Living Sacrifice - Nonexistent (remixed and remastered) coming soon...

So I realized that I purchased it through Nordic Mission, and Deadpool through the Living Sacrifice webpage. Nordic does not have an option for purchasing just the digital files, whereas LS's page does. 

I'm kinda wishing I would have known about ordering through LS.

But is it better for supporting Nordic by purchasing from them? I'm guessing they foot the bill for the re-mixing and re-mastering and for the upgraded liner notes?

The major leap in sound quality and clarity made me pull the trigger and buy the album from the LS website. It cost me $23 after shipping.

I ordered the black vinyl and XXL shirt.

the sample I heard sounds incredible. sounds totally amazing! can't wait!

Sevenoneself wrote:So I realized that I purchased it through Nordic Mission, and Deadpool through the Living Sacrifice webpage. Nordic does not have an option for purchasing just the digital files, whereas LS's page does. 

I'm kinda wishing I would have known about ordering through LS.

But is it better for supporting Nordic by purchasing from them? I'm guessing they foot the bill for the re-mixing and re-mastering and for the upgraded liner notes?

I don't actually know, but I suspect that in terms of financial compensation it probably doesn't really matter.
Whichever outlet the sale comes from, the invested parties are going to get their contracted percentage. 

My guess is that the rights holder to the recordings (LS? Probably not R.E.X. anymore) licensed it to Nordic to be the distributor of this new version.
But I couldn't say which party actually ponied up for the re-working. 

Regardless, they apparently hired the right guy for the job.

I'm not a CD guy anymore. I loved liner notes but where I am in life with 4 kids in school and all the extra-curricular activities and church volunteering I choose not to spend time & energy on reading/digitizing/storing CD's. 

I cancelled my Nordic order and purchased the download from the LS merch page. I am now in music heaven listening to Nonexistent the way it was envisioned 30 years ago!!

Sevenoneself wrote:I'm not a CD guy anymore. I loved liner notes but where I am in life with 4 kids in school and all the extra-curricular activities and church volunteering I choose not to spend time & energy on reading/digitizing/storing CD's. 

I cancelled my Nordic order and purchased the download from the LS merch page. I am now in music heaven listening to Nonexistent the way it was envisioned 30 years ago!!

That’s understandable… but If there was ever a special occasion to get a CD as a keepsake, this is it! This album has been panned and plagued with lackluster production for many years. Now it’s fixed to sound the way it should have! And you obviously are over the moon with this album. I figure a few choice albums you loved from your teenage past is worth having as a physical hard copy. The artwork and liner notes are even more reason.

TZ75 wrote:

Sevenoneself wrote:I'm not a CD guy anymore. I loved liner notes but where I am in life with 4 kids in school and all the extra-curricular activities and church volunteering I choose not to spend time & energy on reading/digitizing/storing CD's. 

I cancelled my Nordic order and purchased the download from the LS merch page. I am now in music heaven listening to Nonexistent the way it was envisioned 30 years ago!!

That’s understandable… but If there was ever a special occasion to get a CD as a keepsake, this is it! This album has been panned and plagued with lackluster production for many years. Now it’s fixed to sound the way it should have! And you obviously are over the moon with this album. I figure a few choice albums you loved from your teenage past is worth having as a physical hard copy. The artwork and liner notes are even more reason.

You are right! When I was looking at Nordic yesterday I noticed that I could buy 2-4 CD's for the same shipping price. So I'm thinking that maybe I'll save up and buy a few at the same time that are special to me. There's a few under-rated albums that I really enjoy that I'd like a special memento of, like this one and Haven's Age of Darkness.

As I don't buy updated albums very often, I decided to make a comparison video between the original and this new one. It's 2 minutes long, take a listen!

I found that on my desktop computer speakers there was no improvement in the sound (other than the increased loudness), but on headphones and cellphone speakers the improvement was quite noticeable. 

Sevenoneself wrote:As I don't buy updated albums very often, I decided to make a comparison video between the original and this new one. It's 2 minutes long, take a listen!

I found that on my desktop computer speakers there was no improvement in the sound (other than the increased loudness), but on headphones and cellphone speakers the improvement was quite noticeable. 

Interesting, thanks.

I also ripped the original "Distorted" to my computer and A/B'd it with the new one.

Your video does highlight one of the stand-out changes (at least to me) between the two, and that was that there actually seems to be less overall low-end in the new version. That's the only thing that I kind of miss from the original. It wasn't what I would call "muddy" originally, and I do rather like that thickness as it appears on the original. 

But I'm ok with that sacrifice for the more balanced mix.

They've made it all a little more "wet" too with the added reverb, which is also probably a good idea. It needed that for a slightly more polished, less demo feel. Some people will hate it probably, because it's not as "Raw" anymore, but I'm ok with it.

I've always felt that, because of the extremity of the genre, it really needs good and careful production to help everything shine through when all instruments are on full turbo at the same time.

Speaking of Distorted though, did you notice the changes in that Djent section about 1:00 in?

On the original, those two guitar parts are panned pretty heavily left and right and the effect is so powerful and awesome and honestly it was my absolute favorite moment on the record--and one of my favorite parts in general ever frankly.
And the remix has placed the guitars closer to the center and it rather diminishes the effect, at least for me. It's the only thing that I'm kind of disappointed in with this release. 

That telegraph is still freaking amazing, just not quite as pronounced as it was. 

But of course I won't be letting go of my original anytime soon so no big deal. If I really want that hit I can dial it up at anytime.
But I'll mostly be listening to this new one. 

I remember when they re-recorded bass and drums for the first two Ozzy albums. The differences were actually so minor that if you didn't know they had been re-done you probably never could tell. I thought that those re-mixes actually improved upon the originals and I like them.

But everyone hated it and freaked out with screams of "Bring the originals back!!"

As if the new versions somehow mystically erased all previous versions from the universe, and there weren't still millions of copies available on the market. 

I'm listening to the original mix now (in HQ) and I'm liking it better than I used to.  
Maybe I just got used to the vocals by now....no longer a shock to the system, lol.

I agree that the vocals are too high in the mix however.  Hopefully that gets radically fixed on the reissue.

Deadpool wrote:Speaking of Distorted though, did you notice the changes in that Djent section about 1:00 in?

On the original, those two guitar parts are panned pretty heavily left and right and the effect is so powerful and awesome and honestly it was my absolute favorite moment on the record--and one of my favorite parts in general ever frankly.
And the remix has placed the guitars closer to the center and it rather diminishes the effect, at least for me. It's the only thing that I'm kind of disappointed in with this release.

...that was the absolute standout moment on this record for me. I can remember listening to it in Portland in '92 and picking my jaw up off the floor of my car. hopefully it's not ruined as bad as I'm imagining and maybe the remix on everything else will make it a good trade off and thus a regular spin for me...

because of the vocals, I don't really know this record other than the intro to Distorted. Probably haven't played it more than I can count on two hands (other than the Distorted intro itself)... I was sure you were describing the same track that I loved, but I often don't remember track titles, and I've always recalled that the track w/the killer panning crunch was #7 (numbers nerd)...looked it up and sure enough...

crucifyd wrote:

Deadpool wrote:Speaking of Distorted though, did you notice the changes in that Djent section about 1:00 in?

On the original, those two guitar parts are panned pretty heavily left and right and the effect is so powerful and awesome and honestly it was my absolute favorite moment on the record--and one of my favorite parts in general ever frankly.
And the remix has placed the guitars closer to the center and it rather diminishes the effect, at least for me. It's the only thing that I'm kind of disappointed in with this release.

...that was the absolute standout moment on this record for me. I can remember listening to it in Portland in '92 and picking my jaw up off the floor of my car. hopefully it's not ruined as bad as I'm imagining and maybe the remix on everything else will make it a good trade off and thus a regular spin for me...

because of the vocals, I don't really know this record other than the intro to Distorted. Probably haven't played it more than I can count on two hands (other than the Distorted intro itself)... I was sure you were describing the same track that I loved, but I often don't remember track titles, and I've always recalled that the track w/the killer panning crunch was #7 (numbers nerd)...looked it up and sure enough...

Haha, yup! Jaw on the floor moment for me too.

No, it's not ruined. Just not quite as impactful, at least for me because I love wide stereo separation in recordings.
But the groove is still there for sure.

And yes, I think that you'll find the rest of the album more listenable as a whole now. Somehow everything seems...I don't know....tighter and less sloppy. I mean, I know that it wasn't sloppy, it just always kind of sounded that way to me for some reason.
There are a lot of other amazing parts across the record that I can appreciate more now because I'm not so bothered and distracted by that lead vocal crawling down my shirt and up my spine every time lol!
The vocal actually sounds pretty rad now in the new context with some 'verb and proper placement.

I agree with everything that's been said. It is easier to listen to and more enjoyable as a whole. The "bloated" low midrange has been tamed.
I would have liked more low end as well, but I also like hearing the bass kick work clearly; it adds alot of punch to the album.

As noted, the only thing thing that I really dislike is the decision to not pan the mono guitars hard L and R. Distorted has that, as well as the beginning of Haven of Blasphemy (my favourite LS song of ALL TIME!!). However, they did pan hard L at the beginning of Void Of Expres​sion(and now I'll pay more attention to that in the rest of the album).

They also added ALOT of FX to some of the clean guitars. I didn't listen close enough to figure out what exactly was done.
All in all, my favourite part of the new mix is getting to appreciate the kick drumwork!

I think one of the reasons I didn’t like the vocals on this album is that they are completely indecipherable and drawn out (like a zombie moaning). I know death metal vocals can vary a lot, from a stylized Obituary growl to a ridiculously low King Kong grunt like Mortician. I was generally a fan of the well pronounced and understandable voices of Death’s Chuck Schuldiner and Bret Hoffmann from Malevolent Creation. 

I think I’m starting to get over DJ’s death moans. I figure it’s kind of like sound effects… or maybe it’s all the exposure to the Walking Dead and zombie movies I’ve seen the last several years. LOL

It'd be interesting to have a conversation with Jeremiah Scott and have him explain his reasoning behind the more bold decisions he made while remixing. Not for the purpose of judging, but just for interests' sake. I wonder if that's something that could be setup here sometime?

TZ75 wrote:I think one of the reasons I didn’t like the vocals on this album is that they are completely indecipherable and drawn out (like a zombie moaning). I know death metal vocals can vary a lot from a stylized Obituary growl to a ridiculously low King Kong grunt like Mortician. I was generally a fan of the well pronounced and understandable voices of Death’s Chuck Schuldiner and Bret Hoffmann from Malevolent Creation. 

I think I’m starting to get over DJ’s death moans. I figure it’s kind of like sound effects… or it’s all the Walking Dead and zombie movies I’ve seen the last several years. :PI

The problem is that they lack distinction and don’t really follow the rhythm. Death metal needs vocal hooks. Haven of Blasphemy comes close. I’m not picky about the actual sound of the vocals. (The vocals on Inhabit don’t bother me). But I want decipherable vocals, especially with Christian lyrics.

Deadpool wrote:

But everyone hated it and freaked out with screams of "Bring the originals back!!"

As if the new versions somehow mystically erased all previous versions from the universe, and there weren't still millions of copies available on the market. 

I was a little bit worried that the remix would be 95% similar. I like that Scott really changed it up; not only does it sound great, it makes owning both of them worth it.

Pethead wrote:

TZ75 wrote:I think one of the reasons I didn’t like the vocals on this album is that they are completely indecipherable and drawn out (like a zombie moaning). I know death metal vocals can vary a lot from a stylized Obituary growl to a ridiculously low King Kong grunt like Mortician. I was generally a fan of the well pronounced and understandable voices of Death’s Chuck Schuldiner and Bret Hoffmann from Malevolent Creation. 

I think I’m starting to get over DJ’s death moans. I figure it’s kind of like sound effects… or it’s all the Walking Dead and zombie movies I’ve seen the last several years. :PI

The problem is that they lack distinction and don’t really follow the rhythm. Death metal needs vocal hooks. Haven of Blasphemy comes close. I’m not picky about the actual sound of the vocals. (The vocals on Inhabit don’t bother me). But I want decipherable vocals, especially with Christian lyrics.

Quit complaining. It's almost like you mistook this album for As The World Bleeds and just wanted to whine about it. 

Sevenoneself wrote:

Pethead wrote:

TZ75 wrote:I think one of the reasons I didn’t like the vocals on this album is that they are completely indecipherable and drawn out (like a zombie moaning). I know death metal vocals can vary a lot from a stylized Obituary growl to a ridiculously low King Kong grunt like Mortician. I was generally a fan of the well pronounced and understandable voices of Death’s Chuck Schuldiner and Bret Hoffmann from Malevolent Creation. 

I think I’m starting to get over DJ’s death moans. I figure it’s kind of like sound effects… or it’s all the Walking Dead and zombie movies I’ve seen the last several years. :PI

The problem is that they lack distinction and don’t really follow the rhythm. Death metal needs vocal hooks. Haven of Blasphemy comes close. I’m not picky about the actual sound of the vocals. (The vocals on Inhabit don’t bother me). But I want decipherable vocals, especially with Christian lyrics.

Quit complaining. It's almost like you mistook this album for When The World Bleeds and just wanted to whine about it. 

LS peaked with the debut. Wake up, sheeple! (Or something. I dunmo).


(And AtWB is still the worst Theocracy album).

Pethead wrote:

Sevenoneself wrote:

Pethead wrote:

TZ75 wrote:I think one of the reasons I didn’t like the vocals on this album is that they are completely indecipherable and drawn out (like a zombie moaning). I know death metal vocals can vary a lot from a stylized Obituary growl to a ridiculously low King Kong grunt like Mortician. I was generally a fan of the well pronounced and understandable voices of Death’s Chuck Schuldiner and Bret Hoffmann from Malevolent Creation. 

I think I’m starting to get over DJ’s death moans. I figure it’s kind of like sound effects… or it’s all the Walking Dead and zombie movies I’ve seen the last several years. :PI

The problem is that they lack distinction and don’t really follow the rhythm. Death metal needs vocal hooks. Haven of Blasphemy comes close. I’m not picky about the actual sound of the vocals. (The vocals on Inhabit don’t bother me). But I want decipherable vocals, especially with Christian lyrics.

Quit complaining. It's almost like you mistook this album for When The World Bleeds and just wanted to whine about it. 

LS peaked with the debut. Wake up, sheeple! (Or something. I dunmo).


(And AtWB is still the worst Theocracy album).

Wait....is there even such a thing as a "Worst" Theocracy album?!?

I call unicorn on that.  

Deadpool wrote:

Pethead wrote:

Sevenoneself wrote:

Pethead wrote:

TZ75 wrote:I think one of the reasons I didn’t like the vocals on this album is that they are completely indecipherable and drawn out (like a zombie moaning). I know death metal vocals can vary a lot from a stylized Obituary growl to a ridiculously low King Kong grunt like Mortician. I was generally a fan of the well pronounced and understandable voices of Death’s Chuck Schuldiner and Bret Hoffmann from Malevolent Creation. 

I think I’m starting to get over DJ’s death moans. I figure it’s kind of like sound effects… or it’s all the Walking Dead and zombie movies I’ve seen the last several years. :PI

The problem is that they lack distinction and don’t really follow the rhythm. Death metal needs vocal hooks. Haven of Blasphemy comes close. I’m not picky about the actual sound of the vocals. (The vocals on Inhabit don’t bother me). But I want decipherable vocals, especially with Christian lyrics.

Quit complaining. It's almost like you mistook this album for When The World Bleeds and just wanted to whine about it. 

LS peaked with the debut. Wake up, sheeple! (Or something. I dunmo).


(And AtWB is still the worst Theocracy album).

Wait....is there even such a thing as a "Worst" Theocracy album?!?

I call unicorn on that.  

Only if it’s AtWB. The Gift of Music and The Light of the World see to that.

(I didn’t even have to bring up AtWB first to have an opportunity to criticize it).

^^ Haha! My wife calls you my new "besties", 'cuz everyday I'm on here typing away. This morning I had told her I was going to shave and then I was surfing the forum while she was teaching piano in the same room. Suddenly I got a text...from her. It simply read, "go shave"!

Pethead wrote:

TZ75 wrote:I think one of the reasons I didn’t like the vocals on this album is that they are completely indecipherable and drawn out (like a zombie moaning). I know death metal vocals can vary a lot from a stylized Obituary growl to a ridiculously low King Kong grunt like Mortician. I was generally a fan of the well pronounced and understandable voices of Death’s Chuck Schuldiner and Bret Hoffmann from Malevolent Creation. 

I think I’m starting to get over DJ’s death moans. I figure it’s kind of like sound effects… or it’s all the Walking Dead and zombie movies I’ve seen the last several years. :PI

The problem is that they lack distinction and don’t really follow the rhythm. Death metal needs vocal hooks. Haven of Blasphemy comes close. I’m not picky about the actual sound of the vocals. (The vocals on Inhabit don’t bother me). But I want decipherable vocals, especially with Christian lyrics.

Yeah the thing about these indecipherable vocals is that a hardcore satanist could listen to this and not even know this is a bold Christian band. You literally need to read the lyrics in the booklet to know. Bold Christian lyrics should be undeniably understandable. Satan needs to be cringing!

Listening to the mp3 files… the vocals are growing on me! It was a one time unique approach. And I also realize that I like this album better than Inhabit. Jason Truby’s clean guitar parts are really cool and dark/atmospheric. I can’t believe I avoided this album since I bought the cassette as a new release and hated the vocals. The remix has made it a lot more clear and powerful!

A couple days ago I listened to this album most of the day on repeat trying to rate it and decide what I wanted to pre-order. I had been on the fence about it but, listening intently, it really started to grow on me and I got used to the vocals more. I got the digital download and what a difference! The vocals are much better integrated and the whole thing just has more punch. I decided to pre-order the CD, gold vinyl, t-shirt, long sleeve, and poster.