Hand of Doom (song)

This article is about the Black Sabbath song. A different song with the same name was recorded by Manowar.

"Hand of Doom"
Song

Overview

"Hand of Doom" is an anti-heroin song by Black Sabbath from their breakthrough album Paranoid in 1970. It is the first drug-related song by the band, and many others would follow, including "Fairies Wear Boots", "Sweet Leaf", "Snowblind" and "Supernaut".

Although "Hand of Doom" is a favorite of the band, it was kept off of the compilation Symptom of the Universe: The Original Black Sabbath 1970-1978, probably because of its over 7-minute length. A live recording can be found on Past Lives. Thematically, it is a heavy metal cousin to The Velvet Underground's landmark art rock song "Heroin" from their 1967 debut, in that the lyrical themes, imagery, and messages of both songs are quite similar. Both songs transition between loud and soft passages to represent "shooting up" the drug. This song was thought to influence the start of the doom metal genre.

Covers

• Slayer- from the tribute album Nativity in Black
• Danzig- from Blackacidevil, gave the song some new lyrics
• Isis- from rare Red Sea Ep (Japanese edition)
• HIM- live, They also featured it on their recent album Uneasy Listening Vol. 2.