Slayer · Reign in Blood · song 1
Angel of Death tuning.
Angel of Death (Slayer, 1986) is in E♭ Standard, about 13 cents flat (A ≈ 437), measured by TuneLit from the record.
Measured by TuneLit
13 ¢ flat
The album's value, measured on the CD: Tune moves every string −12 ¢.
Slayer · Reign in Blood · 1986
About Angel of Death
Angel of Death opens Reign in Blood (1986) with a scream and a barrage of fast riffs, and it is one of Jeff Hanneman's best-known songs for Slayer. Every song on the album is tabbed in E♭ Standard (E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ B♭ E♭), half a step down, the tuning Kerry King calls "D♯".
TuneLit measured the CD about 12 ¢ flat overall (A ≈ 436.8), but the songs are spread between concert pitch and 18 ¢ flat. Angel of Death reads about 7 ¢ flat, a little higher than the album value; that is not enough for its own setting, so its Tune button sets E♭ Standard −12 ¢.
If your guitar sounds slightly flat against the record after you tap Tune, that is the gap between the album value and this song: nudge Fine-tune up a few cents. Do not let tab names confuse you either. "D♯ tuning" and "E♭ Standard" are the same thing, and TuneLit's check from the audio agrees with E♭ here. A guitar left in E Standard is a half step too high for the whole album.
Tip: Start from Tune's E♭ −12 ¢ and nudge Fine-tune up a few cents if your guitar sounds flat against the opening riffs.
Step by step
Tune your guitar like the record
- Tap Tune like this: the tuner switches to E♭ Standard, every string −12 ¢, the notes Angel of Death was recorded in.
- From E Standard: Every string down a half step. No tuner that knows E♭ Standard? Clamp a capo across fret 1, tune to E Standard as usual, then take it off: every string drops to E♭ Standard. Check each string again afterwards, since a capo pulls the strings a little sharp.
- Turn String 6 to String 1 until each shows ✓ in tune. Angel of Death sits 13 cents flat on the record: at A 440 your guitar would sound that much sharp against it, which Tune already corrects.
- Then play Angel of Death along with the record: its lowest open note and your String 6 should ring together without a wobble.
Or the other way round
Move the record into your tuning
Rather keep your guitar as it is? Let Play along move Angel of Death instead. Add your own copy, for example from your CD (it never leaves your device); the link already says the song is in E♭ Standard −12 ¢. Choose E Standard at A 440 and Angel of Death moves up a half step and 13 cents, at its own speed. Slow it down or loop a few bars to learn it, and save the result as a WAV file.
Questions
What tuning is Angel of Death in?
E♭ Standard −12 ¢: E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ B♭ E♭, low to high, at the pitch TuneLit measured on the record.