In my opinion Ecdysis ruled in terms of production because each instrument had personal space in the EQ, especially the kick and bass guitar, they complemented each other extremely well, in a way almost not heard of outside of really serious music production like Jazz.

Anareta spoiled that trend by flat-lining the bass with a kick that really competed in the EQ with the bass guitar, and this just made every variation in rhythm blur together sort of. It sounds a bit lifeless which really lets down super percussively written tracks like Polaris. Anareta guitars sound Beautiful (with a capital B) and the rest of the production is very polished, but if Horrendous chose to remaster this album with slightly more personal space around the kick and bass guitar, I would snap that version up in a second. Maybe with a touch more dynamic range in the perceived listening range at the lower end of the EQ?? It’s such a good album. Well worth a revisit and slight tweak!

Idol sees excellent EQ come back with a vengeance, without a kick that sort of takes over with sheer volume like in Ecdysis, but that doesn’t compete with the bass like it does in Anareta. Idol has beeaaaautiFul guitars (with a capital F), somehow even cleaner and burning hotter than the axes in Anareta; this album really is the pinnacle of Horrendous’s production. The song writing is incredible but that has never really been a weakness of these guys. I personally am not a huge fan of fade-out songs (except Pavor Nocturnus) but they use them well here. This album is so efficient and tight, but production wise, it really breathes, like a demon’s hot breath on the back of your neck.

Sick.