Documents Prove Slayer + White Zombie Master Recordings Lost in 2008 Universal Building Fire
In June of 2019, it was reported that dozens of musical artists lost their master recordings in a building fire where Universal Music Group housed the precious originals. Since the news came to light, there's been numerous reports regarding exactly which artists were affected and now it has been learned that Slayer, White Zombie, Jimmy Eat World, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead and others lost master recordings to the blaze.
The certainty of exactly which master recordings perished in the fire is tenuous. Universal claimed last summer that only 22 master recordings were lost from just five artists while other reports indicated that the disaster claimed upward of 500,000 master recordings, prompting artists such as Hole, Soundgarden and others to file a lawsuit against the music company.
Other artists previously believed to have lost master recordings include Guns N' Roses, Nine Inch Nails, Aerosmith, The Who and many more.
Now, Pitchfork has reported that legal documents they've viewed (and have uploaded natively) name Bryan Adams, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, David Baerwald, Jimmy Eat World, Les Paul, Peter Frampton, Michael McDonald, Slayer, Suzanne Vega, Surfaris, White Zombie, and Y&T as additional victims of the 2008 ruin in regards to the loss of original master recordings.
The documents also indicate that, In total, 17,000 different artists were affected by the colossal damage, though it should be noted that the instances of loss may include "digital clones" or "replacement" files.