Review Summary: The Silent Treble
In 2020, progressive metal band Between the Buried and Me released remixed and remastered versions of their first five studio albums, which were, in order, their self-titled album,
The Silent Circus,
Alaska,
Colors, and
The Great Misdirect. The latter three of these albums – especially
Alaska and
Colors – are their most highly regarded, and it is in my opinion that these albums are sonically sufficient already, and did not need remastered. However, the band's early work was in desperate need for the treatment, with issues such as muddy production and erroneous mixing plaguing the entirety of their first two albums. BTBAM's debut is one that I've never cared for due to the band's undeveloped songwriting skills at that early point in their career, and while I still hold that sentiment upon hearing it's remaster, I can't help but praise the clarity with which the album can now be heard, with a significant lowering of the treble end of the mixing to make the musical ideas being expressed on the album actually comprehensible.
The Silent Circus, however, is the album where I feel BTBAM got a strong foothold on the brand of -core-tinged progressive metal that they were going for, but of which was still held back by poor production choices. But now, as of with their self-titled album,
The Silent Circus has been given the cleansing it deserves, with a few simple tweaks that have made a world of difference.
As I mentioned with the self-titled album, the treble end of
The Silent Circus, which was oftentimes grating, has been significantly lowered in the mix, and in its place, the bass, which was nearly inaudible on the original album, has been put on full blast. This may sound like it could serve as a separate but equal annoyance, but I can assure you that being able to hear Jason King's (step aside, Dan Briggs) technical bass-playing alongside Paul Waggoner's signature riffs brings a new dimension to the album that was severely lacking for seventeen years. Tommy Rogers' vocals are also a bit lower in the mix, again to the remaster's advantage, most notably during the bridge of
Anablephobia, which contains an excruciatingly intolerable succession of screams on the original version (I always had to skip that song; I just couldn't do it), but which is now heavily drowned out by the instrumentals in the remaster. There isn't much of difference in how Tommy's keyboard parts sound on the remaster, albeit there are few parts on this particular album where they stand out to begin with. Although Mark Castillo's drumming is solid, the drums themselves never sounded clear on this album, and they are perhaps the one aspect of the instrumentals that the remaster was not able to revitalize. However, the snare has a very enjoyable microwavable popcorn sound to it that I never noticed, or was perhaps absent from the original.
I want to urge any BTBAM fan who is lukewarm on
The Silent Circus to give the remaster a chance, because they were truly able to breathe new life into this relic from early in their career.
The Silent Circus went from being an album I listened to maybe a couple times per year, to being one I've indulged in frequently for the past couple years, with the pleasure of hearing an old album that feels new from one of my favorite bands.
