Saturday, February 17, 2007

What's in the Music?

Backmasking (also incorrectly[1] known as backward masking) is an audio technique in which sounds are recorded backwards onto a track that is meant to be played forwards. Backmasking is a deliberate process, whereas a backward message may be unintentional. Backmasking has been a source of much controversy, especially related to supposed subliminal messages in rock music.
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Satanic and violent messages
Much of the controversy over backmasking is a result of Satanic messages in heavy metal music.

Slayer's 1985 album Hell Awaits is a prominent example of hidden Satanic messages in music. The album starts with a demonic-sounding voice that, when played backwards, urges "Join Us" over and over at increasing volumes[14].

The Cradle of Filth song "Dinner at Deviants Palace" consists almost entirely of ambient sounds and a reversed reading of the Lord's Prayer[15] (being able to say the Lord's Prayer backwards was perceived in the Middle Ages as a sign of being a witch).

Another lesser-known example is in the Alan Parsons Project album The Turn of a Friendly Card: at the very end of the first track "May be a price to pay," a backward message is inserted, constructed by the words "something's been going on, there may be a price to pay" played in reverse. The message, in clear Spanish, is "Escucha, baby, al Demonio, es bien fácil"[citation needed] (Listen, baby, to the Demon, it's so easy). As a side note, "al Demonio", is used colloquially in Spanish as the equivalent of "Oh, hell" or "Oh, screw this", but the way that "al Demonio" is used in that sentence means "to the Demon".

Some of the controversy deals with songs that are not necessarily Satanic, but simply anti-Christian. Black metal band Darkthrone's Transilvanian Hunger album contains, when listened to backwards, "In the name of God, let the churches burn"[16]. Death rock group Christian Death's song "Mysterium Iniquitatis" is sung almost entirely backwards, and when reversed, expresses atheistic beliefs[citation needed].

Finally, some backmasking is controversial because of its violent themes. On Born Dead, a 1994 album from heavy metal band Body Count, which contains a backward message on the song "Killing Floor": "Body Count, motherfucker. Burn in hell!"[citation needed]. The Finnish metal act Turmion Kätilöt, on their 2005 EP Niuva 20, inserted a deliberate backwards message in a robotic-sounding voice about halfway through the second track, "Kirosana" ("Profanity"), which, when played backwards, says, "Raiskatkaamme tämä helvetillinen maanpäällinen taivas. Siinä sinulle elämän tarkoitus"[citation needed] (roughly translating to "Let's rape this hellish heaven on earth. There's your meaning of life").


In 1981, Styx was accused of putting a backwards message, believed to be either "Satan move through our voices" or "Satan moves the horses", on the song "Snowblind", from Paradise Theatre. This prompted the band to create the concept album Kilroy Was Here, which deals with an allegorical group called the "Majority for Musical Morality" that outlaws rock music. A sticker on the album cover contains the message, "By order of the Majority for Musical Morality, this album contains secret backward messages". One song, "Heavy Metal Poisoning", does in fact contain the backmasked Latin words "Annuit Cœptis, Novus Ordo Seclorum" – part of the Great Seal which encircles the pyramid on the back of the dollar bill.[17]


Check out this site...

http://jeffmilner.com/backmasking.htm

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