Work continues on Death Dealer.
Death Dealer reached the final stages of production in late August and was set for a round of critical listening by band members and associates. However, another complete song from the Death Dealer sessions was discovered in early September, a song that carried various names in recordings with the earlier Critical Mass lineup ("Icy Portals," "World War Sword"), but which will appear under the title "Immortal" for this release.
"Immortal" goes straight into "Quietly Passing On," here presented with a different guitar solo than the previously announced version of the song. The previously announced version has been renamed "Quietly Passing On (Grand Reprise)" in honor of the magisterial synthesizer work that appears on it and placed last in the track listing.
The release of the CD has been postponed until a mix of the song is completed, all the tracks are mastered, and the round of critical listening finds participants satisfied with the results.
Mixing the album has been difficult for obvious reasons. The session was originally recorded on a cassette tape using a 4-track machine. Each track was digitized separately, and so syncing tracks has consumed more of my time. I still have more syncing to do. I fear that some of the long-running tracks may never be perfectly synced, but I have split the difference so it is not intolerable. I may divide tracks to deal with the problem more fundamentally. Other problems involve dropout (the tape was more than two decades old at the time of transfer), missing tracks, and awkward track sharing due to the constraints of 4-track recording.
Mastering has been quite difficult, as well, since bass and treble response change with the decomposition of the tape. The transfer process could have perhaps been done better given what I have learned during the process, but the age of the tapes and the amount of work put into the project so far makes starting over virtually prohibitive, although I may at some point give it one more try.
Overall, I think the final product will be the best I can make it and I predict that the listening public won't be dissatisfied. It is a special moment in the history of Critical Mass.
Track Listing:
1. Osiris Arises
2. Death Dealer
3. You're Own Your Own
4. Beneath the Sea
5. She Likes the Night Life
6. Mist
7. Immortal
8. Quietly Passing On
9. In the Name of the Lord
10. Burn Gypsy Town
11. Reflections
12. Quietly Passing On (Grand Reprise)
Death Dealer reached the final stages of production in late August and was set for a round of critical listening by band members and associates. However, another complete song from the Death Dealer sessions was discovered in early September, a song that carried various names in recordings with the earlier Critical Mass lineup ("Icy Portals," "World War Sword"), but which will appear under the title "Immortal" for this release.
"Immortal" goes straight into "Quietly Passing On," here presented with a different guitar solo than the previously announced version of the song. The previously announced version has been renamed "Quietly Passing On (Grand Reprise)" in honor of the magisterial synthesizer work that appears on it and placed last in the track listing.
The release of the CD has been postponed until a mix of the song is completed, all the tracks are mastered, and the round of critical listening finds participants satisfied with the results.
Mixing the album has been difficult for obvious reasons. The session was originally recorded on a cassette tape using a 4-track machine. Each track was digitized separately, and so syncing tracks has consumed more of my time. I still have more syncing to do. I fear that some of the long-running tracks may never be perfectly synced, but I have split the difference so it is not intolerable. I may divide tracks to deal with the problem more fundamentally. Other problems involve dropout (the tape was more than two decades old at the time of transfer), missing tracks, and awkward track sharing due to the constraints of 4-track recording.
Mastering has been quite difficult, as well, since bass and treble response change with the decomposition of the tape. The transfer process could have perhaps been done better given what I have learned during the process, but the age of the tapes and the amount of work put into the project so far makes starting over virtually prohibitive, although I may at some point give it one more try.
Overall, I think the final product will be the best I can make it and I predict that the listening public won't be dissatisfied. It is a special moment in the history of Critical Mass.
Track Listing:
1. Osiris Arises
2. Death Dealer
3. You're Own Your Own
4. Beneath the Sea
5. She Likes the Night Life
6. Mist
7. Immortal
8. Quietly Passing On
9. In the Name of the Lord
10. Burn Gypsy Town
11. Reflections
12. Quietly Passing On (Grand Reprise)
No comments:
Post a Comment