This is one of my favourite albums of all time, but I'm not keen on bands remixing and tinkering with the sound of albums they now deem as unsatisfactory. I wasn't overly impressed with Mayhem's remix/remaster of 'Grand Declaration of War' either.
It's the precise character of the original albums that is so special.

Written by Absinthe on 30.08.2019 at 09:08

This is one of my favourite albums of all time, but I'm not keen on bands remixing and tinkering with the sound of albums they now deem as unsatisfactory. I wasn't overly impressed with Mayhem's remix/remaster of 'Grand Declaration of War' either.
It's the precise character of the original albums that is so special.

Agree, and it sounds great the way it is. Certain albums with lousy production I can understand remixing. But in this case it feel forced.

Written by Absinthe on 30.08.2019 at 09:08

I wasn't overly impressed with Mayhem's remix/remaster of 'Grand Declaration of War' either.

Funny you should mention that. I think that Grand Declaration benefited a lot from the re-mix. The bass was brought out and the album finally stoppped sounding paper-thin.

Cruelty also sounds a bit thin. I hope they will rectify that fault. Mind you, this is my favourite CoF album and I love it to death.

Written by Absinthe on 30.08.2019 at 09:08

It's the precise character of the original albums that is so special.

Totally agreed. And Justice For All ranks on the top of Metallica's album for a ton of people. And even them won't remix & remaster this album.
AGDOW from Mayhem actually is a great remix. But i still prefer the original version.
As for COF i don't think CATB needed a remix, we all know Nicholas Barker wasn't pleased with his drum tracks and the bass player is barely audible. The guitars also sound flat. The album was mixed for Dani's voice and focus on the atmosphere (keys and sampling). But that poor mix added to the albums charm.
I'll still listen to it of course since it's one of my fav albums ever as well, and probably buy it since i own almost every COF release. But yeah it feels pretty much unnecessary and a cash grab.

This one just might be worthy of checking out.

Thank you but no thank you, I'll keep with the original.

Written by [user id=104220] on 30.08.2019 at 13:43

Totally agreed. And Justice For All ranks on the top of Metallica's album for a ton of people. And even them won't remix & remaster this album.

They won't remaster "Justice" because Lars would have to admit that he was an asshole when he cut Jason out in the mix.

Written by Daniell on 30.08.2019 at 12:18

Written by Absinthe on 30.08.2019 at 09:08

I wasn't overly impressed with Mayhem's remix/remaster of 'Grand Declaration of War' either.

Funny you should mention that. I think that Grand Declaration benefited a lot from the re-mix. The bass was brought out and the album finally stoppped sounding paper-thin.

Cruelty also sounds a bit thin. I hope they will rectify that fault. Mind you, this is my favourite CoF album and I love it to death.

Funny how tastes differ. I agree on how both albums mentioned are thin in its production. But I'd say that, unlike Cradle, Mayhem benefited with the thin, artificial production that gave the album the proper industrial edge for its' theme. The remix for me felt too "human and warm" that made the album Lost its' identity.

With Cradle, though... Im really interested to hear how it sounds cause I love that album but always wished for the production to sound more like Dusk.

Written by Daniell on 30.08.2019 at 12:18

Written by Absinthe on 30.08.2019 at 09:08

I wasn't overly impressed with Mayhem's remix/remaster of 'Grand Declaration of War' either.

Funny you should mention that. I think that Grand Declaration benefited a lot from the re-mix. The bass was brought out and the album finally stoppped sounding paper-thin.

'Grand Declaration' may have benefited in some industry standard way, but as someone else here pointed out, it's now too warm and safe sounding. There was something slightly unhinged by the triggered drums and the thin sound. The remixed drums now sound like any other metal album's drums. I don't even find the sound to be all that thin on the original - it's pretty polished for black metal as it is.

Anyway, I'm sure the remix of 'Cruelty' will sound fantastic, but it would be like your girlfriend getting plastic surgery. a. It's not natural and therefore fake, and b. It's the imperfections that are often most endearing.

Written by Absinthe on 30.09.2019 at 13:05

Anyway, I'm sure the remix of 'Cruelty' will sound fantastic, but it would be like your girlfriend getting plastic surgery. a. It's not natural and therefore fake, and b. It's the imperfections that are often most endearing.

I agree with you. Anyway, the re-mix is not replacing the original, so let's treat it as a curiosity, nothing else.

Written by Daniell on 30.08.2019 at 22:59

Written by [user id=104220] on 30.08.2019 at 13:43

Totally agreed. And Justice For All ranks on the top of Metallica's album for a ton of people. And even them won't remix & remaster this album.

They won't remaster "Justice" because Lars would have to admit that he was an asshole when he cut Jason out in the mix.

...Justice... has been remastered.