Slayer, Angel of Death | Controversial Tunes 😈🎶

On the 28^th edition of Controversial Tunes (2021), we explore the controversy behind the song “Angel of Death” by Slayer. 

B

ring on the controversy, won’t you? Controversial Tunes 😈🎶 is a column that provides background information and insight into songs that raised eyebrows and totally stirred the pot.  The records that grace Controversial Tunes are old and new alike, with all genres of music welcome.  On the 28^th edition of Controversial Tunes, we explore the controversy behind the song, 🎵 “Angel of Death” by 🎙 Slayer. 

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Theme & Lyrics ✍

“Auschwitz, the meaning of pain / The way that I want you to die / Slow death, immense decay / Showers that cleanse you of your life.” Holy moly! No, more fittingly, holy 💩! When it comes to heavy metal, 🎙 Slayer are the crème de la crème.  The band is both famous and infamous depending on where you stand. The themes covered in their music – serial killers, religious skepticism, and Satanism – aren’t for the ‘faint of heart.’ What I’m saying is, with a Slayer song, don’t expect optimism!

🎵 “Angel of Death” serves as the up-tempo opener from their renowned (and controversial) 1986 album, 💿 Reign in Blood. Slayer tackles Joseph Mengele, an infamous doctor at the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II, known for his “inhumane medical experimentation upon the prisoners”.  Wow!

“Sadistic, surgeon of demise
Sadist of the noblest blood
Destroying, without mercy
To benefit the Aryan race.”

Yikes, yikes, and another heaping dose of yikes! It doesn’t end there, folks!

“Surgery, with no anesthesia
Feel the knife pierce you intensely
Inferior, no use to mankind
Strapped down screaming out to die.”

Fans of FX anthology series 📺 American Horror Story may not have realized that character Dr. Arthur Arden (played by 🎭 James Cromwell on season two, Asylum) was based on Mengele. “Angel of Death” was the nickname for the twisted doctor/murderer, in addition to being the song’s title.  Listen to this record and read through the lyrics, and there’s no way this couldn’t be controversial.  Anytime true crime is the source, expected those eyebrows to be raised.

“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.” 

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Final Thoughts 💭 

Really, is there anything else to say about “Angel of Death”?  We have a controversial band performing a controversial song about a controversial doctor.  This isn’t light listening in the least my friends.  Safe to say, this is Slayer through and through 😈 🤘.

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🎙 Slayer • 💿 Reign in Blood • 🏷 American Recordings • 🗓 1986
Slayer, “Angel of Death”: Controversial Tunes 😈🎶 No. 28 [📷: Aidan Feddersen on Unsplash, American Recordings, Brent Faulkner, The Musical Hype]

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