Sending Mixed (Backwards) Messages
The other day I was listening to a G/B\V song that prominently features backwards messages. I get strange feelings when I hear these, like the band I'm listening to is up to no good. Of course, I'm in my mid 30s now and realize how silly that is. But there was a time when I was pretty naive.
The year: late 1984, or (more likely) early 1985. I was 12 years old, in grade seven and just beginning to develop an identity as a mulleted metalhead. I didn't fit in with the real hardcore burnout/stoner metal dudes (one guy in my class was rumoured to be seventeen years old), possibly for reasons relating to social class (which I would not have understood at the time). I didn't fit in with the jocks either, possibly for the same reason, but in reverse. One guy I did really connect with was a dude named Robert H (not the Rob you know) who sat in front of me in homeroom. He was a lot like me. Nerdy, awkward, without a lot of friends, but clearly into metal. It was Robert who first introduced me to this band. That's a good story too, but not for right now!
After lending me the RTL cassette by the above band (to rave reviews), he thought he'd try getting me into these evil dudes. He loaned me a copy of this cassette to check out.
I brought it home and put it in my parents' stereo. My friend Dave from across the street was there. I thought it would be good to have someone else present, because I was a little scared of this band. To a naive 12-year-old from a devout christian family with no streetwise older siblings or role models, the art and song titles alone were quite intimidating. The low production value only added to the feeling... it was like the band was poor/unpopular because they were truly dangerous to society. I had heard rumours at school about this sort of music causing people to join cults and perform human sacrifices, or commit suicide (though we were still a few years away from this foolishness). I had no reason to believe this was not the case.
We listened to the first two songs. I had never heard music like this before. Had Robert not introduced me to M'ica, I could not even have imagined something so fast, heavy and lo-fi even existing. I kind of liked it, but I wasn't sure if I should.
Then we got to the third song, which deals with the subject of being buried alive. In the song's intro, you hear a priest administering last rites, followed by the sound of earth being shovelled onto a coffin. That in itself was innocuous enough... but what freaked Dave and I out was that the priest's voice had been put through a pitch shifter, to make his tone sound just a little bit surreal. Of course, I had no idea what a pitch shifter was, or that voices could be manipulated in that way. "Why does that guy sound like that???" It was evil as fuck to me, and scary. Dave felt it too:
"Hey, don't bands like this put stuff on their tapes that hypnotizes you?"
I wasn't sure of the answer, but I didn't want to find out. We stopped the tape then and there, and I returned it to Robert the next day.
A few months later my family moved to Darkside and I became friends with d*Rock - a guy slightly older than me who was very worldly, and really nice. And he LOVED V'm. I reborrowed the early tapes from him and other friends and developed a whole new appreciation for that band, which continues today. Their first two albums are two of the greatest in the history of metal.
Although the intro to track three is not backwards, I lump it in with backmasked music because of the freaky vocal effect. Back in the day, metal bands were constantly being accused of having evil subliminal messages in their music. And just for a fleeting moment, I totally bought into it. I miss that feeling... being truly frightened by music. Sometimes when I hear a backwards passage in a song I'll think to myself,
"YES SATAN. I WILL DO YOUR BIDDING." (grabs large knife and stabs randomly at air).
If only it were that simple! I'd make BB put backwards messages in our songs to force people to buy me beer.
A footnote: This is a mocumentary I saw on TV a year or two before the V'm incident. I didn't realize this film was fictional until I was in high school.
The year: late 1984, or (more likely) early 1985. I was 12 years old, in grade seven and just beginning to develop an identity as a mulleted metalhead. I didn't fit in with the real hardcore burnout/stoner metal dudes (one guy in my class was rumoured to be seventeen years old), possibly for reasons relating to social class (which I would not have understood at the time). I didn't fit in with the jocks either, possibly for the same reason, but in reverse. One guy I did really connect with was a dude named Robert H (not the Rob you know) who sat in front of me in homeroom. He was a lot like me. Nerdy, awkward, without a lot of friends, but clearly into metal. It was Robert who first introduced me to this band. That's a good story too, but not for right now!
After lending me the RTL cassette by the above band (to rave reviews), he thought he'd try getting me into these evil dudes. He loaned me a copy of this cassette to check out.
I brought it home and put it in my parents' stereo. My friend Dave from across the street was there. I thought it would be good to have someone else present, because I was a little scared of this band. To a naive 12-year-old from a devout christian family with no streetwise older siblings or role models, the art and song titles alone were quite intimidating. The low production value only added to the feeling... it was like the band was poor/unpopular because they were truly dangerous to society. I had heard rumours at school about this sort of music causing people to join cults and perform human sacrifices, or commit suicide (though we were still a few years away from this foolishness). I had no reason to believe this was not the case.
We listened to the first two songs. I had never heard music like this before. Had Robert not introduced me to M'ica, I could not even have imagined something so fast, heavy and lo-fi even existing. I kind of liked it, but I wasn't sure if I should.
Then we got to the third song, which deals with the subject of being buried alive. In the song's intro, you hear a priest administering last rites, followed by the sound of earth being shovelled onto a coffin. That in itself was innocuous enough... but what freaked Dave and I out was that the priest's voice had been put through a pitch shifter, to make his tone sound just a little bit surreal. Of course, I had no idea what a pitch shifter was, or that voices could be manipulated in that way. "Why does that guy sound like that???" It was evil as fuck to me, and scary. Dave felt it too:
"Hey, don't bands like this put stuff on their tapes that hypnotizes you?"
I wasn't sure of the answer, but I didn't want to find out. We stopped the tape then and there, and I returned it to Robert the next day.
A few months later my family moved to Darkside and I became friends with d*Rock - a guy slightly older than me who was very worldly, and really nice. And he LOVED V'm. I reborrowed the early tapes from him and other friends and developed a whole new appreciation for that band, which continues today. Their first two albums are two of the greatest in the history of metal.
Although the intro to track three is not backwards, I lump it in with backmasked music because of the freaky vocal effect. Back in the day, metal bands were constantly being accused of having evil subliminal messages in their music. And just for a fleeting moment, I totally bought into it. I miss that feeling... being truly frightened by music. Sometimes when I hear a backwards passage in a song I'll think to myself,
"YES SATAN. I WILL DO YOUR BIDDING." (grabs large knife and stabs randomly at air).
If only it were that simple! I'd make BB put backwards messages in our songs to force people to buy me beer.
A footnote: This is a mocumentary I saw on TV a year or two before the V'm incident. I didn't realize this film was fictional until I was in high school.
posted by the baron ash von foolishness at 6:15 PM
1 Comments:
I once read the liner notes of an Information Society album. It had a disclaimer saying "the artist assumes no responsibility for the outcome of backward messages". At the end of the CD was a short backwards clip of someone talking, backed with ominous music. I played it correctly with my four track, and in a whispered, spooky voice, the man said "Obey your parents....do your homework.....stay in school....behave yourself...bwah ha ha ha hah!". ;)
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