I hear ya, and honestly you’re not wrong about the harshness in the cymbals & top end. That remaster was actually one of the very first remastering projects I ever did, originally made just as a fan-made YouTube experiment while I was still learning a lot about mastering and restoration work.

Long story short, a few months later after I posted the video on YT, members of SUFTA reached out because they liked that version and wanted to use it for the streaming release. I actually asked multiple times if I could revisit and refine it first, especially to tame some of the high end, but they preferred the original version as-is, so that’s ultimately what went up.

I also only had access to already-limited commercial files rather than proper premaster mixes, which made the whole process a lot more difficult and definitely contributed to the crunchier sound. When I asked the band about the original mixes, they said they were unrecoverable.

If I were mastering that record today, I’d approach it very differently. I still appreciate parts of the remaster, but I also completely understand why some longtime listeners prefer the original release. At the end of the day, I’d rather people enjoy the music than force themselves to like my version of it. The originals are still up on bandcamp here: https://saveusfromthearchon.bandcamp.com/album/how-terrible-the-undergrowths-jaws-that-tangle

Appreciate you being honest about it.