Much Improved Remix
It takes a brave band to admit they were wrong. Nevermore had the confidence and the sensibility to realise they had made a mistake with the original recording of 'Enemies of Reality'. To rectify the problem they employed the top knob-twiddling wizard Andy Sneap to re-master and re-mix the album. Many older albums have been re-mastered, the Deep Purple collection to name some, but these just add greater clarity but not necessarily a greater mix. Has 'Enemies of Reality' re-mix and re-master improved on the original recording? The answer is a big resounding YES.
As I sat and typed I realised there wasn't a review on the Room Thirteen website for the original 'Enemies of Reality' so I will try and encapsulate both versions in the one review. Kelly Gray (ex-Queensryche), performed the production duties on the original version and probably due to time and money restraints it sounded truly awful. It was as if someone has put a worn out tape in the stereo and pressed play. The bottom end was a mush and there was no clarity or crispness to the drums or guitars. It was basically a recording stuck in a time warp from the early eighties. Even with the shoddy production the songs still made you want to listen to the album. Opener 'Enemies of Reality' and second track 'Ambivalent' are classic Nevermore that just bulldoze their way into your ears. 'Never Purify' was a personal favourite allowing vocalist Warrel Dane to shine with both an easing chorus melody and biting verse. 'Tomorrow Turned into Yesterday' was perhaps the albums strongest tune starting with an underused clean guitar track. The song had a reminiscent style to the eighties thrash ballad with quiet verses, a robust chorus and flowing lead guitar breaks. Another highlight was 'Who decides' which starts at a thrashy pace before slowing to a swinging beat and melody which wouldn't sound out of place on an Opeth album.
Including the song 'Noumenon' which is just, for the most part, atmospheric sounds and noises, 'Enemies of Reality' has only nine tracks in total. I am all for quantity over quality and with the remix this album is great, but it does feel a little short running in at just over forty minutes. Their previous effort 'Dead Heart in a Dead World' was released in 2000 and a band of Nevermore's song writing ability should have been able to come up one or two more songs in the three years that followed, especially as their previous two albums have all been around the hour mark.
Nevermore deserve a lot of respect for making the decision to remix the album. The fans, unhappy with the poor production, complained in their droves so the band decided to do something about it instead of justifying the recording. (Excuses such as 'We wanted to try something different' and 'It was right for the band at the time', don't sit with me very well.) The likes of Metallica could learn a lot from this band but I can't see Lars swallowing humble pie and remixing St. Anger. I for one would love to hear a great production job on St. Anger instead of the sludgy sound it currently has. I digress, but the point being made is a poor production can hinder a great album, Nevermore realised this and turned this ugly duckling into a swan so to speak. If I was to give the original album a score out of thirteen it would get a six but the remix has earned it a ten because the music comes across so much better. 'Enemies of Reality' is a good starting point for the un-initiated because its full of Nevemore's traits such as haunting vocals and souring technical guitar solos. Personally I would recommend 'Dead Heart in a Dead World' for the simple reason that there's more to it.
On a final note the other great thing about the remixed version is it only costs 5 euros (disc only) online, it's just a pity the original recording is the one still available in the shops.