Pick an Album to Re-record

[Northfall]

Oh wow. I didn't even see this before my comment! Did we just become best friends???!

The Common Man's Collapse by Veil of Maya and it's not even close lol

 

[AwakenTheSkies]

The "problem" is that a decade ago (and before) you could guess a band from its tone, wether you like it or not
Today everything sounds the same
The productions nowadays are crystalline, awesome but without personality

Absolutely. I can say lots of albums which had mixes that could have been "better". But I wouldn't change any of them, I love them for what they are. The amateur mix is part of the experience

 

[Kwert]

Suffocation: Breeding the Spawn.

I was listening to alot of older death metal at work last night and when I got to songs from that album it's a night and day difference compared to the two Burns produced albums. And I'm not even a fan of Scott Burns production/mixing either.

Funny you mention Suffocation, cuz I came in here to suggest Pierced From Within

 

[KailM]

I would also have Rivers of Nihil re-record The Work, but this time with some riffs and decent songwriting.

 

[wheresthefbomb]

Absolutely. I can say lots of albums which had mixes that could have been "better". But I wouldn't change any of them, I love them for what they are. The amateur mix is part of the experience

Perfection is overrated. The original role of art, especially music, is as a community resource to emphasize shared experience and bring people closer together. The artifacts of human imperfection are part of what connects us with the artist.

Similarly, limitation is the breeding ground of inspiration. Production value is of very little actual value to me, you can polish absolutely anything. We have more options than ever, but most of what most people are making sounds more similar than ever. To quote Randy from RPB, "I don't want a friggin' pharmaceutical boner! I want a boner made from love."

 

[works0fheart]

TBH its very rare a remastered, re-recorded etc album is better than the original, I can't think of any personally. Usually I just buy remastered versions for bonus tracks, additional LIve or demo discs or a detailed book of interviews and what not

You're right, most of the time bands dont get it right. The new Inferi re-recording of The End of an Era is really good though. Some of the Arch Enemy re-recordings with Angela of older Johan stuff is good too, like The Root of All Evil. I still like the Johan versions, but Angela is the AE vocalist that I'll always love the most.

Check out re-focus (https://cyniconline.bandcamp.com/album/refocus) You may like it better, although I think they took the edge of the guitars even more.

IMO Focus sounded nice. It felt more organic and open than the latter recordings, where the guitars sound more compressed. Overall the tracks sound maybe more balanced but also more controlled. Focus sounds more exciting, like a band in a room to me.

Either way killer band so I don't care either way

I agree with this completely. Half of the charm of Focus is how raw and organic it sounds. The re-recording sounds a little too muddy for me. A lot of the clarity and precision the guitars had before is gone now. The whole thing just doesn't work for me. Every time I put it on I make it only one or two songs before throwing on the original. Songs like The Eagle Nature and I'm But A Wave To sounded perfect to me before in almost every facet.

 

[chipchappy]

What the hell, why? They were great, and hugely influential.

not to me

That's like saying you wish Black Sabbath didn't exist or something.

no, it isn't

 

[Werecow]

TBH its very rare a remastered, re-recorded etc album is better than the original, I can't think of any personally. Usually I just buy remastered versions for bonus tracks, additional LIve or demo discs or a detailed book of interviews and what not

Only one i've ever experienced is Nevermore - Enemies of Reality. The original was engineered by a pop music guy on his first ever metal album. I remember thinking it was almost unlistenable. Andy Sneap remixed it a couple years later, and even though i'm not a massive fan of his sound, it sounded so much better. I don't know of another album that was fully remixed so soon after initial release either.

Other than that, yeh, every re-doing of an album i've listened to hasn't sounded "better" to me. Sometimes just louder sounding, but i don't classify that as better.

 

[B.M.F.]

Brodequin - Festival of Death. Their first album had “bad” production, but didn’t kill the album for me. However their second album was even worse, can barely hear the riffs. Ruins what could be a five star death metal masterpiece for me. Will still bear with it and listen while adjusting EQ the entire time though

Carcass - Reek of Putrefaction, Napalm Death - Scum in the silver and bronze category respectively. Another case of not being able to hear the riffs.

Godflesh - Pure is an example of a killer album that unfortunately suffers from a weak and quiet mix, hope it gets remastered/remixed some day.

The most annoying thing about “Breeding The Spawn” by Suffocation? The way the mix/production changes song by song. Makes it a nearly unlistenable experience, production (or lack thereof) that mars another masterpiece.

Korn self-titled also deserves a mention. Hate Ross Robinson’s production style. Everything is too loose, warm and mushy to the point where the band doesn’t even sound “tight”. Don’t like his work on Sepultura - Roots either. If you’ve ever heard what he did with Fear Factory (the Concrete demo) I am so glad Dino and Ray didn’t go with him for Soul of a New Machine, it’s the same thing. Sounds like hot garbage.

An example of an album I hated the production of in the past, but now dig it would be Morbid Angel - Blessed are the Sick. Warm, mushy and “humid” production style done right, with still tight as f playing.

 

[VisionSwords]

My pick is Lykathea Aflame's "Elvenfris" (this album isn't on streaming but it's worth finding if you like weird death metal). "Breeding The Spawn" would be a good candidate too.

I think Hate Eternal's "Fury and Flames" could be fixed with just a better mix. It'd be nice to hear the bass on "...and Justice For All".

 

[BlackMastodon]

Forgot about Queens of the Stone Age's Villains. One of the few albums I've heard where I think the drums sound like absolute dog shit. Come to think of it, I don't think the guitars sound particularly good with whatever fuzz distortion they got going on either.

 

[youngthrasher9]

Seasons in the Abyss
Cannibal Corpse - Vile
Suffocation - Breeding the Spawn
Morbid Angel - Altars of Madness

I actually really like the production on Pierced from Within. Vile is particularly weak for me with how they chose to mix Corpsegrinder’s vocals. It sounds like they doubled them in weird spots and overly loud with the extra track. Seasons in the Abyss is just awful compared to reign in blood, or south of heaven imo. The guitar sound is so thin and dry, yikes.

 

[oracles]

TBDM - Unhallowed. The songs themselves are great, but the production makes it a tough listen at the best of times.

I'm a diehard Suffo fan, but I have to agree with Breeding The Spawn. It'd be one thing if the whole record had the same production, but the change from song to song is pretty rough.

It would be interesting to hear Pantera riffs without the dogshit tone.

 

[PietrOo]

Oh wow. I didn't even see this before my comment! Did we just become best friends???!

Absolutely, how can I say no to a djentleman after all?

 

[ittoa666]

Surprised to not see Emperor in here. In the Nightside Eclipse could go for a remix or something. It's so hard to hear the guitars when they're both buzzsaws. If it sounded like Anthems, it would be perfect.

 

[thrsher]

Every Nile record. I love that band but the production is just flat across the board.

Skinless trample the weak hurdle the dead. I love this album but it's just mud.

 

[Big_taco]

Let's see...

Ozzy - All of his albums prior to No More Tears re-recorded with that level of production. No Rest is pretty close I suppose but those Randy albums could sound a lot fatter and benefit from a different guitar tone.

The Black Dahlia Murder - It'd be cool to hear Unhallowed and Miasma with a similar production level to Nocturnal, Deflorate, and Ritual. The production across those three records, especially Ritual, is top tier and would suit the material from the first two albums just fine considering they never moved too far from their core sound.

Slayer - just about everything before God Hates Us All.

There's probably a ton of them from bands I loved when I was a teenager, during the whole metalcore/deathcore/myspace boom.

 

[Metal-Box]

And Justice For All

At least the bass tracks

 

[hfam]

So many, but these 2 have always been in need of a good remix/remaster/re-record

R.I.P. Lemmy

 

[lost_horizon]

Only one i've ever experienced is Nevermore - Enemies of Reality. The original was engineered by a pop music guy on his first ever metal album. I remember thinking it was almost unlistenable. Andy Sneap remixed it a couple years later, and even though i'm not a massive fan of his sound, it sounded so much better. I don't know of another album that was fully remixed so soon after initial release either.

It was called the 'Radio Edit' at the time. Sounded like a bunch of bees. Warrel Dane's 'Praises to the War Machine' sounded top notch.

Early Galneryus albums the guitar sounds like a half-cocked wah for the entire album. I love the wah solo's but not every single note.

I'd really like the Sega Saturn Virtual On: Cyber Troopers redone with modern production and instruments.