Ok, I can understand some artists wanting to do the “right” thing when re-recording an album, getting a better sound, doing a better performance… But, let me tell you, 99.99% of the time it is a total failure. When a musician records something, not only the tape captures the music, it also captures the essence of that time, the feelings, the atmosphere or the raw original intention of the process of creation. And believe me, one thing is to give it a new (re-)mastering, to give the original recording a different (better) approach, but re-recording will make it a similar, yet never the same thing. So, after letting it out of my chest, here we have the 1996 version of one of my all time fave albums. This was released with the original band name of INCUBUS, yet instead of giving the original recording a bit of a face-lift, that to be honest was already good enough, and probably a few things would just make it better, but no! Technically speaking this is a 80% re-recording as probably only the drums were left from the original sound. Everything else was re-recorded, with the guitars sounding more massive, but for me the worst part was re-recording the vocals, including changing the lyrics and titles on many songs. Now, I also have mixed feelings as this recording on its own is very good. I mean the vocals are good, different but good, and for sure the new guitar sound makes it more massive and heavier, yet, this was just a very weird thing to do. Reasons behind this I do not know, probably legal issues with the old bassist / vocalist (the bass was also re-recorded), or the original song titles / lyrics besting too extreme as the band was more or less considered to be Christian. Who knows. To me, and many other fans, this was unnecessary, yet I will not say it was a bad thing per-se. The new cover art, is without a doubt better than the original, but I still prefer the original one. The way the songs sound, and some of those I can repeat by memory, is weird but yet they do feel like still in place. It is just, that I got so used to the original version, and the order of songs and lyrics, that this sounds like a very good cover band. Probably I have not talked about the music style, so go and find the review of the original one, as in that aspect this is still the same riff orientated Death / Thrash Metal style, with more gruffer vocals, more Death Metal sounding and a heavier, fuller guitar sound. At the end of the day, this will be one of those very rare re-recordings that is still very good (the other re-recordings I consider worthy are those by ANACRUSIS and NECRODEATH and… and that’s it), so for me this is more of a good curiosity that might find a place on my collection sometime, than a necessity, as I already have the original one. By the way, the band in its core is still going strong, they have released a few more albums under the new name, and all of them are strong releases for those lovers of SLAYER worshipping Death Metal thrashing madness, with probably a less religious lyrical approach, yet still with references to the evil in man and the upcoming Armageddon. So, even if you have the original, this can still be considered an important piece in the history of the band. I’ll take the original over this anyway, but that’s me I guess. www.facebook.com/opprobriumofficial, www.facebook.com/hrrecords