Why did it take me so long to realize that The Sacrificed rule?

So I was listening to their "III" CD this week and thinking about great it is.  Awesome guitars courtesy of Michael Phillips (Deliverance, Join the Dead) with amazing riffs and cool Geoff Tate-ish vocals from Eli Prinsen (Sacred Warrior).  Great heavy US Power metal and very good songs.  These guys are/were the real deal! 

Do you guys enjoy their previous releases?

The first album was good but they put it all together on III. Production is a little off but I got used to it.

See, I liked 2012 much more than III. It was far more melodic.

Eli's voice has to be the hardest in metal to produce. He is muddy on nearly every recording he signs on. I'm disappointed for his sake. The dude has an incredible voice! I wish the producers were able to figure out how better to produce his vocals on their records.

Can anyone share with me the remastered/remixed/whatever version of the album?  It appears that the d/l is gone now.  I bought the CD years ago.

I just wasn't sure if I would like the older stuff because Michael Phillips's guitar work was a big part of the appeal for me.

Great release! Yes I agree his vocals are muddy.

dumb question time...what are "muddy" vocals?

In this case, the vocals seem unclear, the enunciation is messy.

I've had problems understanding Eli's vocals on The Sacrificed albums and on the one Sacred Warrior disc.  I don't even own The Sacrificed albums anymore as I never played them.

Okay...I went back and listened to III today again. It's better than I remembered. I still like 2012 better, but III is a very solid album.

OJust took a listen---sounds a lot like Sacred warrior---ad you're right... I struggled to understand a single word---the melodies were great... but the enunciation is non-existant... bummer.  Great band though!

Maybe The Sacrificed will record something else now that Eli is out of SW?