Album Rating: 5.0

I literally cannot understand that at all. I'm not going to pretend the original sounds awful or anything, but literally every instrument sounds crisper and smoother on the remaster compared to original, which to me sounds more tinny and compressed by comparison. Especially the drums, I mean I have no idea how Nolly managed to get the drums to sound that much clearer without re-recording them.



The only thing I wish the remaster did was remove the fade at the end of Integral Birth.

Album Rating: 5.0

The removal of the harsh vox was unnecessary, they added a cool dynamic to some of the tracks.

Incredibly I agree with Willie in that the harsh vox always felt like an afterthought on Traced. I thought the remix sounded amazing, especially the bass.

Album Rating: 5.0

The bass is my biggest problem with the remix tbh. I’m normally a fan of more prominent bass, but on the remix it’s so intrusive and distracting. I don’t feel it meshes well with the guitars and drums at all

Different strokes I suppose. There's an incredible amount of separation on the remix so I don't feel like the instruments are competing with each other at any point, but that might feed into your "mesh" criticism? idk everything about it sounds better to me.

Album Rating: 5.0

removing the harsh vox is a dealbreaker for me. those are some of my favorite moments on the album.

Hi this is very excellent

Album Rating: 4.5

you hadn't heard this before, Jimmy? glad you've gotten to it now I suppose

I jammed Traced a lot back in the day, but only knew Celestial Voyage from this (which kinda put me off and is ez my least fav lol)

Young me was dumb !

Album Rating: 4.5

indeed. thoughts going from Traced to this, rather than the usual reverse?

Album Rating: 5.0

"removing the harsh vox is a dealbreaker for me. those are some of my favorite moments on the album."



same, both with this and Traced

Hmmm, I think Traced is so much more vocal-centric and most of its metal is completely integrated into the jazz/prog side, so I was kinda thrown for a bit how comparatively unfocal the vox is in this mix - esp with headphones, add that to the guitar panning and the bass/drums are central here in a way I haven't often heard in metal, but this is good because both are godlike
I also love that the songwriting here takes such a loose approach to structure and repetition. Probably would have come out as jank with a less talented band, but the way they trade dem riffs against dem gorgeous clean breaks with zero warning comes of super compelling bc the rhythm section carries it so well (could carry anything probs) and every section is strong enough that it p much has its own centre of gravity. so I guess the exp is like some kinda interplanetary travelwarpthing where you're being constantly reoriented but this is good? Traced was maybe too seamless for its own good; I think the separate parts of these guys' sound shine so well in their own space that there's no need to bring em closer together. backend of The Eagle Nature is probably the least cohesive part of the album for me, but I like that section anyway so who cares
also, I get that this was ahead of its time in so many ways, but I love how gloriously 90s those clean tones feel. obvs a very different kettle of jazzfish, but it gives me that fantastical/slightly gothic feel in a similar way to Wildhoney or metal-era Gathering at points, and that's always a plus

so yeah, album gud

Album Rating: 4.5

man you guys put thoughts about music into words much better than I ever could

Album big slapz ye

Album Rating: 5.0

As much as I love the heavy sections of the album, I enjoy the otherworldly clean ones even more. They sound beautiful and - as Johnny put it - gothic, but they're also a bit unsettling... you know the metal's going to come back into the picture, it's just a matter of when. Plus, Sentiment is one of my favorites here because of the mystical feel of the soft sections, as well as the strange pitch-shifted clean singing

Album Rating: 5.0

I also feel like there’s a vague sense of romanticism in the clean, that the band loves being in this extra-terrestrial world. This and King Crimson’s Discipline are two albums that still manage to feel otherworldly, either from a different planet, dimension, or universe.



Also, does anyone else read the lyrics to How Could I as self-acceptance about being gay?

Album Rating: 4.5

perhaps

it's just some fusion fx pedals and vocoder init

Album Rating: 5.0

Pretty much, but it’s used really well 😊

Album Rating: 5.0

I go back to this every once in a while, easily one of the best albums ever made. It changed my life