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From album
Paranoid
Black Sabbath · 1970 · Track 6
Details
Duración7:08
ÁlbumParanoid
Año1970
ISRCUSWB11304632
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The story behind
When you dive into *Hand of Doom*, you encounter a piece that goes straight to the bone of heavy metal, with a duration of 7 minutes and 8 seconds that allows you to explore every corner of its atmosphere. The music, attributed to the entirety of Black Sabbath —Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward, and Ozzy Osbourne—, feels like a dense and heavy journey. The lyrics, on the other hand, are the work of Geezer Butler, and they take us to a dark place, reflecting the harsh reality of American soldiers returning from the Vietnam War in the late 1960s, dealing with severe addictions, especially to heroin, as a way to cope with post-traumatic stress. It's an unvarnished image of hard drug use as self-soothing.
This track was recorded in a very short period, just a few days in June, to be part of the album *Paranoid*. Producer Rodger Bain was in charge of the recording. The album, released by the label Vertigo in the UK on September 18, 1970, and in the US on January 7, 1971, through Warner Bros. Records, is fundamental to the band's discography. It contains other iconic songs like *Iron Man* and *War Pigs*, in addition to the title track, which was the band's only UK top 20 hit. The influence of this song has transcended, with covers by bands such as Danzig, who gave it a twist with new lyrics and arrangements, Orange Goblin, and Slayer for a tribute album. Even the band Tool has performed it in their live shows.