Frontman Dave Mustaine, who wrote the song with Megadeth bass player David Ellefson, explained the meaning of the song's title: "That was inspired by a book actually titled The Architecture Of Aggression, about the underground facilities used during the Nazi reign of terror. Many people have died in the architecture of a lot of countries. Yet it's just the leaders who are noted as so great in the struggle. The bible talks about the brick makers who stomped the mud and straw and would be left to die in the mud pits. Ultimately, the bricks would be made out of their sweat and blood."

This song was inspired by the massive bombing of Iraq on January 16, 1991 that initiated Operation Desert Storm. The sound samples at the end of the song are the voices of CNN correspondents (Peter Arnett and Bernard Shaw) in Baghdad, Iraq, describing what they saw that night.

Guitarist Marty Friedman called this song his favorite tune on the Countdown to Extinction album: "This also experienced the editing knife in pre-production and was shortened considerably. One of my fave vocals by Dave and also a real solid jammin' track." >>