4 out of 5
Label: Skin Graft Records
Produced by: K.K. Null (remastered by)
Original review of Total Castration here; this is a review of the remaster.
Relistening to T.C. before this Skin Graft remaster / rerelease, my first impression of K.K. Null’s remaster: “oh, he just made it louder,” as I turned down my headphones a few notches. But, okay, let’s give this some more time.
Noting this as a remaster and not a remix, that means there’s only so much you can do – though also without intending to diminish how much you can do with mastering; also, while Null co-produced the ’91 release, its hollowed-out booming nature is very much an Albini take, and it’s interesting to listen for what one of the original creators wants to highlight, even if their tastes might’ve shifted in the intervening decades. Then again, “louder” is… mostly the case here. To the extent where some sound warbling in the original gets amped up to sound almost like clipping; whether an intentional effect or not, I found that rather distracting. And in some later tracks where Steve’s level-setting helped create a kind of wall of noise, Null’s maximizing of the soloing guitar (e.g. Bloodsex; New Flesh) makes the loudest moments almost ear-piercing.
That said, my main criticism of Total Castration, as a record, is that it’s stuck behind the repetitive grind + expletive-shouting formula the band had already established, with Albini trying to balance out some of its groove / punk flourishes to give it a machine-like pummeling vibe. While I think that was a good take, Null did more than just turn things up to 11: that background guitar gets more presence, and Null’s vocals more weight: it makes the music sound much more organic than before. It’s a bit of a trade off with those overloud flashes and the clipping, but I find that I was much more engaged with the music overall via this mastering.
Skin Graft also tacked on some live tracks previously released on a ’92 split with Lewd, remastered as well by K.K. I don’t own the original of this split, but taking a youtube listen, Null tries to give the low-end more oomph, and ups the reverb in general. I really don’t think the live tracks are much to write home about on their own (they’re a bit looser than the originals), and fidelity-wise they’re lagging behind the album tracks, but I appreciate that conceptually Null tries to bring the sensibility of the recordings in line with his Total Castration masters.
