Postmortem Lyrics

As recorded by Slayer
(From the 1986 Album REIGN IN BLOOD)
Words and Music by Jeff Hanneman
Gtr I (Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb) - 'Untitled'
Gtr II (Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb) - 'Untitled'
Q.=140
Gtrs I, II
PM--| PM PM PM--| PM PM
Q. E E E E E E E E E E Q E E E E E E E E E
|------------10s9---9s10---|-13s12--------10s9---9s10---|
|-9----------10s9---9s10---|-13s12--------10s9---9s10---|
|-7-----------8s7---7s=8---|-11s10---------8s7---7s=8---|
PM--| PM PM
E Q E E E E E E E E E
|-13s12--------10s9---9s10-----|
|-13s12--------10s9---9s10-----|
|-11s10---------8s7---7s=8-----|
PM--| PM PM
Q. Q. E E E E E E Q. E E E E E E E E E
|-----------------------||o--------------------------|
|-8----8----------------||-------------10s9---9s10---|
|-8----8----------------||-------------10s9---9s10---|
|-6----6----8-6---6-5---||o-------------8s7---7s=8---|
PM--| PM PM PM--| PM PM
E Q E E E E E E E E E E Q E E E E E E E E E
|-13s12--------10s9---9s10---|-13s12--------10s9---9s10---|
|-13s12--------10s9---9s10---|-13s12--------10s9---9s10---|
|-11s10---------8s7---7s=8---|-11s10---------8s7---7s=8---|
Q. Q. E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E
|-----------------------|-------------o||-------------------------||
|-6----6----8-6---6-5---|---5-4-3-----o||---5-4-3-------4-3-2-----||
Pre-Verse
Q E E E E E E E E E E Q E E E E E E E E E E
||o------------------------|------------------------|
||o-2--3-------------------|-2--3-------------------|
Q E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E
|------------------------|-------------------------o||
|-2--3-------------------|-2s3-3-3s6-6-6s5-5-5s3-3--||
|-2--3-------------------|-2s3-3-3s6-6-6s5-5-5s3-3-o||
|-0--1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|-0s1-1-1s4-4-4s3-3-3s1-1--||
Q E E E E E E E E E E Q E E E E E E E E E E
Q E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E
|-2--3-------------------|-2s3-3-3s6-6-6s5-5-5s3-3----|
|-2--3-------------------|-2s3-3-3s6-6-6s5-5-5s3-3----|
|-0--1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|-0s1-1-1s4-4-4s3-3-3s1-1----|
Q E E E E E E E E E E Q E E E E E E E E E E
Q E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E
|-2--3-------------------|-2s3-3-3s6-6-6s5-5-5s3-3----|
|-2--3-------------------|-2s3-3-3s6-6-6s5-5-5s3-3----|
|-0--1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|-0s1-1-1s4-4-4s3-3-3s1-1----|
PM-------------------------------------------------
PM-------------------------------------------------
E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E Q. E E E Q.
Q E E E E E E E E E E Q E E E E E E E E E E
||o------------------------|------------------------|
||o-2--3-------------------|-2--3-------------------|
Q E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E
|------------------------|---------------------------o||
|-2--3-------------------|-2s3-3-3s6-6-6s5-5-5s3-3----||
|-2--3-------------------|-2s3-3-3s6-6-6s5-5-5s3-3---o||
|-0--1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|-0s1-1-1s4-4-4s3-3-3s1-1----||
Q E E E E E E E E E E Q E E E E E E E E E E
Q E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E
Q E E E E E E E E E E Q E E E E E E E E E E
Q E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E
PM-------------------------------------------------
PM----------------------------------------------|
PM--| PM--------|
Q. E E E Q. Q. E E E E E E E E E Q.
PM--| PM PM PM--| PM PM
Q. E E E E E E E E E E Q E E E E E E E E E
|------------10s9---9s10---|-13s12--------10s9---9s10---|
|------------10s9---9s10---|-13s12--------10s9---9s10---|
|-------------8s7---7s=8---|-11s10---------8s7---7s=8---|
PM--| PM PM
E Q E E E E E E E E E Q. Q. E E E E E E
|-13s12--------10s9---9s10---|-8----8-------------------||
|-13s12--------10s9---9s10---|-8----8-------------------||
|-11s10---------8s7---7s=8---|-6----6----8-6---6-5------||
PM--| PM PM
Q. E E E E E E E E E
||o--------------------------|
||-------------10s9---9s10---|
||-------------10s9---9s10---|
||o-------------8s7---7s=8---|
PM--| PM PM PM--| PM PM
E Q E E E E E E E E E E Q E E E E E E E E E
|-13s12--------10s9---9s10---|-13s12--------10s9---9s10---|
|-13s12--------10s9---9s10---|-13s12--------10s9---9s10---|
|-11s10---------8s7---7s=8---|-11s10---------8s7---7s=8---|
Q. Q. E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E
|-----------------------|-------------o||-------------------------||
|-6----6----8-6---6-5---|---5-4-3-----o||---5-4-3-------4-3-2-----||
Q=164
||o-----------------|-----------------o||
||o---8-7-6-----7-6-|---8-7-6-4-3-----o||
||o------------------|------------------o||
||o----8-7-6-7-6-7-6-|----8-7-6-4-3-----o||
||o-----------------|-----------------o||
||o---8-7-6-----7-6-|---8-7-6-4-3-----o||
||o------------------|------------------o||
||o----8-7-6-7-6-7-6-|----8-7-6-4-3-----o||
H.=H
Gtr II
W +W +W
Gtr I
TP TP
H H H. Q +W
|-----------|-------------:--------||
|-----------|-------------:--------||
|-----------|-------------:--------||
|-6---------|-------------:--------||
|-6----6----|--6-------6--:-(6)----||
|-4----4----|--4-------4--:-(4)----||
Q=240
Gtr II
Q Q H W
Gtr I
E S S S S E E S S S S E E S S S S E E E S S S S
W Q H.
E S S S S E E S S S S E E S S S S E E S S S S E
Gtrs I, II
E S S S S E E S S S S E E S S S S E E E S S S S
E S S S S E E S S S S E E S S S S E E S S S S E
Out-Verse 1 & 2
E S S S S E E S S S S E E S S S S E E E S S S S
||o-------------------------|-------------------------|
||o-------------------------|-------------------------|
E S S S S E E S S S S E E S S S S E E S S S S E
E S S S S E E S S S S E E S S S S E E E S S S S
E S S S S E E S S S S E E S S S S E E S S S S E
E S S S S E E S S S S E E S S S S E E S S S S E
E S S S S E E S S S S E E S S S S E E S S S S E
E S S S S E E S S S S E E S S S S E E S S S S E
E S S S S E E S S S S E E S S S S E E S S S S E
|-------------------------|----------------------------o||
|-------------------------|----------------------------o||
Q Q Q E E S S S S E E S S S S E
|--------------||o-------------------------|
|-9------------||o-------------5-5-5-5-5-5-|
E S S S S E E S S S S E E S S S S E E S S S S E
1. 2. H.=H
E S S S S E E S S S S E H H W +W W
|-------------------------o||-----------||----------|------------|------*|
|-------------------------o||-9----8----||-2--------|-(2)--------|------*|
Duration Legend
W - whole; H - half; Q - quarter; E - 8th; S - 16th; T - 32nd; X - 64th; a - acciaccatura
+ - note tied to previous; . - note dotted; .. - note double dotted
Uncapitalized letters represent notes that are staccato (1/2 duration)
Irregular groupings are notated above the duration line
Duration letters will always appear directly above the note/fret number it represents the
duration for. Duration letters with no fret number below them represent rests. Multi-
bar rests are notated in the form Wxn, where n is the number of bars to rest for. Low
melody durations appear below the staff
Tablature Legend
h - hammer-on
p - pull-off
b - bend
pb - pre-bend
r - bend release (if no number after the r, then release immediately)
/\ - slide into or out of (from/to "nowhere")
s - legato slide
S - shift slide
- natural harmonic
(n) - artificial harmonic
n(n) - tapped harmonic
~ - vibrato
tr - trill
T - tap
TP - trem. picking
PM - palm muting
\n/ - tremolo bar dip; n = amount to dip
\n - tremolo bar down
n/ - tremolo bar up
/n\ - tremolo bar inverted dip
= - hold bend; also acts as connecting device for hammers/pulls
- volume swell (louder/softer)
x - on rhythm slash represents muted slash
o - on rhythm slash represents single note slash
Misc Legend
| - bar
|| - double bar
||o - repeat start
o|| - repeat end
*| - double bar (ending)
: - bar (freetime)
$ - Segno
& - Coda
Tempo markers - = BPM(8/16=s8/s16), where s8 = swing 8ths, s16 = swing 16ths