Talk:Angel of Death (Slayer song)

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Featured articleAngel of Death (Slayer song) is a featured article; it (or a previous version of it) has been identified as one of the best articles produced by the Wikipedia community. Even so, if you can update or improve it, please do so.
Good topic starAngel of Death (Slayer song) is part of the Slayer discography series, a good topic. This is identified as among the best series of articles produced by the Wikipedia community. If you can update or improve it, please do so.
Main Page trophyThis article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on October 7, 2016.
Article milestones
DateProcessResult
February 25, 2007Peer reviewReviewed
February 25, 2007Good article nomineeListed
March 18, 2007Peer reviewReviewed
March 26, 2007Featured article candidatePromoted
December 15, 2010Featured topic candidatePromoted
August 15, 2011Good topic candidatePromoted
Current status: Featured article

A line[edit]

"Interestingly enough, this scream is often mistaken as a high note on a guitar by first-time listeners to the track, but becomes recognisable as vocals when Tom gradually turns the scream into a traditional metal 'roar'."

This line really doesn't seem to have any backing, not to mention, I never had the impression it was a high guitar note. It just sounds like personal opinion or self research. Unless there is some sort of survey backing, or source, I vote it being removed. Caciss 13:49, 15 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know. The first i heard it i thought it was an unusual sound and not arayas vocals. Personally i thought it was a high guitar note too originally but thats just my opinion. I can't be the only one then if someone else has written this about the song.

Other[edit]

can this be made encyclopedic? -SV 22:07, 1 Sep 2004 (UTC)

It seems to be quite informative at this time right now... -- 80.171.135.236 18:17, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Perhaps the members of Slayer are not pro-Nazi per se, but they do sport swastikas on their guitars, as documented here[1]. --Jamiem

"Those criticizing the song generally tended to overlook the fact that both Tom Araya, Slayer's vocalist, and Dave Lombardo, the band's drummer, are of distinctly non-Nordic heritage, albeit still Aryan."

What does this mean "albeit still Aryan"? Is Aryan a scientific concept?

not at all Zopwx2 07:39, 28 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The Link of SS-3 is incorrect! The title of the song Hanneman wrote is not about any ballistic rocket, but refers to the license plate of the car Heydrich was bombed in! (insaHne) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.113.106.29 (talk) 20:42, 2 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

"Slayer used the eagle atop swastika as their logo in the 1990s" ? Er, no. No swastika in the picture or in any other Slayer logo. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.220.134.178 (talk) 01:14, 16 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

GA passed[edit]

Nice article! Good referencing and prose. I edited the lead to three paragraphs to suit WP:LEAD. To improve in the future, maybe re-word my lead edit and find some reviews/articles that comment on the actual music/technical details of the song. The allmusic review I added mentions it being a slower-paced song in an otherwise frenzied album, so that's a start. I'm also sure that some reviewer has mentioned the blurred line between the scream and guitar wail at the beginning of the song, I'd love to see comment on that in the article if it has been mentioned. - Phorque 10:20, 25 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Angel of Death / Mengele[edit]

I notice somebody's picked out about the lyrics, so here are a few possible sources to use;

1. From here; "With the song “Angel of Death,” about delusional and deific eugenics practitioner Josef Mengele, a Nazi doctor who performed experiments on concentration camp inmates, the band unwittingly garnered acolytes among skin-headed Neo-Nazis."

2. From here; Interviewer says "...Angel of Death" [from "Reign in Blood"], in which you detailed Nazi atrocities without explicitly condemning them", which can be used if you want.

3. From here;

"With 'Angel of Death', it was like, 'You're Nazis!' Oh, yeah, right — we're Nazis. We really believe in that kind of government. I just feel you should be able to say whatever you want. I just hate that political correctness shit."

One thing about the Apocalyptica cover, check this Blabber post;

[2]

Another cover I read about;

Dokaka

Good luck at FAC. LuciferMorgan 03:04, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

South Park[edit]

I'm pretty sure it also appeared in the South Park episode about hippies. Kakun 17:59, 18 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

no, that was Raining Blood, sorry. Kakun 18:05, 18 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Iron Gland[edit]

Maybe Alice in Chains' "Iron Gland" track worths a mention. Kakun (talk) 22:39, 19 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Why?

Wasn't Jeff Jewish?[edit]

Wasn't Jeff Jewish? I think he was. Along with Kerry King! (So it's perfectly alright for him to write this song.) (120.149.118.251 (talk) 03:04, 6 May 2013 (UTC))[reply]

Second paragraph[edit]

States "... it remains a live favorite and is featured on all of Slayer's live albums and has appeared in several films." However this isn't sourced, or indeed mentioned later in the body of the article. Wanted to bring this up here first before tagging it with CN. Lugnuts Precious bodily fluids 08:56, 7 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]

No-one? Lugnuts Precious bodily fluids 18:46, 7 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]

What swastika?[edit]

§ Controversy features this graphic and caption: [[:File:Slayer eagle.png |thumb |180px |Continuing to capitalize on the controversy created by "Angel of Death", Slayer used the eagle atop swastika as their logo in the 1990s to gain further publicity.]]


The eagle here is atop a sword and behind a ring (carved in marble?) with an inverted pentacle also made of swords, and the band's jagged logo, whose initial "S" resembles the shape of the letters in the SS's logo.

There's no swastika, as pointed out by an IP user six years ago, although the eagle is reminiscent of the eagle in the "eagle atop swastika" (Reichsadler) graphic:

I'm editing the caption accordingly.

--Thnidu (talk) 03:37, 8 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Although, even amended, it's still a loaded piece of commentary, based on unsourced conjecture and inference. Who says the design is a bid to "capitalise" on the controversy? And the eagle isn't specific to Nazi Germany as a symbol anyway – it's used on 100s of flags and logos, including German ones before and after the Nazi period. Not that our own interpretations matter of course, but if anything it's far closer to the modern German eagle, especially in terms of how the wings are displayed. N-HH talk/edits 13:51, 8 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]
I hadn't seen that similar text is also repeated lower down in the main body, in the reception section. Again, there's no evidence behind the definitive claims that the logo was an attempt to "take advantage of the controversy" and that it is based on specifically Nazi symbols. As for the source added by this edit, its reliability is uncertain, and all it does anyway is say that the band used the logo rather than tell us about what it's supposedly meant to convey. The next bit of text, about Hanneman using SS stickers on his guitar is entirely unsourced (and although the band were obviously into military iconography I can't find any online evidence for that specific claim). The source that follows reference to SS-3, about Heydrich, does not mention Slayer; plus that content is better placed up in the controversy section, so that references to other songs by the band are all in the same place. I'll make small changes around all that, but how did this article ever reach FA status? N-HH talk/edits 10:33, 9 October 2016 (UTC)[reply]