects, such as

Eb, reverb, added by Rubin at the desk. The song was recorded in the same as all of Reign In Blood’s 10 tracks, with the guitarists performing mesmerisingly fast tremolo picking on all the riffs apart from the iconic groove that anchors the midsection. That particular riff has been hailed as an all-time classic and it’s based on razor-edged downstrokes. “That’s the riff that people get wrong, if they’re gonna get any of them wrong!” King said. “It’s not tricky, it’s just odd notes. It’s not a scale as such, it’s just what Jeff threw together then liked the way it sounded.”

There are actually two riffs to learn in this section, as King explained: “When that riff comes in, it’s one guitar, then when the second guitar comes in we play the same riff. Then, during the second section, we’re playing something different.”

And if Angel Of Death feels hard to play, don’t be put off. King had some words of encouragement. “All the riffs are fairly doable,”he confirmed, “especially the one that begins the song. We just go for it. It’s at ‘go‑for‑it’ speed, ha ha!”

“IF IT SOUNDS LIKE I’M STANDING OVER A BODY THAT’S JUST BEEN STABBED TO DEATH THEN IT’S PERFECT” JEFF HANNEMAN