I'm skeptical those are the actual original masters; why auction that off but keep all the others that have been used in FDR? And why auction off at all? I would think Morbid Angel would have a thing or two to say about that. Doesn't make sense. Edit: looking again at the Earache blogpost, that looks like a production master that has already been mastered by Rodney Fuller. "master tapes" can mean a few things. So, if the sessions were recorded to tape, how were they mixed? What is the mixdown (pre-master, what Steve refers to as the masters)? Makes me wonder, then, what Noel Sommerville was given for the FDR releases.
I bought a new FDR Heartwork LP around Christmas time last year, so at least it's out in Canada. I pre-ordered Bolt Thrower's Realm of Chaos and Napalm Death's Scum FDR releases as well for $15 USD each. Can't believe I missed out on some good ones like Bolt Thrower's The IVth Crusade and Entombed's Left Hand Path.
You raise a valid point. Found that blogspot in question....it reads like it the CD master tape (probably U-matic) they auctioned off. Those old PCM machines were ADC mastering units. I don't think they would've cut vinyl from that.But that leaves the burning question of why haven't they FDR-ed it yet.
At least many of these are bandcamp in FLAC form, including Altars of Madness, oddly not Covenant, though. Yeah - one of my favorite sounding death/grind albums. I have the original US CD so I'm sure the FDR is great. (by the way - I assume your username should continue with .."take it all in...am I right or wrong, or just confused?")
By the way, guys, Entombed's Left Hand Path FDR vinyl LP is available for pre-order, due to be released on March 10th, 2017. Here's an Amazon.com link: Entombed - Left Hand Path - Amazon.com Music
Interesting....my worn original could do with an updated copy. Does anyone know how the artwork reproduction was on the 2013 FDR? When it comes to Seagrave print I am picky. Wasn't very happy with Altars.
Glad to hear youngins appreciating the classics The album that finally got me to like death metal/grind/etc. I first heard them way back in '88 or '89, I think before FETO. I think the Altars FDR is pretty good. I've seen worse! I had an original a couple of years and yeah, the printing quality was fab.
hi guys that's the reply i got from the earache shop: Hi Francesco, I'm afraid that we know nothing about an Entombed "Left Hand Path" reissue. I think something has been mixed up with Amazon. We do have 5 vinyl reissues coming out, but I think Amazon have listed the Entombed vinyl by mistake. It is Bolt Thrower "Realm Of Chaos" that should have been listed instead of this.
This is really weird as the ASIN for both the reissues are different... The pre-order page on Target and even HMV Japan are still up. Really, what is going on here? Could it be a problem with the distributor's information then?
By the way, guys, Earache has put up the "On Demand" store that if a pre-order of 500 per album is reached, they will press them and send it to people! Here's the site: http://ondemand.earache.com/ And note that they will treat them, the FDR way: "So, the Earache On Demand store is a risk-free option for both us and for you. You will not be charged for your order until the demand for the vinyl is met. If the album does not reach its target, you pay nothing, we lose nothing. If there is sufficient demand, then the album will be remastered for the vinyl pressing in a way that's previously brought new life to classic albums from the likes of Entombed, At The Gates, Bolt Thrower and Terrorizer, allowing the music's nuances to shine through and giving each album a more immersive sound than ever before!" List of albums ready for pre-order, followed by how many pre-ordered: Anal **** "I Like It When You Die" Vinyl 25 Bolt Thrower "Cenotaph / Spearhead" Vinyl 24 Nocturnus "The Key" Vinyl 20 Morbid Angel "Heretic" Vinyl 20 Brutal Truth "Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses" Vinyl 17 Woods Of Ypres "Woods 4: The Green Album" Gatefold Double Vinyl 16 Napalm Death "Fear Emptiness Despair" Vinyl 15 Cathedral "Endtyme" Gatefold Double Vinyl 15 Vader "The Ultimate Incantation" Vinyl 14 Municipal Waste "The Art Of Partying" Vinyl 13 Godflesh "Us And Them" Vinyl 12 Cadaver "In Pains" Vinyl 11 Morbid Angel "Formulas Fatal To The Flesh" Gatefold Double Vinyl 11 Cathedral "Forest Of Equilibrium" Gatefold Double Vinyl 11 Akercocke "Antichrist" Vinyl 11 The Haunted "The Haunted Made Me Do It" Vinyl 8 OLD "Old Lady Drivers" Vinyl 7 Unseen Terror "Human Error" Vinyl 7 Napalm Death "Words From The Exit Wound" Vinyl 7 Oceano "Ascendants" Vinyl 6 Filthy Christians "Mean" Vinyl 3 Scorn "Evanescence" Gatefold Double Vinyl 3 Fudge Tunnel "Hate Songs In E Minor" Vinyl 3 Anata "The Conductor's Departure" Gatefold Double Vinyl 2 Hate Eternal "Conquering The Throne" Vinyl 1
From what I can tell on the FDR vinyl releases I've looked up, they just send the FDR digital file off to GZ and let the plant do its thing. The FDR downloads and CDs I've purchased sound great. I can't imagine the FDR vinyl sounding better if they are just GZ DMM cuts of the same files that you can buy on CD or digital download.
I mean, the "ondemand" titles, going from the vague verbiage on the website, may not necessarily be FDR (using original mixdowns, etc.). To wit: "...remastered for the vinyl pressing in a way that's previously brought new life to classic albums"... - what does that even mean? Meaningless marketing copy. Formulas Fatal to the Flesh, for example, has already been pressed on vinyl and sounded no different than the CD (thus, cynical cash-grab). I can't imagine for the price-point and low pressing they would bother doing these the FDR way.
Formulas was pressed in 2010; the FDR campaign started in 2013. If it's not listed as FDR or Remastered, I would assume it's a reissue cut from existing masters, and I assume it's not remastered unless Earache advertise it. I think it's important to highlight that dynamic remastering is still a niche market, despite recent advances. Most modern vinyl consumers don't know or care about that technical guff, as long as it sounds equal to the CD (which is often perceived as sounding better) and the pressing quality is ok. I read this campaign as a pledge to reissue these albums properly for those who care, but the concern is there aren't enough (of us) to warrant it. And he's probably right. The majority of music fans don't bother with pre-orders. I think Digby could've sold this a bit better, for instance as a 2nd wave of FDR titles. What happened to his magic FDR word? No mention anywhere. And the oddly worded press release a couple of weeks ago.
Good points, and sad reality. Vinyl object fetishes constantly come through my FB feeds because of all the bands I follow and I find I'm usually the only skeptical voice in there - "what was this mastered from?" Most comments are along the lines of, "wow, vinyl!!" as if that means something. It seems to me that most of the FDR records sold out? Maybe not enough of them did to justify continuing it.
apparently the "left hand path" repress is still on some amazon shops (just checked the german one) and the item is available and it will be shippid between 1 to 2 months. anyway i'm pretty sure they did mess something and soon they'll realize. about the "fdr mastering", i don't really know what's difference from a "classic master" but the fact is that those albums (let's say forest of equilibrium by cathedral) where "bad sounding" in the beginning and i guess you cannot improve that sound that much with just a new mastering. just to understand, is the FDR something like the DMM (direct metal mastering) from late '80? a couple of days ago i got the heartwork repress, yesterday i compared with the HD flac i got on my hard disk (comparing to me means listening to the whole record and than changing the support, not switching support every 1 minute, the ears need to get used to the sound and that is not happening by switching source too fast). to my ears there where no differences, the recording was not that great in the beginning thus the original press and those late remasters basically sound all the same to me. in italy we say that "is not the dress to make the monk" and it means that even if you dress up like a monk you'll be the same person you were before. put that into records, if the beginning the recording was bad, you can tell (and do?) whatever you want but it will not affect things (not that much at least). something different is been done with the reprise death represses, for example in individual thought patterns alan douches did a great job remixing and remastering. and, by the way, i understand the importance of remixing (using the new technologies you can bring things back to life basically) but i understand less the remastering part. once you got the master i guess there not much you can do but maybe i am wrong..what do you know about it? talking again about these "late '80 early '90" represses i also think that these records where not born to be HQ, the attitude was completely different and, listening to that stuff on some 5k system thinking that you will hear i don't know what kind of new dynamic is , first of all, not metal at all if you know what i mean. is like getting "philosophem" by burzum repressed in fdr dmm etc etc and expecting it to have a audiofile sound. i guess we should leave this stuff to some classical or jazz listeners. only personal thoughts of course, excuse my english, long time without practicing : )
No. Full Dynamic Range means minimal compression and limiting has been applied to the mixdown and is as close to a flat transfer from the original tapes or DAT as possible. You need to do some homework on the loudness wars to understand what that all means. If you're comparing the FDR digital files to the FDR vinyl, there will be no difference. Compared to the ORIGINAL CD, there is a massive leap. Most metal CDs and vinyl pressings up until '91-92 had a high dynamic range content, there isn't much to be gained with a modern FDR treatment on those. Aside from the fact Earache are taking a bit of extra care to reproduce them in the best way possible. As far as Left Hand Path goes, the original and reissue CDs are totally fine, except for a couple of remasters that appeared. It's just a nice one to own on wax and original vinyl copies fetch high prices. Not really. Burzum's (early) music wasn't destroyed by modern mastering, so his music isn't really ripe for FDR treatment. Secondly, he did everything the way he intended it to be. No.
Just pre-ordered the Heartwork repress and have also ordered the FDR edition of Sleep's Holy Mountain. Looking forward to receiving these very soon.
reply to "scaletoinferno". you did not get the tone of my post. i was actually asking for questions and opinions since i know there is a lot of people that knows more than me. lets put it in your way: so, what dmm master mean? isnt it an as flat as possible master on vinyl? so with "no" you mean "maybe"? when you tell me to do some homework on the loudness war (which i would gladly do) could you please put also a link or something in order to not sound like a chav? i repeat myself but heartwork to me is recorded badly and as long as you cannot put your hands on the original mixes you cannot change that bad recording. this fdr remastering maybe sound a bit more bright but nothing more. remember its always my opinion we are talking about. what do you exactly mean with "high dynamic content"? maybe a peter hammill album from the '80 has an high dynamic range but death/doom or whatever you want metal from the late '80? what can be dynamic in a wall of sound recorded with the less money possible, god only knows. about the "nice way to get on wax (what wax?)", i know, i basically spend all my "hobby money" in vinyls (and i do this since about 20 years) and its nearly all metal. didnt get the part about burzum ar maybe you didnt get what i meant to say. what i mean is that original black metal was bad sounding because it was intended so, remastering and all this have no meaning on such records in which the purity of the sound is the last thing that matter. and for the last quote, you answer "no", i instead think that "yes" is the answer. btw thanks for the cocky reply which added nothing to what i already knew.