Angel of Death (song)
| Angel of Death | |
|---|---|
| Slayer | |
| publication | October 7, 1986 (album) |
| length | 4:51 |
| Genre (s) | Thrash metal |
| Author (s) | Jeff Hanneman |
| album | Reign in Blood |
Angel of Death is a song by the US thrash metal band Slayer . It is the first track on Reign in Blood , the band's third studio album, released on Def Jam on October 7, 1986 .
Origin and production
The song was released on the album Reign in Blood . This was recorded with Rick Rubin as producer in the Hit City West studio and mixed and mastered in the New Fresh Studios . Rubin did with Angel of Death no rhythm guitar , but only guitar solo . However, Slayer implemented the original version written by Jeff Hanneman after buying two books on Josef Mengele .
“I remember stopping some place where I bought two books on [Nazi“ surgeon ”Josef] Mengele. I thought, "This has gotta be some sick shit." So when it came time to do the record, that stuff was still in my head — that's where the lyrics to "Angel of Death" came from. "
“I remember stopping somewhere where I bought two books on [the Nazi“ surgeon ”Josef] Mengele. I thought, "That must be sick shit." Then when it came time to make the album, I was still thinking about the stuff - that's where the lyrics to Angel of Death came from . "
However, Hanneman did not use the books as a template, but wrote the text from memory:
"I knew about this crap beforehand, so there was no need to look it up anywhere."
content
The song is about Josef Mengele . He was a camp doctor in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp and carried out human experiments. In the English-speaking area he has the nickname "Angel of Death", after which the song is named, and is known in the German-speaking area as the "Angel of Death of Auschwitz".
Mengele's human experiments described in Angel of Death include experimental operations without anesthesia , blood transfusions between twins , sewing bodies together, isolation in solitary confinement , gassings , injections of deadly germs , sex reassignments , blinding, and the removal of organs and limbs:
“Pumped with fluid, inside your brain / Pressure in your skull begins pushing through your eyes / Burning flesh, drips away / Test of heat burns your skin, your mind starts to boil / Frigid cold, cracks your limbs / How long can you last / In this frozen water burial? / Sewn together, joining heads / Just a matter of time / till you rip yourselves apart ”
"Pumped full of fluid, in your brain / Pressure in your skull begins to push through your eyes / Burning flesh, drips off / A heat test burns your skin, your mind begins to boil / Freezing cold, blows your limbs / How long can you do it endure / in this ice water funeral? / Sewn together, connected heads / It's just a matter of time / Until you tear yourself apart "
controversy
Since the National Socialists are not explicitly described as bad in the lyrics, the musicians came under suspicion of being National Socialists themselves. The band found this allegation absurd due to producer Rick Rubin's Jewish ancestry . In addition, the bassist and singer Tom Araya comes from Chile and the drummer Dave Lombardo from Cuba .
“It was like,“ Oh yeah — we're racists. We've got a Cuban and a Chilean in the band. Get real. ””
"It was like," Oh yeah - we are racists . We have a Cuban and a Chilean in the band. Remain realistic. ""
Slayer used the Angel of Death debate to attract even more attention. In the 1990s there was a logo that adapted the imperial eagle from the Nazi era . He holds one of the swords typical of the logo in his claws, the swastika has been replaced by a drudene with the Slayer lettering.
music
Angel of Death is the longest song in the 29-minute Reign in Blood at 4 minutes and 51 seconds, with an average length of around 2 minutes and 55 seconds. Unlike many of the other songs on the album, it has a structure made up of verses and stanzas .
reception
The reviews of Reign in Blood were good overall; some highlight Angel of Death specifically, for example Steve Huey, who regards the song as a "classic" ("classic"). “There is no better song than the all-out" Angel of Death "for kicking things away [...], a song with Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman delivering their intricate riffs, Dave Lombardo drumming powerfully, and Tom Araya his story from Nazi war criminal Mengele screams and growls, ”Adrien Gründand mentions in a summary of Slayer's band history.
Greg Anderson , guitarist of the drone band Sunn O))) , said in an interview that the death metal band Cannibal Corpse only played alternative versions of Angel of Death , but left unclear how he found the song himself:
“Honestly how interesting is it to hear about how the lyrics and riffs came about for the 12th Cannibal Corpse album that is exactly like the 11 before it? No offense meant to CC, I like them and what they do serves an important purpose, but what I'm getting at is that music and art that pushes boundaries and progresses is often times more interesting to read / learn about then how many ways you can talk about disemboweling and then eating a corpse while riffing alternate versions of Angel of Death. "
"Honestly, how interesting is it where the lyrics and riffs for the twelfth Cannibal Corpse album come from, which was just like the eleven before him? This is not meant as an attack on CC, I like them and what they do serves an important purpose, but what I mean is that it is often more interesting to read / learn about music that pushes boundaries than about it how many ways to talk about eviscerating and eating corpses while playing alternate versions of the Angel of Death riffs . "
There have also been bad reviews, for example from Rich Stim in Spin magazine , who reviewed a pre-release version of Reign in Blood . He accused the band of the lyrics to Angel of Death to make a "comic drama" from the Holocaust . Later, however, the magazine awarded 67th place of the list 100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005 to Reign in Blood , the next Master of Puppets by Metallica the only metal album is the list (number 59).
“The album starts with the words 'Auschwitz, the meaning of pain'. For sheer numbness of purpose, nothing beats 'Angel of Death,' Slayer's commentary on Nazi Joseph [sic] Mengele. Mengele was a 'sadist of the noblest blood' who 'toiled to benefit the Aryan race' by performing 'surgery with no anesthesia.' Jeez, if you ever wondered what effect Hogan's Heroes had on our culture, this is it - a view of the Holocaust as comic-book drama, as removed from reality as the Black Plague or Darth Vader. "
“The album begins with the words 'Auschwitz, the meaning of pain'. For the pure purpose of numbing nothing beats 'Angel of Death', Slayer's comment on the Nazi Joseph [sic] Mengele . Mengele was a 'noblest blooded sadist' who 'worked for the benefit of the Aryan race' by performing 'operations without anesthesia'. My goodness, in case you've ever wondered what impact a cage full of heroes has on our culture, that's them - viewing the Holocaust as a comic drama as removed from reality as the Black Death and Darth Vader . "
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b "An exclusive oral history of Slayer" ( Memento from August 13, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed on February 20, 2010)
- ↑ quoted from Bettina Roccor: Heavy Metal - Art. Commerce. Heresy . IP Verlag Jeske and Mader, Berlin 1998, p. 234 .
- ↑ Auschwitz.dk via Mengele (accessed February 20, 2010)
- ^ Review of Reign in Blood on allmusic.com (accessed February 20, 2010)
- ↑ Popmatters.com: The Devil in Music (accessed February 20, 2010)
- ↑ Vince Neil Stein: EXCLUSIVE Interview with GREG ANDERSON OF SUNN O))) AND SOUTHERN LORD RECORDS. MetalSucks, February 4, 2009, accessed February 26, 2010 .
- Jump up ↑ DX Ferris: Reign in Blood . Continuum, 2008, p. 90 .