NOTHING (2006)

I don't really remember why I never bought the original version of this studio album, I did hear it a few times and even borrowed a copy from a friend at one point. I remember to have enjoyed its content but once Catch 33 was released I went straight for that album leaving Nothing on the lower end of my wish-list.

Eventually I heard rumors of a Nothing re-release and after reading an interview with Tomas Haake where he explained that the band never achieved the goals they had with their forth studio album, I decided that this was a perfect opportunity for me to finally get the album. I was so excited about hearing it, but once I finally did it wasn't all that I was hoping for. This re-release turned out to be truly a unexpected surprise because when listening to it, for the first time, I couldn't recognize any of these compositions. Granted that it was a few years since I heard the first version of Nothing but I just wasn't expecting such a dramatic difference. First off the guitars sound entirely different and although I can't judge if it's for the better or worse, from a professional point of view, I personally don't enjoy it as much. Then there is an issue related to the drum-track. I know that Haake has already received a lot of heat for using the Drumkit from Hell software (which also has been used on Devin Townsend's Ziltoid The Omniscient) on Catch 33 which did ruin that experience for me. I think that there have been some enhancements done to this drum-track as well. Although I still haven't compared it to the original version there are a few compositions that do in fact sound different.

These problems do ruin excellent compositions like Rational Gaze and Perpetual Black Second for me. Spasm still sounds great which probably has to do more with that it's a much stronger track to begin with. I would still pick the original over this any day of the week. I also don't understand what has happened to Obsidian. Who thought that it was a great a idea to double its length anyway?

There are so many things that I can nitpick related to this release but it all come down to me not seeing the point of this re-release. If they still have gone through all this trouble of re-recording most of the guitar tracks and some of the drum-parts, why not just write a new album in the same style? I doubt that this proposition would have split the fans as much as this album have done. The flashy cover and a bonus DVD don't make up for for these wrongdoings, so don't purchase this release just on that premise.

Since great compositions are still here I can't go below the good, but non-essential rating, but I'd like to stress the non-essential part.

***** star songs: Spasm (4:15)

**** star songs: Rational Gaze (5:26) Perpetual Black Second (4:39) Glints Collide (4:56) Straws Pulled At Random (5:17) Nebulous (7:07)

*** star songs: Stengah (5:38) Closed Eye Visuals (7:26) Organic Shadows (5:20) Obsidian (8:34)

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