I.e. one band went together to the studio with one artist of the respective other genre; and the resulting songs were put on the album release.
This is vastly different to contemporary times, when every fool tries to do an electronic or whatever mashup of metal songs with electronic beats while they're sitting in the comfort of their own homes. In that decade, the producers actually faced bands like slayer, faith no more or fear factory head2head during these sessions.
A widely-known starting point for this move actually happened in the 80s already; rick rubin had the brilliant idea to let his brand new and hot rap act Run DMC remix the then already a bit aged rock dinosaurs of Aerosmith; but more than a mere remix session, this battle between the young rap generation and the older rockheads even led to a video with heavy rotation on television, cover stories, discussions, even a bit of outrage... well i guess you know the story.
hence, in the 90s the word apparently was: "if rick could do this with 2 groups, why not do it with 22 groups and put all of them on one release?"
of course, "crossover" music was a big thing in the 90s anyway. it usually meant hardcore rock + hardcore rap, but as we will see, as the years went on, more and more (extreme) genres got fused into this, too.
The reviews
1. Judgment Night (Music From The Motion Picture) (1993)
the first album we are gonna look at is the soundtrack to the movie "judgment night". I think the movie is not so well known anymore. it's awesome and genius, though. it follows a group of young suburban friends on a joyful trip who take a wrong turn with their van... but not in the sticks this time, in an urban environment.
the movie flashes the shiny and sharp teeth of nihilism, and seems to channel the pre-millennial fear that gripped the decade (or millennium) a fews years later in full effect. seems to run around the thought: "why shouldn't your suburban life, your values, your safety, your culture, all go to hell within a few hours?"
thus, watch it if you have not done so yet!
the stand out track is a duel between faith no more and boo-ya tribe, a rap group i am not so familiar with (while i'm sure you are all familiar with faith no more).
the song oozes excellence, though, and is clever on so many levels. the drummer somehow manages to sound like a rock drummer and a rap drum machine at the same time. mike patton seems to have a nervous breakdown during the recording and is reduced to whimpering, grunting and howling by the end of the song (and i dont think he is faking this).
there is not just rap and rock, but also elements of opera, piano, and, yeah, plenty of ethereal howling.
Faith No More & Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. - Another Body Murdered
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff_M8kcVRek
other picks:
Helmet & House of Pain - Just Another Victim https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhTffL5-9d4
Slayer & Ice-T - Disorder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbKcL7q8RJU
2. Spawn (The Album) (1997)
yes, yes, could you believe it? even before marvel, there were comic book adaptations, and some were the shit, and some were just shit. i don't know which category to put this one in because, as i must admit, i never fully watched it. i know the soundtrack very dearly though.
this project one-ups the "judgment night" project. not just metal and rappers, but a heavy incursion by electronic artists is made, too, some of them being on the very extreme fringe of electronics, such as hardcore techno and gabber.
the standout track for me is Slayer & Atari Teenage Riot head-on crash aptly named "[With] No Remorse (I Wanna Die)".
because, yeah, jesus, is this one *heavy*. the ruthless anarchism of alec empire's riot teenagers runs well with the ultra-aggression of slayer. there is spiffy production to this one, too: ATR don't just yet overdo it with the noize and distortion, and everything cuts like a diamond-blade because of this.
Slayer & Atari Teenage Riot - No Remorse (I Wanna Die) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb90QDSssSo
other picks:
Orbital & Kirk Hammett - Satan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP8tpAs9qhI
The Prodigy & Tom Morello - One Man Army https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kmlPy9dyOY
Hellspawn (1998)
Just a year after the spawn album, and if we look at the title, could it be that earache was maybe a bit inspired by this unofficial predecessor?
But fair enough, even before "Spawn": Earache was one of the pioneer labels that crossed over extreme metal and other genres.
and if spawn 1 upped the judgement night soundtrack, then this good dog here 11 upped the spawn OST.
because this is no longer rock meets rap and electronic.
it's, as the subtitle states: "(Extreme Metal Meets Extreme Techno)".
I.e. the likes of death metal, grindcore, face off against hardcore techno, gabber and speedcore.
and yes, the gabber list of producers on this gem reads like the who-is-who of the extreme hardcore scene of the 90s (this goes for the metal bands, too, of course).
my pick here is Pulkas vs Shitspitter - Control. starts slow and calm enough, but when the screaming, distortion, and bass kicks in, it's like a piledriver going down on your mind.
Control https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtUlgBaiyvM
other picks:
Morbid Angel vs The Berzerker– Day Of Suffering https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH_AqtXrKAQ
Napalm Death vs Delta 9– Breed To Breathe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfnn6bwAJrw
these were just 3 compilations, the 90s had more and similar projects. it truly was a decade of genre-bending, experiments, and unashamed rage+aggression in music.
do you know more releases like this? let us know!