A closer look
Heavy metal bands in the 1980s were aggressively accused by panicked Christian parents of hiding secret mystical incantations and Satanic recruitment messages in their records through a process called backmasking, which supposedly poisoned the minds of teenagers when played backwards. In reality, most bands were completely shocked by these allegations because pressing vinyl was incredibly expensive and difficult, and hiding reverse audio tracks required a level of studio engineering brilliance that these heavily intoxicated musicians simply did not possess. A few bands eventually started deliberately hiding backwards messages in their tracks just to troll the media, including messages that literally told kids to eat their vegetables and clean their rooms. The whole panic was basically a mass delusion fueled by parents who were desperately looking for a magical, demonic explanation for why their teenagers hated them and wore too much black eyeliner
