|
"Angel of Death" is the opening track on the American thrash metal band Slayer's 1986 album ''Reign in Blood''. The lyrics and music were written by Slayer guitarist, Jeff Hanneman and are based on Nazi physician Josef Mengele, who conducted human experiments at the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. "Angel of Death" led to the band facing accusations of Nazi sympathizing and racism throughout their career. Despite the controversy surrounding the song and its contribution to the delay in the release of ''Reign in Blood'', "Angel of Death" is featured on all of Slayer's live albums and DVDs and has appeared in several movies. The song was well received by critics; Steve Huey of AllMusic described it as a "classic." == Composition and origins == Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman wrote "Angel of Death" after reading books about Nazi physician Josef Mengele while on tour with the band:〔 "I remember stopping someplace where I bought two books on 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."〔 The lyrics detail Mengele's surgical experiments on patients at the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. Mengele's explorations were conducted on such groups as dwarfs and twins, and included both physical and psychological examinations. Among the tests he performed that are mentioned in "Angel of Death" are experimental surgeries performed without anesthesia, transfusion of blood between twins, isolation endurance, gassing, injections with lethal germs, sex change operations, the removal of organs and limbs, and abacination. "Sewn together, joining heads. Just a matter of time 'til you rip yourselves apart", a line from the penultimate verse, is a reference to the allegation Mengele stitched together twins, one of them deformed; "the hunchback was sewn to the other child, back to back, their wrists back to back too."〔Alleged by Vera Alexander in the 1985 Central Television (London) documentary The Search for Mengele. Also cited in: Posner , Gerald L. Ware, John. ''Mengele the Complete Story''. London: Futura Publications. 1987. p. 37 & 329.〕 This claim was first made by Auschwitz survivor Vera Alexander at the 1961 trial of SS-Hauptscharfuehrer Adolf Eichmann the "architect of the Holocaust", where it was asserted that Mengele "sewed the veins together" and turned "them into Siamese twins."〔The Trial of Adolf Eichmann. June 8th, 1961. Session 71. (transcript )〕 This allegation became more widely known when Vera Alexander was featured in the 1985 documentary ''The Search for Mengele'', which has been cited by several authors including Gerald Posner, an expert on Mengele.〔Posner, Gerald L. Ware, John. ''Mengele the Complete Story''. London: Futura Publications. 1987. p.37〕 Towards the end of the song, there is a line "Feeding off the screams of the mutants he's creating", which was taken from the film ''The Boys from Brazil'' in which Dr. Mengele was the villain. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Angel of Death (Slayer song)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|