There are traditional Slayer fans who wear Reign in Blood t-shirts twice a week, there are extremists who do crazy things like carve the band's name in their arms and then there are the closet devotees -- people you'd never peg as fans, but who might actually appreciate the band's music more than anyone. Nadja's frontman Aidan Baker and bassist Leah Buckareff fall into this latter category.
The Toronto-based experimental doom/drone band have expressed their kinship with Slayer not through their appearance, but with a radical revision of "Dead Skin Mask" from Slayer's 1990 legendary album Seasons in the Abyss.
Click "More" to download an MP3 of the creepy cover and read Baker's comments about the song.
"Dead Skin Mask" will be featured on the new Nadja covers record When I See the Sun Always Shines on TV, which comes out April 28 on The End Records.
"Seasons in the Abyss was the first Slayer album I picked up (on cassette, to date myself), Baker says. "I don't really remember why, actually, since I listened to more punk than metal -- but Slayer's always been a bit more punk-sounding than most metal bands. I've always been into Seasons more than Reign In Blood, even if the latter is the more punk record, and 'Dead Skin Mask' was always a favorite. We had also thought about covering 'Necrophobic' from Reign. We actually did record a version, but our take of 'Dead Skin Mask' sounded better -- probably because it's a slower song and is a bit more about atmosphere than about speed, which is more fitting to the Nadja sound."
When I See the Sun Always Shines on TV also features versions of My Bloody Valentine's "Only Shallow," Codeine's "Pea," Swans "No Cure For the Lonely," A-ha's "The Sun Always Shines on TV," Elliott Smith's "Needle in the Hay," Kids in the Hall's "Long Dark Twenties" and The Cure's "Faith."
Now download our exclusive MP3 of Nadja's cover of Slayer's "Dead Skin Mask."
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