Sigil 04_: Welcome oblivion

[Substance242]

Some thoughts after 2nd listen, not native english speaker, forgive me. :-)

And the sky began to scream - is there manipulated "I can't" from previous track? Interesting different melodies going on at the same time.

Welcome oblivion - one of the sounds reminds me probably "Fuel" (Front 242, 1993).

Too late, all gone - OK, here we are, this one is EPIC. Ghosts, Capital G, Everyday is exactly the same, Great destroyer... so many different effects on voices and not just some random "record pattern - repeat during whole song", amazingly builds up. Must have been tons of work. It feels like I and the song already met before, in a good way. I could listen to 20-minute remix of this with great pleasure.

How long - this is unbelievable production, I literally got shivers... I thought only Alan Wilder can do basslines like in the verse, there are so many sound layers (I wish Depeche were still able to do this, not happening anymore), and even Peter Hook stopped by to throw in a few notes. :-) The singing felt a bit too poppy when I first saw the video, but no, it's perfect. Note how the voice is in the middle of your head, then separated to complete left/right side.

Strings and attractors - I feel it slightly speeds up at some places which I generally don't like, but similarly to Too Late, it's like it is purposely not completely pleasant for a while, so you can later enjoy the climax of chorus (refrain?) that much more. Ends suddently, like HTDA sometime does. Contains Atari 800 XL percussion. :-)

We fade away - again a bit of the trademark howl (wail?) like in the song which attracted me to NIN years ago (We're in this together) or somewhere in TSN soundtrack (Painted Sun - Complication duo, btw they're great), more mellow track, imagine "breath... us in... slowly", HTDA remix 2013.

Recursive self-improvement - game soundtrack, also maybe speeds up sometimes, and the "dramatic" volume increase near end is a bit too much (yes I have volume control:-).

Hallowed ground - the bass-like synth line which repeats the whole time kinda reminds me 1-bit music on Sinclair ZX Spectrum (to be specific, game Trantor, edit - actually I ment Chronos, if anyone remembers), and on different topic I can imagine Trent starting to speak "They're starting to open up the sky" (btw, Zero-Sum has the best rhythm in history of known Universe for me), but then it develops to something else... or, actually, it doesn't develop much, but it's OK like that. :-)

So, the standout tracks for me are now 1 - 7 - 8, but overall it's very pleasant ride and I would not leave out any of its 13 stops (or, maybe just one, but it's still soon after 2nd listen). We have only 1/6 of year behind us, but if Delta Machine even with Flood's help does not happen to be their best since Ultra, I already have my album of the year. :-)

[butter_hole]

So someone posted a FLAC rip on a certain site and since I pre-ordered, despite saying I didn't want to (it's not Trent and company's fault, but look what happened. at least they're keeping us in the loop.), and I'm picking up the CD tonight, I downloaded it. I'm pretty certain it's legit, but Too late, all gone appears to be mastered from a lossy source, just like the iTunes Match version a few of us had. Intentional? Fuck-up on Sony/Columbia's part? Will the 24/96 and vinyl masters be different for that track? Lots of questions to ask as this is not normal.

Furthermore, I'm noticing some mastering differences between the pitchfork rip and the final version, though they're very slight, like The loop closes fading on the the webrip and cutting off firmly on the CD.

I know, I'm probably the only one that cares about such things, but it does make me wonder if the pitchfork version wasn't the final master.

Wow, you're right. Weird... this is from a FLAC rip:



Not sure if a genuine fuckup or something they couldn't avoid.

[sheepdean]

The HTDA store's vinyl will be delayed too. Ho hum.

[butter_hole]

Wow, Ice age works a LOT better in the context of a full album.

[Reznor2112]

Could someone pretty please PM a link to the FLAC download?

[sheepdean]

Oh come on, 3 days. You really gotta be that guy?

[jessamineny]

Oh come on, it's 2013. You really gotta be that guy?

:P

[unheard78]

Just picked up my US CD and can confirm that TLAG is lossy mastered, same as the rip apparently going around. The 24/96 download could be completely different of course, and it's a possibility any non-American CDs could be different as well. Anyone want to confirm?

[ItsJustDave]

Could someone pretty please PM a link to the FLAC download?

remember word filters?

I'm thinking FLAC -> gay porn

[sheepdean]

But what when I really want a gay porn download?

[dzaver]

I really don't get those spectograms. For Too late, all gone - where do you see the "fuck-up" in the mastering? can anyone explain. Will this affect the song? I listened to the pitchfork advance and I couldn't hear any difference compared to other tracks.

And I'm asking myself if HTDA would allow something like that... They are perfectionists when it comes to sight&sound.

[richardp]

But what when I really want a gay porn download?

FLAC (ten characterzzzz)

[seasonsinthesky]

Furthermore, I'm noticing some mastering differences between the pitchfork rip and the final version, though they're very slight, like The loop closes fading on the the webrip and cutting off firmly on the CD.

wait, what? the one i have fades out. you sure it's not the one from An Omen?

I really don't get those spectograms. For Too late, all gone - where do you see the "fuck-up" in the mastering? can anyone explain. Will this affect the song? I listened to the pitchfork advance and I couldn't hear any difference compared to other tracks.

And I'm asking myself if HTDA would allow something like that... They are perfectionists when it comes to sight&sound.

the straight line across the top at 16kHz is indicative of lossy (MP3, AAC) encoding. full quality spectrographs show full signal past 20kHz (depending on the musical content).

[ItsJustDave]

But what when I really want a gay porn download?

Ask for beards.

[unheard78]

I really don't get those spectograms. For Too late, all gone - where do you see the "fuck-up" in the mastering? can anyone explain. Will this affect the song? I listened to the pitchfork advance and I couldn't hear any difference compared to other tracks.

And I'm asking myself if HTDA would allow something like that... They are perfectionists when it comes to sight&sound.

Just cause they're perfectionists doesn't mean someone else didn't fuck up. It's not going to affect your enjoying the music, but it is a peculiar anomaly in the process, one that Trent generally wouldn't let slip.

[eversonpoe]

Just cause they're perfectionists doesn't mean someone else didn't fuck up. It's not going to affect your enjoying the music, but it is a peculiar anomaly in the process, one that Trent generally wouldn't let slip.

has someone tweeted this info at rob?

[Leviathant]

As a matter of fact, yes.

[Frozen Beach]

Well, this album was boring. I really wanted to enjoy it too. I admit, the mixing is great, but the lyrics come off as cliche NIN lyrics even though Trent didn't write them. Also, some parts of this album are WAY too repetitive for their own good.

[unheard78]

I'm really loving the album, especially listening to it with headphones on at a good volume. I know everyone will scoff at me for this, but I ripped my CD to iTunes Plus AAC 256vbr and listened last night with my iPod classic through some Sony wraparounds. The dub effects in Keep It Together are freaky! I'd love to figure out what all the voices in The Wake-Up are saying too.

[screwdriver]

Just cause they're perfectionists doesn't mean someone else didn't fuck up. It's not going to affect your enjoying the music, but it is a peculiar anomaly in the process, one that Trent generally wouldn't let slip.

also, Trent has been known to fuck up from time to time. just sayin'

[unheard78]

also, Trent has been known to fuck up from time to time. just sayin'

As do all of us! I bought a Black Eyed Peas CD once. Just saying

[DVYDRNS]

Oh geeze. Really?

[unheard78]

Oh geeze. Really?

Yeah. Not proud of it. It's hard to defend my hatred of will.i.am's crap when that detail comes up. I guess it comes down to a moment of misunderstanding.

[staleincense]

Still waiting for the 5th. And I've only listened to half of the streamed version once when it was up because my ISP is shit. Also, I probabaly couldn't listen to the FLAC rip even if I wanted to because of that detail.

As do all of us! I bought a Black Eyed Peas CD once. Just saying

You monster.

[unheard78]

You monster.

I know. I have to live with this guilt for the rest of my life!

[Amnesiac]

Awesome, my CD just shipped! I didn't listen to the stream too much/too closely, so it'll be a new (yet familiar) listen if that makes sense.

[carpenoctem]

Listened to this in the car. I disagree with Trent's test play - it is much better on headphones. I'll reserve final judgment for when the actual CD is in my car, though. I do think that (especially) "The Wake-Up", "And The Sky Began To Scream" and "Welcome Oblivion" are made for open atmospheres though.

[Leviathant]

Along those lines, I was actually surprised at how well "Too Late, All Gone" sounds through my speakers - when they're pointed at your head right, the manipulation of stereo phase in that track is pretty incredible in a way that does not come across at all in my headphones. There are a number of spots on the album like that, actually. That probably wouldn't come across as well in a car, though.

[Radiovoyr]

I think it sounds better in my car than it does on headphones. I feel like HTDA really benefits from having some space to bounce around in.

[richardp]

I keep hearing "I might just fucking kill myself" in We Fade Away instead of "Am I just talking to myself" and it makes the song feel so much darker than it already is.