FINALLY Saint, Warriors Of The Son 04 is ready!

Did anyone else get their's, or am I the first? It came in today's mail.

You must be number one! I don't know if mine came or not since I am at work. Will check when I get home

Just tracked it, not delivered yet, maybe later today. But my wife has been known to highjack packages I order any time between Oct and Dec and then give them to me for Christmas so even if it DOES come today I may not see it until Dec 25th!

First impression: not impressed. I will say more after a couple spins.

I agree BearDad.

BearDad wrote:

First impression: not impressed. I will say more after a couple spins.

IM4given wrote:

I agree BearDad.

Are you guys basing your opinion on comparison to the original recording or the 2004 rerecord?

2004

I never heard the 2004 release. I have the original on vinyl and then in again as part of Saint Collection 1984 - 1999, released in 2003. Therefore my assessment is on the re-record rather than the digital remastering.

I have the CD in my truck, and I've only listened to maybe half of it; I need to get it ripped so I can listen to it at work. Then I'll probably be able to form a more complete opinion.  My first impression, however is that I don't care for the re-recorded versions of the songs. I think the drums actually sound subdued, the guitar solos are uninspired, and the tempo feels faster. Richard Lynch sounds like he's rushing through some of the lyrics, and singing eighth notes where there should be quarter notes, etc. In general it doesn't sound as raw as the original, which is no doubt because of the better quality production tools available in 2004. I've always liked the slow, plodding, raw feel that the original WOTS had, even for the faster songs like "Legions of the Dead."

Mine came but was intercepted! Looks like I won't be hearing it til Christmas  BearDad, I will say I know they used an electronic drum kit on it. That detail there had me disappointed but I still haven't heard it. Let us know how the 2 "new" songs sound.

The 2014 songs are definitely at a faster tempo:

Song - 1984 / 2014
Plan 2 - 6:22 / 5:36
Legions of the Dead - 4:23 / 3:37
Abyss - 4:11 / 3:51
Warriors of the Son - 4:01 / 3:35
Vicars of Fate - 3:53 / 3:40
Time's Wasting - 4:38 / 4:04

I realize a shorter length doesn't mean played faster, as verses can be omitted, choruses repeated fewer times, etc., but I haven't noticed anything "missing" ... just played faster.

Also, at least some of the re-records are in a different key. 

The "new" songs (were they on the 2004 version?) are really short: 2:27 and 2:52. They're not bad though; definitely in the same style as this album (as opposed to other Saint releases). The last one, "The Reaper", is straight-forward, simple, driving metal, just a hammer driving a nail with a steady beat and a great guitar solo half-way through.

I have not listened to it yet, but mine came yesterday in the mail.  Between that and the one Holy Smoke album I got, my listening today is pretty well picked out for me.  Now, to only snag the new Flyleaf as well.

I remember Rich talking at the CMR about the 2004 version when they first released it.  He did admit that they sped the songs up a bit, but I thought he said that they were all recorded in the same key (don't remember that for certain though).

After listening to this one and comparing it to both the original and the re-record, I must say that this is the BEST this album has sounded.  Here are a number of things I noticed while listening:


1.  The drums seem to stand out more.  They were buried in the mix in the re-recorded version in 2004.  On the 2nd song, it seemed that the drums were out of sync.  Now, with the drum frequencies excited, you can tell that they were not out of sync--the band was just using a bit too much effect on the guitars.

2.  The bass is more pronounced.  You can hear what riffing that Rich is doing.  As a bass player, I like that!

3.  The guitars sound crisper on the remastered 2014 version.  Instead of sounding like these songs were done in 1984, they sound modern and heavy without trying to sound like today's metal bands.

4.  Reduction in ear fatigue caused by the cymbals being to crisp.  On earlier recordings and the 2004 re-recorded versions, the cymbals were to loud and crisp.  This causes the ear to become fatigued quickly and you actually miss things in the mix because of this.  On the remastered 2014 version, you can seriously listen to this at much higher levels due to the frequencies of the cymbals being lowered.

While I cannot always tell what was fixed in a remastered version (the Ransom album, for example), this one you can definitely tell that much was touched up.  This album was great before, but it is now a masterpiece with the polish that Cliffy has given it.

OK, after a few more spins it's starting to grow on me a bit. I still like the 1984 version better, but this one is pretty good as well. And I still think the songs sound a bit hurried. It's a keeper though.

BearDad wrote:

OK, after a few more spins it's starting to grow on me a bit. I still like the 1984 version better, but this one is pretty good as well. And I still think the songs sound a bit hurried. It's a keeper though.

It's also got to be hard when you have spent more than three decades listening to one version and then try to get used to an entirely different version.  I got both the original and the rerecord within a year of each other...so I didn't have that issue.