Judas Priest Defense to Deny Hidden Sounds

Attorneys defending the heavy metal band Judas Priest plan to challenge the credentials today of an expert witness on subliminal messages, who contends hidden messages in the group’s music drove two young men to suicide.

The song “Better By You, Better Than Me” blared through speakers in a federal courtroom Thursday as witness William Nickloff Jr. played the song forward, backward and speeded up with quick changes in volume to demonstrate his belief that the song contains the hidden phrase “do it” at least seven times.

The messages on the album allegedly say, “Try suicide ... let’s be dead ... do it, do it.”

District Judge Jerry Whitehead, who is presiding in the non-jury trial, stared at the elaborate audio equipment, but gave no indication that he heard the alleged subliminal messages in the heavy metal band’s music.

Nickloff was to undergo cross-examination by defense attorneys during a half-day court session today.

Outside the courtroom, Judas Priest lead singer Rob Halford charged that Nickloff has no credentials to be considered an expert in the field. When playing the music in reverse, Halford said, anything can be made of the sounds.

Glenn Tipton, a member of Judas Priest, said the so-called “do it” message was merely breathing with the sound of a grunt.

Kenneth McKenna, an attorney for one of two families suing Judas Priest and the record label, said of the alleged subliminal messages, “We demonstrated they exist.”

Attorneys for the parents of Raymond Belknap and James Vance are trying to persuade the court that subliminal messages in the band’s “Stained Class” album led to the shootings.

Belknap, 17, was killed by the self-inflicted gunshot. Vance, 19, survived his suicide attempt, but was horribly disfigured and died three years later of complications possibly associated with the incident.