"Eyes of the Insane" | |
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Song |
"Eyes of the Insane" is a 2006 single by American thrash metal band Slayer, taken from their 2006 album Christ Illusion. The lyrics explore an American soldier's mental anguish following his return home from the second Gulf War, and is based on an article entitled "Casualty of War" which was featured in Texas Monthly magazine. Penned by vocalist Tom Araya during pre-production for the album, the song was generally well received by critics.
The accompaning music video was shot by the Iranian director Tony Petrossian in the Los Angeles area during August 2006. The film is presented as a close up of the soldier's pupil and iris, which reflect disconcerting images of war-themed horrors, flashbacks of his home, wife and children, and ultimately images of his death. "Eyes of the Insane" was featured on the soundtrack to Saw III, and won an award for Best Metal Performance at the 49th Grammy Awards.
Origins
While walking through an airport, vocalist Tom Araya came across a March 2006 issue of Texas Monthly magazine which featured a soldier's helmet on the front cover.[1] Picking up the magazine and sifting through it, he stumbled on the article "Casualty of War", and was interested enough to purchase a copy.[1] The issue explored the Texas military's involvement in the Iraq War,[2] and contained an article which ran an entire list of Texan soldiers who had died in the combat.[2][3] The feature was accompanied by photographs of some of the deceased, while a further article dealt with these soldiers anguish on their return home.[2] Araya later admitted that the article "blew his mind".[3]
Araya read the article during his plane journey back to Los Angeles.[1] Preproduction for Slayer's ninth studio album Christ Illusion had just begun, and the band was about to undertake a three-day rehearsal with the producer Josh Abraham.[1] Araya left his baggage at the hotel to attend the rehearsals, and when he returned reread the article.[1] Araya found the article to be "very profound", and woke in the middle of the that night and wrote down the song's lyrics.[1] He has said that this treatment of the topic is "sincere", and that he believes it to be "one that the military doesn't want you to know. They sweep it under the rug, but it's a story that needs to be told."[1] Guitarist Kerry King has stated that "these new songs [from the Christ Illusion album] aren't political at all: 'Jihad', 'Eyes of the Insane' — it's what's spewing out at us from the TV."[4]
Music and structure
"Eyes of the Insane" is 3 minutes 23 seconds long.[5] Dave Lombardo's drums slowly open the track, while Hanneman and King play an intensely harrowing, angular and descending riff that suddenly changes direction between verses, through to the refrain and bridge, before resolving.[5][6] The song then builds to a towering chorus.[6]
Some reviewers paid particular attention to Araya's vocal contribution. Zach Hothorn of Prefix Magazine said the song "allows Araya to show his vocal range, deepening to build up tension and creating a wonderfully chilling 3 and a half minutes,"[7] while Ian Robinson of musicOMH.com felt the track "is a distinct but welcome change of pace, Dave Lombardo's machine-gun rhythms forming the backbone for Tom Araya's impressively intact scream."[8]
Music video
By the time Slayer decided that a music video should be filmed, touring commitments had prevented their involvement in the actual shoot.[9] Instead, others were contacted to produce the film.[9] The Iranian director Tony Petrossian presented Slayer with the first draft, and the group gave a few suggestions for improvement.[10] Never having met him, King recalled Petrossian "had a treatment, and we all dug the treatment so we just turned him loose."[10] "Eyes of the Insane"'s war-themed music video was filmed on August 13 2006 in the Los Angeles area.[11] Casting company Tolley Casparis Casting sought a male Caucasian between the ages of 18 and 26 to feature in the clip, with auditions held on August 10 2006.[11] Official project notes deemed that "This guy must be a serious actor, capable of emoting everything through his eyes. He was innocent a few months ago, now he is scarred by seeing so much fighting. Strong eyebrows that do not overpower the face. Scars or large veins actually a plus."[11]
The video was shot as "first-person narrative about the horrors leading up to the final moments of a soldier at war",[12] and was described as "a single, long and tight close-up of the soldier's eye with images clearly reflected within his pupil and iris and perfectly choreographed with the rhythm of the music. Reflected are disconcerting images of para trooping into enemy territory, gunfire, helicopters and tanks, explosions, poignant flashbacks of his wife and child and home, and the images of his death."[12] Two endings were shot; one where the soldier is killed as the result of sustained combat wounds, and another where the soldier commits suicide - the latter one was used.[12] Jeff Hanneman confirmed that the band "loved" the eye concept, and personally felt the video to be "pretty amazing" when he first viewed it.[9] King admitted that the film is "pretty cool—I thought it was neat idea—very different, especially for us, because we usually do performance based videos."[10] The video was exclusively posted on mp3.com late in October 2006.[12]
Critical reception
Template:Sound sample box align right Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen end Template:Sample box end Critics were generally positive when reviewing "Eyes of the Insane". Stylus Magazine's Cosmo Lee described the track as "a dark, midpaced exploration of a soldier's psyche", and remarked that "it's memorable and would be a good breather between the usual barnburners."[13] Peter Atkinson of KNAC.com felt that "'Eyes of the Insane' offers a post-traumatic sequel to 'Mandatory Suicide', again with a soundtrack that recalls the original, but boasting a couple truly mammoth hooks that do shake things up."[14] Don Kaye of Blabbermouth made a comparison to a different Slayer track than Atkinson, and commented that "'Eyes of the Insane' and 'Catatonic' both have that slow, grinding feeling of doom that the band has done so well before on classics like 'Dead Skin Mask'."[15]
The song was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 49th annual Grammy Awards.[16] When asked for his thoughts on the nomination, King revealed that he didn't "even care", and noted that Slayer fans "don't give a shit and that's the most important thing to me."[17] The interviewer expressed his surprise at the nomination given Slayer's "inflammatory" lyrics, to which King replied, "That would be the coolest thing, you know? To win with the shit we write about."[17] The ceremony was held on February 11, 2007 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, with Slayer competing against Mastodon, Lamb of God, Ministry and Stone Sour.[18] Slayer won the Best Metal Performance Grammy award, although the band was unable to attend as the result of a conflicting North American headlining tour.[18] Araya commented about the win from a hotel room in Columbus, Ohio: "Jeff [Hanneman] and I put a lot into 'Eyes of the Insane' so we're thrilled that the Grammy voters took the time to listen to it, and then vote for it. We're out here on the road and we're all really, really happy."[18] King disagreed, deeming the song "one of the poorest representations of us [Slayer] on the record [Christ Illusion]".[19] He further stated that if given the decision, he would have personally chosen the controversial track "Jihad" to represent Slayer from their ninth album Christ Illusion.[19] Critical of the Recording Academy, King said, "Realistically, I think people on the academy who vote pick the household name ... And that's what we are."[19]
The soundtrack to 2006 horror flick Saw III featured "Eyes of the Insane", and was released on October 24 2006 via Warcon Enterprises.[20] The track was one of six songs performed by Slayer during their first US network television appearance on ABC-TV's Jimmy Kimmel Live (January 19, 2007), and was the only song broadcast in its entirety.[21] However, King dislikes playing "Eyes of the Insane" live, commenting, "it's just dull to play, good song just dull to play on guitar."[22]
Formats and tracklistings
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Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g Claes, Sean (2006). ""Slayer"". Blistering.com. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
- ^ a b c Atkinson, Peter (2006-05-03). "Songs About God and Satan - Part 2: An Interview With Slayer's Tom Araya". KNAC.com. Retrieved 2007-01-26.
- ^ a b Harris, Chris (2006-04-20). ""New Slayer Album Might Be Their Fastest Yet"". MTV.com. Retrieved 2007-03-11.
- ^ Beck, Aaron (2007-02-10). "After 25 years, Slayer keeps casting metal". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2007-02-25.
- ^ a b Jurek, Thom. "All Music Guide Review - Christ Illusion". All Music Guide. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
- ^ a b Begrand, Adrien. "Christ Illusion - Review". Popmatters. Retrieved 2007-03-27.
- ^ Hothorn, Zach (2006-08-16). "Christ Illusion - Review". Prefix Magazine. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
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(help) - ^ Robinson, Ian (2006-08-21). "Christ Illusion - Review". MusicOMH.com. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
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(help) - ^ a b c Lahtinen, Lexi (2006-12-18). "SLAYER - Jeff Hanneman". Metal-rules.com. Retrieved 2007-02-23.
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(help) - ^ a b c Butler, Roya. "Slayer". Truepunk.com. Retrieved 2007-03-19.
- ^ a b c "SLAYER: 'Eyes Of The Insane' Video Shoot To Take Place This Sunday". Blabbermouth.net. 2006-08-09. Retrieved 2007-02-25.
- ^ a b c d "SLAYER: 'Eyes Of The Insane' Video Posted Online". Blabbermouth.net. 2006-10-30. Retrieved 2007-02-25.
- ^ Lee, Cosmo. "Christ Illusion - Review". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved 2007-03-27.
- ^ Atkinson, Peter (2006-07-24). "KNAC Review - Christ Illusion". KNAC.com. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
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(help) - ^ Kaye, Don. "Blabbermouth Review - Christ Illusion". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
- ^ "SLAYER, LAMB OF GOD, STONE SOUR Among GRAMMY Nominees". Blabbermouth.net. 2006-12-07. Retrieved 2007-02-25.
- ^ a b Foxworthy, John (2006-12-24). "Interview With Slayer's Kerry King". Garage Radio Magazine. Retrieved 2007-02-25.
- ^ a b c "SLAYER Wins GRAMMY In 'Best Metal Performance' Category". Blabbermouth.net. 2007-02-11. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
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(help) - ^ a b c Piccoli, Sean (2007-02-21). "Grammy for Slayer's 11th album shows metal legends are now a household name". Sun-Sentinel.com.
- ^ "SLAYER, EIGHTEEN VISIONS, LAMB OF GOD, MASTODON Featured On 'Saw III' Soundtrack". Blabbermouth.net. 2006-09-14. Retrieved 2007-02-25.
- ^ "SLAYER On 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!': 'Eyes Of The Insane' Performance Posted Online". Blabbermouth.net. 2007-01-20. Retrieved 2007-04-08.
- ^ Gamble, Billy. "Slayer Interview Pt II". Rocknworld.com. Retrieved 2007-04-08.
- ^ a b c "SLAYER: 'Eyes Of The Insane' Single Due In November". Blabbermouth.net. 2006-10-24. Retrieved 2007-02-25.
External links