Genre Heavy metal Producer(s) Rodger Bain | Length 7:08 | |
Released 18 September 1970 (1970-09-18) Label Vertigo (UK)
Warner Bros. (US) Writer(s) Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward, Ozzy Osbourne | ||
"Hand of Doom" is a song by the English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, originally appearing as the sixth song on their second album Paranoid, released in 1970. It has been performed in many of Black Sabbath's live concerts. The lyrics were written by Geezer Butler while the music was written by the four members. "Hand of Doom" is accepted as one of the best songs on the album by many fans of Black Sabbath. It is the second longest song on the album behind "War Pigs". The song was conceived after the band had observed a growing number of US soldiers arriving in England in the late 1960s from the Vietnam War with severe drug addictions. It's about them taking drugs to forget the atrocities of war, only to see it catch up on them and slowly destroy them from the inside.
Contents
Cover versions
The song has been covered by various bands, including:
Nirvana has covered part of the song during their early shows.