Slayer's 5th Member

To do my part as an individual hellbent on music purchases (addicts?), I did my part and purchased Slayer's special Record Store Day release, "Psychopathy Red". It's the first Slayer single I can remember being released since their split with TSOL around the release of Undisputed Attitude.

Song-wise, I knew what to expect as I prepped my turntable, cartridge, and the disc; I'd heard the song months before due to an Internet leak. Regardless of that, I thought it was cool of Slayer to capitalize on the positive (although unofficial ) reviews the track had received and on the hype of Record Store Day by pressing up 5,000 copies of the song on red wax.

The pressing blows. It's sonically inconsistent from start to finish. Clocking in at a blistering 2:23, the back of the song lost clarity as my stylus moved from the lead-in to the spindle. At first I thought it was due to my equipment being imbalanced. But, a second play through revealed it to be the vinyl. I'm disappointed in the lack of attention to detail paid to the vinyl when the packaging is so lavish. By the end of the song, it sounds as if a swarm of bees is accompanying Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman's double-guitar assault. Tom Araya's vocals are lost beneath the buzzing. The power of the song is diminished greatly.

Notably, this isn't my first run-in with this issue. My red wax copy of Gama Bomb's Citizen Brain suffers from the same problem on the album's first side. "Sentenced to Thrash", that side's last song, sonically decays exactly to Slayer's new release.

I wonder, then, if it's the color in wax, the pressing plant chosen, or other factors that have influenced these noisy artifacts into the information. Google results have been difficult to sift through when I've looked for literature on vinyl pressing. Most of the information I've found is more of the "ooh and ahh" kind: tours of pressing plants, oddball shapes and sizes, and colored/splattered wax. I'd prefer the manufacturing details, chemical consistency or inconsistencies over the nostalgia and "oh wow" factor.

Next up, Isis' Wavering Radiant on 180gram black vinyl. Come on Ipecac! Give me some hope that some record labels still know how to press up some good wax.

DACS Makes You Daft

A co-worker of mine, working on describing on a massive Civil War collection, just walked past my workstation and chuckled as she saw me muttering to myself while staring at the pieces of a finding aid. "That can't be good," she said as she tapped the institution's copy of Describing Archives: A Content Standard.

"What?" I asked.

"Whatever's in there has to be scary if you're talking to yourself," she replied.

Overlooking the fact that I was muttering to myself (an occurrence that's far from infrequent in any situation), my co-worker's belief that the information between the guide's two-toned blue cover will make you crazy epitomizes the old guard's fear of the recently adopted standards for archival finding aids.

Sure, the writing is occasionally difficult to understand and many of us work really well when we have examples in front of us. But, practice makes perfect, eh?

2 - Moho's Chotacabra

It's not the contents of the disc with which I have issues. The music speaks for itself: punishing drums, gritty guitar tones, and guttural utterances appropriate to a medieval battlefield. In spite of the nearly indecipherable lyrics, the album's tone is likable and inescapable: black & white jacket, black inner sleeve, 180 gram black vinyl, and a black disc label.

So, contents duly appreciated, what concerns me most about this release is the difference in loudness between sides. When reformatting an album for inclusion on my iPod, whether it's Lou Rawls' Soulin' or Pig Destroyer's Natasha, the first side frequently dictates the recording level for the entire album. Not the case with "Chotacabra. The second side of this disc had to be recorded nearly 20% louder than side one.

In the case of Moho's third full length album in their seven year career, I tried my best to compensate for this difference using the tools I had available. Namely, my ears and GarageBand's sometimes-difficult-to-gauge VU meters. But, when listening back, it's definitely noticeable. That's partially due to the bombastic beginning of side 2's first song, "Terror Ultramarino". I wonder, too, if the 2nd side doesn't get quieter as the tone arm, cartridge, and stylus revolve from track to track. The final song of the side - a seemingly balls out, short rock song titled "Garage Champion" - sounds meek through my monitors.

The cause of the loudness difference between sides and the 2nd side's quieting isn't due to any compression imposed on the transfer. I record all of my audio disc transfers to 44.1kHz/24bit, uncompressed AIFF files. While not consistent with current audio preservation standards of 96kHz/24bit WAV files, these files are what I'm able to create with the equipment I can afford. The quieting is evident in both the uncompressed AIFF files the compressed M4A files that end up on my iPod.

I've no suggestions for the band; I hope they continue this dark faith they've forged through their three works. The suggestions for side-to-side consistency, then, are aimed at the band's record label or distributor and their choice in mastering or pressing plant.

1 - Wolves in the Throne Room - Live at Roadburn 2008

I'm not big on black metal or live albums. It took a USBM band like Wolves in the Throne Room for me to consider even purchasing a black metal record, let alone investigate the genesis of the metal sub-genre in bands like Bathory, Possessed, Venom, etc. The high end growls, the absence of a bottom end in the sound of many BM records, and general goofiness of the corpse paint were - and remain - strong repellents.

Any live album I've ever purchased has rarely met my expectations. I recall time spent listening to Slayer's Decade of Aggression, memorizing every on-stage noise that wasn't associated with the band's studio recordings. This, coupled with a distaste for overdubs, has left me suspicious of live records and has no doubt influenced how I experience artists in a live setting. Depending on who I'm seeing or am interested in at the time, I tow the line between expecting a faithful reproduction of an album or a complete improvisational freak out that bears little resemblance to songs I recognize.

So, it was with some anxiety that I clicked the "BUY" button on Senor Hernandez' website. I was lured into the purchase by the limited edition pressing and because Wolves in the Throne Room had dropped off the Boris tour of which I'd caught the Pittsburgh stop in July. Where, parenthetically, Boris played their entire Smile album with little improvisational deviation. I was crushed.

As I listen to this capture of Wolves in the Throne Room's performance at the 2008 Roadburn Festival, I can't say I'm completely disappointed. Yes, it's a live record that lacks the austere sounds the band achieved on its two studio releases. I do not have the same grim, lost-in-the-woods feeling that Two Hunters evoked, but I do appreciate the band's attempts to wring those feelings out of its audience through the sheer speed and endurance that shine brightest in this recording.

Sadly missing from this capture, too, is the impact made by the band's recently added bassist. Hopefully, he'll be heard more on the upcoming Conspiracy Records EP and Southern Lord full length releases due this year. Do I regret the purchase? No. I'll definitely revisit it once it's been transferred to my iPod. However, I'm not nearly as taken with it as I am their studio recordings.