I record my own stuff not because I have to, but because I WANT to do it myself. I like to record music. It's just one of my hobbies. I have total control and can take my time to do it the way that I want. And the result is that I can make any kind of noise I want to. I'm under no obligation to sell records or get anyone to like my art. It's completely selfish in many ways, but fuck it. I spend MY time and energy creating whatever the hell I want and it is totally freeing. It feels amazing. The only reason I release albums at all is because I want a finished copy of the album for myself to kick back someday and enjoy.
Now, it's not that I feel that I know every damn thing and can do it better than a professional, because that is totally false. I actually admit that I'm not a great recording engineer. I hear a lot of new stuff coming out that sounds incredible. The guitars and drums are crisp and perfect and the mix is so loud that you turn down the CD when it first starts playing.
I'm not into that at all. Some of my favorite albums of all time are considered badly recorded by today's standards, but I grew up on them and to my ears they sound perfect. Take Possessed's "Beyond the Gates" album for example that was supposedly ruined in the mix. Now, I didn't know that it was "ruined in the mix" until the internet came along to tell me so in many reviews. If it was SO bad, why did I go to sleep with it every single night for years? True, it's a murky mix, and it was probably an accident or oversight or whatever. History has shown us that when artists create something totally new, recording engineers struggle to capture that sound at first. Usually, someone comes along that figures out how to do it. Regardless, Possessed's "Beyond the Gates" album is incredible. It doesn't sound anything like their previous works or the EP that came after, but it is still a masterwork of songwriting and musicianship and atmosphere.
Oh yes, that atmosphere! That's probably because of the murky mix. There was so much reverb and it blended the edges of everything together in a big gnarly manner. Now, I like my dark creepy music to sound dark and creepy. And this worked perfectly. I wonder if "Beyond the Gates" had sounded like "Seven Churches" which a lot of fans claim to be their favorite album of Possessed, if I still would have liked it so much. Probably not, because "Seven Churches" is so intense, mainly because of the chainsaw sound of the guitars, I needed to be "in the mood" to listen to it. That sharp, nasty sound was not something that I could listen to while I kicked back in bed. However, "Beyond the Gates" had a warm, dark sound that kept my ears pleased and kept me listening over and over.
So, the question arises: Do you want music that feels good in your ears? Or do you want something that cuts them and makes them bleed? Personally, I love my music heavy and atmospheric and most of my favorite albums are dark and smooth sounding. Those are the ones I keep coming back to over and over. Therefore, I suppose those songs stick with me because I listen to more.
Jeff Becerra's incredible vocal performance on that album is also what makes it so special to me. It's a wailing gritty moan most of the time, but he still seems to carry a tune sometimes. A lot of you young-uns may not know this, but when Possessed appeared on the scene at that time, critics bitched incessantly about his "broken-glass in my throat" vocal style. They found it tiresome and distracting. I completely embraced his vocal style because it was extreme and angry but still made music. Really, Motorhead was one of the few bands with a style like that at the time. So, sure, Jeff still sounds a bit like Lemmy and who has the courage to complain about that? And what the hell do you hear so many death metal vocalists doing now? Yep.
Anyway, I never intended this to be a review of my favorite metal album of all time, because I don't feel reviews are even necessary anymore. Everything is on youtube for you to sample and make your own decision. If anything, a review should just save you some time in looking for music. Then again, why not find your own music? Why not MAKE your own music. I did.
When Bitter Spring Sleeps "Transmigration" is available now at PaganFlames.com and Bandcamp.