"Electric Funeral" is the fifth song from Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...

's second album Paranoid

Paranoid (album)

Paranoid is the second studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath. Released in September 1970, the album was the only one by the band to top the UK Albums Chart, and as a result is commonly identified as the band's magnum opus...

, released in 1970. The song deals with nuclear war

Nuclear warfare

Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...

 and its aftermath. While thematically similar to "War Pigs

War Pigs

"War Pigs" is a song by British heavy metal band Black Sabbath from their 1970 album Paranoid. It is generally believed that the band wrote the song as a protest against the Vietnam War; however, when Sabbath played "War Pigs" in the mid-'70s, they projected scenes from World War II.As explained in...

", the song lyrics are even darker, describing a nightmarish post-apocalyptic wasteland of irradiated

Radiation poisoning

Acute radiation syndrome also known as radiation poisoning, radiation sickness or radiation toxicity, is a constellation of health effects which occur within several months of exposure to high amounts of ionizing radiation...

, sub-human mutants living in a miserable, synthetic garden

Garden

A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...

 in constant and utter terror of nuclear fallout

Nuclear fallout

Fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and shock wave have passed. It commonly refers to the radioactive dust and ash created when a nuclear weapon explodes...

; a fact complemented by an eerie main riff

RIFF

The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....

. For the majority of the song, the vocal melody is a constant repetition of the them from the "Mars" movement of Gustave Holst's Planets Suite. As Mars is the "bringer of war" this melody is particularly fitting for the songs content. The main guitar riff is a modification of the Mars theme. The song did not appear in the live set until 1977, and then was not played again until the Reunion Tour.

The song was covered by Pantera

Pantera

Pantera was an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas. Formed by the Abbott brothers, Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell in 1981, bassist Rex Brown would join in late 1981 with vocalist Terry Glaze. Looking for a new and heavier sound, Pantera had Terry replaced in 1987 with Phil Anselmo as...

 on the second Nativity in Black tribute album

Tribute album

A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...

, by Soulfly

Soulfly

Soulfly is a heavy metal band formed in 1997 based in Phoenix, Arizona. The original lyrical content revolved around spirituality and religious themes, with later albums encompassing other themes including war, violence, aggression, hatred and anger. Soulfly is led by former Sepultura frontman Max...

, as well as by power metal

Power metal

Power metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...

 band Iced Earth

Iced Earth

Iced Earth is an American heavy metal band from Tampa, Florida. Originally formed under the name "Purgatory" in 1984, Iced Earth has released a total of ten studio albums, one live album, three EP's, two compilations and boxsets...

 on their Melancholy EP

The Melancholy E.P.

-Bonus tracks :-Credits:* Jon Schaffer − Lead/Rhythm Guitars* Matt Barlow − Lead Vocals* Larry Tarnowski − Guitar solos* Randall Shawver − Lead Guitars * James MacDonough − Bass Guitars* Dave Abell − Bass Guitars...

, death metal

Death metal

Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....

 band Brutality

Brutality (band)

Brutality is an American death metal band from Tampa, Florida. " Brutality" formed in 1986 and soon after released their first demo called "Abomination". In 1988, they released their second demo "Brutality" that led them into the fanzine underground. The band's third demo "Dimension Demented" was...

 on their album When the Sky Turns Black

When the Sky Turns Black

When the Sky Turns Black is the second album by Brutality and was released in 1994 on Nuclear Blast Records.-Track listing:# "When the Sky Turns Black" # "Race Defects" # "Awakening"...

, and the doom metal band Electric Wizard

Electric Wizard

Electric Wizard are a stoner metal band from Dorset, England that formed in 1993. The band have since recorded seven albums, at least three of which are now considered to be landmarks of their genre: their self-title debut, Electric Wizard, Come My Fanatics..., and Dopethrone...

 on their compilation album Pre-Electric Wizard 1989–1994. Beavis and Butt-head

Beavis and Butt-Head

Beavis and Butt-head is an American animated television series created by Mike Judge. The series originated from Frog Baseball, a 1992 short film by Judge. After seeing the short, MTV signed Judge to develop the concept. Beavis and Butt-head originally aired from March 8, 1993 to November 28, 1997...

 also do an air guitar imitation of the song riff in many of their episodes. It is part of Candlemass

Candlemass

Candlemass are an influential Swedish doom metal band established in 1984 by Leif Edling , their leader and songwriter. The band is originally from Stockholm. After releasing five full-length albums and touring extensively throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Candlemass disbanded in 1994, but...

' "Black Sabbath Medley", which originally appeared on the Ancient Dreams

Ancient Dreams

Ancient Dreams is the third album of Swedish doom metal band Candlemass and was released in 1988, and reissued in 2001 by Powerline Records with bonus CD...

album and has been a staple of the band's live set since. It was also covered by Cavalera Conspiracy

Cavalera Conspiracy

Cavalera Conspiracy is a Brazilian heavy metal band founded by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera , along with American guitarist and bassist Marc Rizzo and Johny Chow. The band originally formed in 2007 as Inflikted but changed its name for legal reasons...

 for a tribute CD issued by UK metal magazine Metal Hammer

Metal Hammer

Metal Hammer is a monthly heavy metal music magazine published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing, and in several other countries by different publishers. Metal Hammer articles feature both mainstream bands and more unusual acts from the whole spectrum of heavy metal music...

. The song had also been covered by the Serbia

Serbia

Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

n doom metal band Svarog

Svarog (band)

Svarog was a Serbian sludge/doom metal band from Belgrade, notable as one of the first representatives of the genres in Serbia.- History :...

in 1995.