resurreCtIons
Unearthing the latest metal reissues
It may not be doing much for our bank balances, but the ongoing vinyl resurgence brings fresh thrills every passing week. Nuclear Blast seem to be particularly keen to make us simultaneously happy and skint, with a flurry of classy re-releases. Firstly, and at long last, meshuggah have grasped the nettle and are unveiling their first batch of re-mastered vinyl reissues. Both 1989’s self-titled EP [6] and 1991’s full-length debut, Contradictions Collapse [7], are worth a look for diehard fans, but it’s sonically revitalised incarnations of 1994’s transformative None EP [8], 1995’s epoch-shattering Destroy Erase Improve [9] and the still utterly devastating Chaosphere [9] from 1996 that you absolutely must get in your ears at the earliest opportunity. Whatever trickery the Swedes have employed in the remastering process has made these records – all of which boast fantastic new artwork – sound even more monstrous and dimensionally implausible than before. Amazing.
For light relief after Meshuggah’s blitzkrieg, the nIght FLIght orChestra’s first two albums have been given a long-awaited vinyl release. For sublime, hook-drenched AOR majesty, both Internal Affairs [8] and Skyline Whispers [8] are mandatory. Similarly, when it comes to flagrant bombast and cinematic ambition, BLInD guarDIan take some beating. This second part of another wholesale catalogue splurge boasts three of the band’s greatest records: Imaginations From The Other Side [8], NightFall In Middle Earth [8] and A Night At The Opera [7]. Everything Hansi Kursch touches sounds enormous, of course, but a little tinkering has added great clarity and depth to the vinyl versions. Lovely, as they say, stuff.
saBaton’s rise to glory continues apace, but 2012’s Carolus Rex [8] is still their best album. Re-released as a Platinum Edition to celebrate quadruple platinum status and 326 weeks on the Swedish charts, this thunderous charge through the rise and fall of the Swedish Empire is mostly worth checking out for a furious cover of Amon Amarth’s Twilight Of The Thunder God. Onwards!