Most people probably hadn’t heard of sarin gas before the 1994 and 1995 attacks in Japan by the Aum Shinrikyo cult.

Sarin is an odorless, colorless gas which damages your nervous system if you inhale it or get it on your skin. It inhibits the mechanism by which your body allows its muscles to relax, leading to convulsions and a loss of bodily control, inability to breath and likely death.

The only good thing about sarin is that it doesn’t store well, which makes it difficult to stockpile for use as a weapon.

“Aum Shinrikyo” used sarin in two terrorist attacks in Japan, in 1994 and 1995, killing a total of 19 people.

WFMU describes Aum Shinrikyo’s beliefs as “a wild mixture of Buddhism, Hinduism, Nostradamus, and the Book of Revelations” - something which I normally would respond to as “you can’t get there from here” - but apparently you can.

Informed by everything from buddhism and anime to Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy, they started out studying yogic meditation (the Wikipedia article on them uses another unlikely combination of words, “elite meditation boutique”), they became more militant over time, driving around in an armored Mercedes, until finally they involved themselves in terrorist attacks, kidnapping and microwave incineration.

In a Buckaroo Banzai-like twist, their mostly blind leader, Shoko Asahara, not only masterminded their transformation from meditators to terrorists, but also recorded music.

The WFMU link below has two songs recorded by Shoko Asahara, and they’re not as god-awful as you might expect. The first, “Lord Death’s Counting Song”, sounds a bit like a Japanese nursery song. I imagine that I might feel differently if I spoke Japanese and could understand the lyrics. The second, “Shonshi’s March”, is a light psychedelic piece replete with Wendy Carlos-like-like synthesizer flourishes. But then for all I know, “Sonshi” means “I feast on your innards”.

You probably don’t need to listen to the songs more than once, or even all the way through.

Aum Shinrikyo has renamed themselves to “Aleph” and Shoko Asahara is awaiting execution. Fumihiro Joyu, a former spokesman for the group, is now apologizing to victims of the gas attacks. Rumor has it that some cells of the group are still active in Russia.

Via: WFMU’s Beware of the Blog: Shoko Asahara Sings (MP3s)

Via: AFP: Ex-leader of Japan doomsday cult says sorry
[tags]shoko asahara, japan, doomsday cult, Aum Shinrikyo, music, isaac asimov, foundation trilogy, aleph[/tags]

|