5 out of 5

Label: Asbestos Records

Produced by: Julian Raymond

I don’t think this was ever on vinyl before? …Which is kinda wild, especially since the next release did get a vinyl release, and maybe because DbD was a relative hit there was Hollywood Records hope for Battle Hymns to be bigger?

Anyhow, regardless, classic album, newly available on an LP format in at least quite a while, if ever. And as with Asbestos’ issuing of Battle on wax, really all they had to do was reproduce it effectively, and they absolutely did – stem to stern, liner notes, sound quality, the whole deal. If I’m being unnecessarily critical, I think Destruction’s very clean original mix (by Jerry Finn) sounds perfect on CD, and I don’t see any remixing tags suggesting additional work was done for this vinyl, so unlike Hymns’ rawer sound fitting an LP format, you can debate back and forth how DbD sounds “best,” but it’s nice to have it in this format all the same.

As a bonus, Jason and Royce provide some reflective liner notes. Jason’s are… kind of rambling anti-authority, but that works; Royce’s underline the happy accident of the band. It’s a fitting reaction from both, and a nice addition to an excellent reissue.