3 out of 5

Label: Hydra Head

Producer: Mostly Ed Rose

Well see now, this is an extended re-release of “Nothing New,” and as such it’s not really fair to rate it on the original material – which would probably be five stars – but rather on what’s been added to the package.  ..Which is three stars.

I… don’t think the originals were remastered, but let’s go ahead and say that Coalesce’s rendition of some Zep tracks – songs 1-7 – sound as good as feckin’ ever.  As I got in to growly-throated groups via Hydra Head, Coalesce was one of the bands I had more trouble with, as their sound was actually a bit more stripped down, riff-wise, making it more clear that lead singer Sean was just doing the hardcore thing into a mic and not yowling while head-banging with Satan on top of the girders in 100-story unfinished abandoned warehouses, which is the guise that a lot of clatter and clash offers.  So it made little wanna-be thrasher me a little uncomfortable to think of growly guy in a studio setting, even though that’s totally the reality of things – sure, they lose their voices on tour, but when recording these tracks (and I’m totally basing this on behind the scenes of a Mastodon recording, but whatever) these dudes are sorta focused on the delivery and not so much that whole devil rock-and-roll drive-the-bus-off-the-cliff image I been conjurin’.  A N Y HOW, what I’m trying to express is that Coalesce has always been tight, it just took my ears time to adjust to the punk / hardcore blend, and whether this stuff has been cleaned up or not, it is such an awesomely pristine example of the line between the era of metal they cover and the metal of now.  But I digress.  ‘Cause them 7 tracks been released before.

What follows are all equally entertaining bits – the two Boy Sets Fire tracks as redone by Coalesce from their 7″ / CDEP release, a Get Up Kids cover from (I think) another 7″, the two Black Sabbath covers from the “Black Days” 7″,  and then a couple tracks from a probably uber-rare compilation and finally two “alternate” takes of the acoustic Zep songs they do – “Thank You” and “That’s the Way.”   This means that only two (potentially three) of these tracks are unreleased, and those two acoustic songs don’t really sound all that different, to be honest, except the vocals are sung a bit higher… but otherwise, same unplugged take on the tracks, and unless you play them side by side, you can’t really say which is which.  While it’s awesome to have the remaining tracks on CD and under one roof, it might be a little frustrating if you’re a Coalesce collector and you pick up this album hoping for some sweet extras and instead are met with what essentially amounts to a comp.  For people like me who don’t own the extras, it’s of course awesome, but I’ve been down this road with other bands, and yeah, I get the motivation of someone who digs the band (uh, the label) saying – I wish all of these tracks were available on one convenient source – but in the era of digital music, it sorta becomes moot.  And thus the three stars.  Besides the typically awesomely beautiful HH packaging (different from the original), I just don’t feel there’s enough extra material here to merit the re-release.  But, heh, “There is Nothing New” and all.  Right.