Sigil 04_: Welcome oblivion

[sheepdean]

As EP1 sold out and An Omen came with Secret Free Vinyl™, pre ordering WO made sense to me. Basically the only purpose is to put money in the artist/label's pocket pre-release, and to encourage sales in a wider time frame. The word "preorder" is in itself a tautology as all orders are preorders (you don't order something after you get it after all).

Communication is they key in things like this though, if there were exact reasons for issues, a more detailed timeline etc, then it'd be less irritating.

[jessamineny]

But what exactly is the irritation in this case, besides the fact they waited until the last minute to send out that e-mail on the 4th? It's only been a week, and it's not the 19th yet.

[sheepdean]

Lack of communication and the fact that, if we weren't a community, loads of people wouldn't even know about the delay, as many of us I'm sure don't use the same email account for transactions as for general use #paranoia

[unheard78]

All of you make great points, though I'd say the best summary of our collective frustration is a combination of what Final Destiny and sheepdean wrote, which is it's not something that's in their control and they're trying to rectify it, but as we paid them for something that wasn't officially announced as an issue until the last minute, it would be appreciated if we could get further details about what's happening. I'd intended from the beginning to buy the album on CD and vinyl but only pre-ordered the vinyl as I knew I'd likely get the CD a few days early care of a friendly retailer. I feel really bad for anyone that ordered the CD and vinyl from the official site as they're waiting for their whole order, and it also burns since we've been waiting for our bonus tracks while the rest of the world already has them. And I haven't even mentioned the so-called 24/96 audio. I suppose anything can happen in situations like these, but it just feels like Sony dropped the ball on the vinyl pressing and someone else... did something... with the download. Sorry, I don't know who to blame for that one.

[jmtd]

And I haven't even mentioned the so-called 24/96 audio. I suppose anything can happen in situations like these, but it just feels like Sony dropped the ball on the vinyl pressing and someone else... did something... with the download. Sorry, I don't know who to blame for that one.

To try and summarize the 24/96 issues, based on a thread scan. Please let me know if I missed anything:

they put out 24/96 ALAC files that iDevices can't handle
they're really 24/48 that ended up mastered at 96

I'm not surprised they're really 24/48 given what TR said in the first HTDA Q&A, but I am surprised they ended up releasing them in 96 and iDevice-incompatible. Puzzled/wondering whether the "padding" does or should take up negligible space (over 24/48) due to FLAC/ALAC formats compressing emptiness very efficiently.

[imail724]

So are people preferring the cd tracklist or the vinyl? I've been listening to the vinyl tracklist lately, and although I like the bonus tracks, I don't think they necessarily add much to album overall and find the cd tracklist to be much more coherent sounding. I also find Ice age between Atsbts and Wo sounds out of place and makes more sense following Wo and leading into Otw. Anyone prefer the vinyl sequencing?

[unheard78]

I like Welcome Oblivion being moved to after Ice Age on the vinyl, but the bonus tracks aren't that big a deal. Don't get me wrong, they're not bad or anything, but they're certainly not essential. I guess it's like The Fragile in the sense that the various bonus tracks issued in different formats don't really affect or change the album.

[butter_hole]

To try and summarize the 24/96 issues, based on a thread scan. Please let me know if I missed anything:

they put out 24/96 ALAC files that iDevices can't handle
they're really 24/48 that ended up mastered at 96

I'm not surprised they're really 24/48 given what TR said in the first HTDA Q&A, but I am surprised they ended up releasing them in 96 and iDevice-incompatible. Puzzled/wondering whether the "padding" does or should take up negligible space (over 24/48) due to FLAC/ALAC formats compressing emptiness very efficiently.

I have a feeling whoever they use for mastering (Brian Gardner still?) outputs everything in 24/96 no matter what, and they put those tracks on the store without converting them. Happened with TSN, TGWTDT, HTDA EPs...

[jessamineny]

Lack of communication and the fact that, if we weren't a community, loads of people wouldn't even know about the delay, as many of us I'm sure don't use the same email account for transactions as for general use #paranoia

The HTDA Twitter account announced the vinyl delay on March 1. So did the Facebook page. The HTDA store has been updated to reflect the March 19 delay date. And as for the March 4 e-mail, how else should we expect Modlife to communicate with customers if they're not given a proper e-mail?

Seriously, I'm not sure why that's a lack of communication and what else people could want. (What else are they going to tell you just a week later... Hey, folks -- vinyl is still delayed! Just checking in!)

[downward]

Well a week after the release date has passed and still no CD, I guess thats why they offer a download ? The kicker is that Jello Biafra announced a new release for his band that would happen on April 2 but if you pre-order the disc they will ship it to you in mid march. Needless to say my Jello Disc showed up on Saturday.....some do it right and it seems Trent does it wrong with pre-orders....live and learn

[sheepdean]

I think the band's trying really hard to keep the indie style and going for small distro, but us NIN fans they dragged through with them are clogging up the system. Hopefully Sigil 5 will be released through Columbia distribution - regardless of other issues with labels, they get shit done on time 99.9% of the time.

[ItsJustDave]

it also burns since we've been waiting for our bonus tracks while the rest of the world already has them.

This was where I was going to make the point that if you were that burnt by not having the bonus tracks, the Internet.

I like Welcome Oblivion being moved to after Ice Age on the vinyl, but the bonus tracks aren't that big a deal. Don't get me wrong, they're not bad or anything, but they're certainly not essential. I guess it's like The Fragile in the sense that the various bonus tracks issued in different formats don't really affect or change the album.

But then before I got a chance to, you did it for me.

[Reaps]

I guess it's like The Fragile in the sense that the various bonus tracks issued in different formats don't really affect or change the album.

Lol..try telling that to all the folks who used to frequent them bloody ultimate Fragile re-issue threads!

Anyway, I welcome the bonus tracks, at least they carry more substance than say, the two bonus ghost tracks.

[Trains]

Well a week after the release date has passed and still no CD, I guess thats why they offer a download ? The kicker is that Jello Biafra announced a new release for his band that would happen on April 2 but if you pre-order the disc they will ship it to you in mid march. Needless to say my Jello Disc showed up on Saturday.....some do it right and it seems Trent does it wrong with pre-orders....live and learn

Same. Still waiting and getting pretty annoyed considering I can take the five minute walk into town and pick the thing up in HMV. What's worse is that, via amazon and HMV at least, the album is selling for nearly 4 quid cheaper than what I paid for it via the pre-order. Same thing happened with Ghosts; I ended up getting the CD nearly a month after the release date. Not to be dramatic, but I think it's safe to say I'm done with buying direct from now on.

[unheard78]

Okay, you wanna get upset? Just got a call from a friend that owns an indie record store and they just received the US vinyl pressings of WO. What happened to the webstore getting them first? I'm going by there later today and will post a photo to confirm.

[Skery]

I just got mine in the mail. I'm in California. I only ordered the vinyl. I preordered from modlife.

[gorast]

My order's still processing, but that's a good sign that some are arriving.

[konkelo]

Well a week after the release date has passed and still no CD, I guess thats why they offer a download ? The kicker is that Jello Biafra announced a new release for his band that would happen on April 2 but if you pre-order the disc they will ship it to you in mid march. Needless to say my Jello Disc showed up on Saturday.....some do it right and it seems Trent does it wrong with pre-orders....live and learn

A little off topic but anyway, good to hear that the Jello Lp's are on the way, I ordered from alternative tentacles as well

[DVYDRNS]

Got an email confirmation that my pre order has been shipped. just now.

[NIN64]

Got an email confirmation that my pre order has been shipped. just now.

Same here.

[LaneSax]

got the email too! nice to see it's before the 19th

[NIN64]

I have a link on my order history page that says "Click here to track order" just below my vinyl order. There is no tracking number included in the link. It just sends you to a ups.com tracking page prompting you for a tracking number, but no tracking number in the email. I think modlife needs some quality control. . . Maybe this will end up being like my GWTDT soundtrack order. That one was on my doorstep when I got home from work on the same day that I received the shipping notification email. . .

[sheepdean]

Just got my dispatch notification!

[kdrcraig]

I have a link on my order history page that says "Click here to track order" just below my vinyl order. There is no tracking number included in the link. It just sends you to a ups.com tracking page prompting you for a tracking number, but no tracking number in the email.

Same thing is happening to me. Maybe the tracking number just isn't in UPS' system yet and the link will eventually take us right to it? I know that happens sometimes.

[gorast]

Same thing is happening to me. Maybe the tracking number just isn't in UPS' system yet and the link will eventually take us right to it? I know that happens sometimes.

No, the tracking number never shows up, from my experience. Had a shirt ship on release day and never got a tracking number for it. Modlife's links are broken, as usual.

My package shipped today too, finally. It'll probably take another fucking week to get here, though.

[jhulud]

Just got my dispatch notification!

Ditto! Psyched to have it in my hands.

[Deadpool]

Got shipping confirmation for my vinyl as well! I'm super excited. This is the first physical copy of the band's music I've purchased (which is already making me want to complete the collection in reverse order). Really curious what the flow will be like.

I have a feeling I'll have a new appreciation for the album simply on the basis of playing it on a sound system that isn't my laptop monitors. I've still only gone through the whole album a few times, but that synth line at the end of "Strings and attractors" could go on for days it's so beautiful. Probably my current favorite. I wouldn't mind an extended live version of that song. Also, the vocal production on "Too late, all gone" is just awesome. The alternating between Mariqueen and Trent is masterful.

[sheepdean]

Got shipping confirmation for my vinyl as well! I'm super excited. This is the first physical copy of the band's music I've purchased (which is already making me want to complete the collection in reverse order). Really curious what the flow will be like.

Good luck getting the first EP on vinyl - it's out of print and ebay copies are going for $60+

[jmtd]

Good luck getting the first EP on vinyl - it's out of print and ebay copies are going for $60+

Fnrgh I suspect I'll regret skipping that one.

[steelnails95]

Recieved my vinyl. Yes!