"God Is Dead?" is a song by English heavy metal band

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

, the second track on their nineteenth studio album, '' 13'' (2013). It was released as the album's lead single on 19 April 2013, the first Black Sabbath release with

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

since "Psycho Man" and "Selling My Soul" from ''

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'' (1998).

Composition

"God Is Dead?" has been described as a

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

song. Both the song title and figure on the single's cover, by Heather Cassils, are a reference to

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

, a German philosopher who is famous for saying that " God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers?". It is one of Black Sabbath's longer original compositions, second to "Megalomania" off their 1975 album, ''

Sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...

''.

Release and reception

The song was released via an MP3 download on

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and was also available as a free download to those who pre-ordered the full album on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

. The song in its entirety was posted on the official

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channel in promotion of this. The music video for the song, directed by

Peter Joseph Peter Joseph is an American independent filmmaker and activist. He is best known for the ''Zeitgeist'' film series, which he wrote, directed, narrated, scored, and produced. He is also the founder of the related Zeitgeist Movement. Other wor ...

, known for the ''

Zeitgeist In 18th- and 19th-century German philosophy, a ''Zeitgeist'' () ("spirit of the age") is an invisible agent, force or Daemon dominating the characteristics of a given epoch in world history. Now, the term is usually associated with Georg W. F. ...

'' film series, was released on 10 June 2013. The song was featured in the second promo for the sixth season of ''

Sons of Anarchy ''Sons of Anarchy'' is an American action crime drama television series created by Kurt Sutter for FX. Originally aired from September 3, 2008 to December 9, 2014, ''Sons of Anarchy'' follows the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club ope ...

'', a FX network television series. "God Is Dead?" reached number 6 on the UK Rock Charts. It was ranked the 14th-best Black Sabbath song by ''Rock - Das Gesamtwerk der größten Rock-Acts im Check''. The song later won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance on 26 January 2014, the band's first Grammy Award in 14 years. Also in 2014, the song won a Planet Rock Award for Best British Single.

Personnel

– vocals *

Tony Iommi Anthony Frank Iommi () (born 19 February 1948) is a British musician. He co-founded the pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and was the band's guitarist, leader and primary composer and sole continuous member for nearly five decades. I ...

– guitar * Geezer Butler – bass guitar Additional musician * Brad Wilk – drums

Chart performance

References

External links

* {{Authority control Black Sabbath songs 2013 singles Songs written by Geezer Butler Songs written by Tony Iommi Songs written by Ozzy Osbourne Song recordings produced by Rick Rubin Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance 2013 songs Doom metal songs Vertigo Records singles