Hand of Doom

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This article is about the Black Sabbath song. A different song with the same name was recorded by Manowar.
""Hand of Doom""
""Hand of Doom"" cover
Song by Black Sabbath
from the album 'Paranoid'
Released 1970
Genre Heavy Metal
Length 7:09
Label Vertigo (UK) Warner Bros. Records (US)
Producer(s) Rodger Bain
'Paranoid' track listing
"Electric Funeral"
(5)
""Hand of Doom""
(6)
"Rat Salad"
(7)

"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.

Slayer covered the song on the second Nativity in Black tribute album. Danzig also recorded a cover version (with new lyrics) on their Blackacidevil album.

This song was thought to influence the start of the doom metal genre.