This song is about Josef Mengele (The Angel Of Death), a doctor at Aushwitz who performed gruesome experiments on prisoners during the Holocaust. Many people who don't fully understand metal or Slayer have branded them Neo-Nazis and Satanists, but the song was written by guitarist Jeff Hanneman because he has an interest in World War II. His father landed on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944.
"Angel of Death" has become one of Slayer's signature songs and a classic of the thrash metal genre. It is included in all of their live albums and band-produced DVDs. It also appears in the soundtrack to many films, including Gremlins 2, Jackass: The Movie, and the 2005 documentary Soundtrack to War.
This was one of Rick Rubin's early productions. Slayer were signed to Rubin's Def Jam label, which also had Beastie Boys (that's how Slayer guitarist Kerry King ended up doing the solo on "No Sleep Till Brooklyn"). Def Jam's output was distributed by Columbia, but they refused to issue this one, so Rubin turned to Geffen, which handled the distribution.
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