Back in the 1980s, when there was no internet around, underground bands sometimes got a more or less legendary reputation even though only few people hardly ever heard their music. Dedicated fanzines or underground magazines and word of mouth spread names throughout the scene that a lot of people knew. One of these names was WATCHTOWER. They were rumoured to be the most technical Thrash Metal band ever, with brilliant musicians and songs way beyond description. Yet it was nearly impossible to listen to them, as their album “Energetic Disassembly” was put out in 1985 by a tiny label and therefore it was available only in their home country USA. Being a fan of RUSH since 1981 and obsessed with albums like “Killing Technology” from VOIVOD at that time, 17 year old me was absolutely eager to listen to that musical marvel from WATCHTOWER as soon as I heard the rumours in 1987. My desire was fulfilled when someone had a copy of that album on tape and dubbed it for me. With a mix of excitement and anticipation, I inserted the tape into my deck, pushed play and almost immediately my jaws dropped. The opener ‘Violent Change’ was a mix of Jazz structures and a kind of Power Thrash Metal with absurd breaks and nearly inhuman drumming – I mean, no normal drummer will be able to remember these drum patterns, or so I thought back then. Guess how surprised I was when I found out that the opener was just a straight overture to even more complicated songs like ‘Tyrants In Distress’, ‘Energetic Disassembly’ or ‘Argonne Forest’. The drum breaks and rhythms seemed to be even more from outer space, the bass lines were marvellous, the guitars were odd, but still Metal and on top we had vocals that were often high pitched. Little did I know that this was quite a Metal sub genre of its own, as I first heard the term “Texas Metal” about a decade later with bands like (S.A.) SLAYER or MILITIA. So, the first run of “Energetic Disassembly” got me fixed and I listened to my tape copy some more times, until I was absolutely lucky to find a vinyl copy of the album in a damn well-assorted record shop in Hamburg in the summer of that same year. Now I knew the names of those marvellous musicians, Jason McMaster (vocals), Billy White (guitars), Doug Keyser (bass) and Rick Colaluca (drums). And I was assured that the sound of the album was definitely not perfect, as it lacked depth and thus it somehow sounded too high-pitched. A few months later, a tape trading pal provided me with new stuff from WATCHTOWER, a live recording of a show somewhere in Texas with new songs and a studio demo with two of these songs in proper quality. The new stuff sounded like the logical advancement of “Energetic Disassembly” and was the basis of the second WATCHTOWER album “Control And Resistance” that was released in 1989 via Noise Records and featured the new members Ron Jarzombek on guitar and former HADES singer Alan Tecchio, who was a great replacement for Jason McMaster. That album was far too demanding to be a commercial success and became the swan song for WATCHTOWER for quite a while. Yet “Control And Resistance” was, is and will always be the masterpiece of technical Progressive Metal, the perfect blend of mathematics and complexity on the one hand and audibility and Metal on the other. Despite the fact that WATCHTOWER re-united, they recorded only five more new songs in the last decade that were released as an EP called “Concepts Of Maths: Book One” in 2016. But returning to “Energetic Disassembly”, this very year marks the 40th anniversary of that landmark album. Thus Holy Roller Records treated “Energetic Disassembly” with a proper re-release in the form of a double CD that is also available as two separate vinyl albums. The first disc features the album in its original mix, carefully restored so it sounds like it is 1987 for me again. The second disc features a remix of the album that was already done in 2009, but up to now never officially released in physical form, as far as I know. That remix adds the missing depth of the original mix, so that the album sounds a lot better than before. But the original charm of the album got not lost too much, just a tiny little bit. What puzzles me more is the fact that ‘Tyrants’ and ‘Argonne Forest’ have new intro pieces here, but they sound fitting and so I’m okay with that. A person that isn’t familiar with the original album should surely enjoy the remix a little more than I did. In addition to the remix that presents the songs in a changed running order, the second disc also features two short instrumentals that were recorded during the “Energetic Disassembly” sessions but not included in the final album. While ‘BW115’ is a short acoustic guitar piece, ‘Rick On Parade’ is a drum solo that showcases the abilities of Rick Colaluca. These two are nice gimmicks, but not as relevant as the other two extra tracks, as those are the two already mentioned demo songs from 1987, the final recordings with Jason McMaster before his temporary departure later that year. With ‘Instruments Of Random Murder’ and ‘The Eldritch’ we get two perfect examples of how fantastic WATCHTOWER were 40 years ago, the unique balance of technical musical abilities and the composing skills the band had. So it can’t be denied that the bonus disc is really worthy for fans and newbies at the same time. And since this reissue comes with a slipcase packaging, an extensive booklet and a 2-sided poster, there really is no reason not to get it if you’re digging Progressive Metal in its most perfect form. But in case you still need a clincher: this edition “Energetic Disassembly” was remastered at Temple of Disharmony studios in January 2025 by Patrick W. Engel, and this guy knows how to do these things more than properly. For more, visit www.facebook.com/officialwatchtower and www.facebook.com/hrrecords