NADJA Cover SLAYER's 'Dead Skin Mask'; Free Download Available

Canadian ambient/shoegaze/drone act NADJA has recorded a cover version of the SLAYER classic "Dead Skin Mask" from the legendary 1990 album "Seasons In The Abyss". The track, which is available for free download at this location, will be included on NADJA's forthcoming covers CD, "When I See The Sun Always Shines On TV", which is due out April 28 via The End Records.

NADJA — a duo from Toronto, Ontario featuring Aidan Baker and Leah Buckareff —creates what is often described as "ambient doom." The band's music combines elements of metal, shoegaze, ambient, post-rock , experimental, and neo-classical. Their new album, "When I See The Sun Always Shines On TV", features eights covers of some of Baker and Buckareff's favorite bands. "Consider this album an exploration of the roots of NADJA," says Baker. "Everyone compares us to MY BLOODY VALENTINE, so we had to cover them; CODEINE and SWANS were both bands exploring the heaviness of metal without actually being metal; THE CURE have that lovely, bittersweet gloominess; ELLIOTT SMITH's 'Needle in the Hay' is simultaneously so simple and so devastating; no one believed us when we said we covered a song from 'The Kids In The Hall' movie, a staple of our live set, so we had to get that one to tape; how could we resist the opportunity to cover A-HA's heaviest (but oh so catchy) tune? And SLAYER is just SLAYER. In an effort to illustrate our motivations behind this album, we asked our friend Mathew Smith to create a series of children's-storybook-like drawings to go with each song."

Regarding NADJA's "Dead Skin Mask" cover, Baker tells HeadbangersBlog.com, "'Seasons In The Abyss' was the first SLAYER album I picked up. 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" track listing:

01. Only Shallow (MY BLOODY VALENTINE)
02. Pea (CODEINE)
03. No Cure For The Lonely (SWANS)
04. Dead Skin Mask (SLAYER)
05. The Sun Always Shines On TV (A-HA)
06. Needle In The Hay (ELLIOTT SMITH)
07. Long Dark Twenties (KIDS IN THE HALL)
08. Faith (The CURE)