Brainchild [Limited Edition, Original recording remastered]

Circle Of Dust | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 12, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Limited Edition, Original recording remastered
• Label: Retroactive Records
• ASIN: B000BSHCD4
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #365,066 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

The mastermind behind this release is the infamous Scott Albert, aka Klay Scott, Klayton, and Celldweller. In 1992 Scott released the groundbreaking and critically acclaimed album titled Mindwarp using the band name Brainchild on REX Music. Scott later re-recorded two of those songs, remixed all the others, and released this version of it in 1995 on REX Music, forever confusing fans by titling it Brainchild and using the band name Circle of Dust. This October, 2005 Retroactive Records Limited Edition (only 1000 made) re-issue of the 1995 version was digitally re-mastered for your gothic industrial metal enjoyment. Expect an audio apocalypse musically. Lyrically expect an electrifying mix portraying brutal honesty from the most significant and influential pioneer of Christian industrial music. For fans of Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, HIM, Argyle Park, Klank, Ministry, and Prong. Songs include: 'Cranial Tyrant,' 'Telltale Crime,' 'Prayers Of A Dead Man,' 'Regressor (Ingressive Mix),' 'Enshrined,' 'Course Of Ruin,' 'Descend,' 'Pale Reflection,' and 'Aggressor (Regressive Mix).' 10 songs TT: 51:28 4-page insert w/lyrics

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Underground industrial at its best!, June 3, 2002

By 

Ilker Yucel "Kryptych" (Annapolis, MD United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Brainchild (Audio CD)

This album has been long out-of-print, and I own both versions. In 1992, the band was called Brainchild, and the album was called "Mindwarp." Two years later, Scott Albert (later changing his name to Klay Scott, his renowned Circle of Dust moniker) remixed and rereleased the album as "Brainchild." And it is a masterpiece of underground industrial. This is a great pick for fans of hardcore beats mixed in with death metal guitar riffs and pulsating electronics and textures. The music fits into a Ministry vein, but Circle of Dust achieve some sense of comprehension where Ministry lacked in any sense of cohesion or melody (don't get me wrong, I love Ministry, but their music was about dissention both lyrically and musically). "Brainchild" is wrought with samples from movies, TV, and cartoons, using quotes from "Blade Runner," "Robocop 2," and "The Abyss" all over the place. Normally I would think this to detract from the music, but the choice of quotes is excellent and adds an eerie twist to the music. If it wasn't for the electronics, one might think this to be some artsy-fartsy experimental death metal album. The best songs on this album would have to be "Telltale Crime" and "Deviate." The version of "Deviate" here is far superior to the original '92 release, and is a masterpiece of industrial-thrash. The "Regressor/Aggressor" mixes are awesome as well. If you can find a copy of this album anywhere, I encourage you to give it a listen. It's an aggressive and hard-pounding album that should be in any underground industrial fan's collection. Circle of Dust has since moved on to become Celldweller, and Klay Scott continues to experiment and evolve. I look forward to the first Celldweller album, but until then...I have Circle of Dust to tide me over.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 4 STARS FOR THE RECORDING, 6 FOR JUST THINKING OF IT (hopefully an honest review from a huge fan...), March 14, 2006

By 

H. Detter "Finally" (Herndon, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Brainchild (Audio CD)

In preparation for the arrival for my copy of Whitecross' "Nineteen Eighty Seven" cd, I dusted off my copy of their 1987 self titled debut cd. The moment the opening chords for "Who Will You Follow" rang out, I found my mind flooded with memories. Whitecross was the first metal group I heard with a strong christian message. A friend of mine let me hear his copy of the four song e.p. "Love On The Line" and it stuck in my head for seemingly years. Being more a fan of music than lyrics, it was quite unusual that Scott Wenzil's voice had almost equal power as Rex Carroll's incredible guitar playing in attracting me to their songs. The opening chords to "Love On The Line" caught my ear and Scott's screaming of the lyrics "caught in the middle, your heart's been burned, your only love has walked away, the page is turned" had me hooked. This same friend and I saw Whitecross live in festivals, churches and community halls about 8 times (maybe more) between 1987 and 1993. Whitecross is the only group that I've traveled literally hundreds of miles to see in concert. Therefore my review may not be without bias.

First off, let me say that somehow, Rex's guitar sound on this new cd is almost exactly the same as the original cd. I'm not sure if it's that the riffs are that distinctive or Rex remembering his settings (maybe some combination of the two). Allowing for a possibly bigger budget and better recording gear, the guitar is louder and meatier but over all it's amazingly similar. A big thank you to Rex for "keeping it real". Thanks to Mike Feighan, something that HAS changed is the quality of the drumming. It's much better than on the original recording. A direct comparison between the 2 disks will allow you to hear that the drumming is smoother, more dynamic and has more imaginative fills on the newer cd. Another change is Scott's vocals. For about the last 10 years, Scott has been singing in a lower register. Compare his vocals on "Signs Of The End" on both disks and you'll hear just how hard it is for him to sing in the higher octaves. However, he's pretty much hitting the notes the same as he did on the original recording, the trademark raspiness is still present and his vocals have a bit more grit. A huge thanks to Scott for even trying to get back up in that vocal stratosphere.

A high percentage of the songs are played practically note for note so if you're familiar with the original recordings, there's no need for a complete song by song review. In spite of this not really being a "band" recording (Rex plays bass on many of the songs), the energy hasn't been lost and that serves this project well. Rex occasionally plays notes in place of a dive-bomb that was on the original disk but my goodness, even for a master guitar player like Rex, it's darn near impossible to play every song exactly as it was originally recorded. The vocals are slightly different in areas such harmonies and the occasional vocal doubling on the original recordings aren't duplicated on the newer cd but it's readily apparent that Scott's intent was to sing them the way they were meant to be sang. So literally, what you're getting is a re-imaging of the original cd minus the ballad "You're Mine", the welcome addition of "Love On The Line", the instrumental "Reanimate" (excellent!) and a few outtakes. The only song that doesn't quite hold up to the original is "Nagasake". The backwards vocals (which actually said "trust in the Lord") at the beginning of the original are missing which is no big deal. The first 2/3 of the solo is great but Rex's guitar playing is uncharacteristically stiff during the classical descending runs (reminiscent of the licks Steve Vai played in the movie Crossroads during the guitar duel). To my ears, the original sounded sort of like Rex just played this incredible classical oriented guitar solo "off the cuff". There's seemingly conflicting emotions of the wide eyed joy exuded by a young boy picking up the guitar for the first time and thinking "wow, I can actually play this stuff?" while simultaneously oozing with the confidence only an artist with years of wood shedding and being other worldly talented can exhibit. That sense of discovery seems to be missing from the newer version. Also, I love "You're Mine". I would have loved for them to have included an updated version of that song as well. But all in all, this new cd is very much appreciated. While the music style may or may not be outdated (I love what they do so much it's hard for me to tell), I get the feeling these guys could be at the forefront of a 1980's metal revival. It doesn't say what year this occurred but in the liner notes, Rex mentioned that he used the song "Reanimate" to enter a Rock contest in New York AND LOST!!!! To who? Eddie Van Halen? Jimi Hendrix? Besides those two, what more could you possibly want in a "rock" guitarist? Being heavier than anything in their catalog, "Reanimate" could be sign that Whitecross is moving into a new heavier direction which certainly would save Scott's voice.

While it's unusual, I don't find to be a huge surprise that they decided to rerecord the entire self titled debut cd because this is something at which they have a bit of a history. In 1988, Whitecross contributed a song on a various artist compilations called "The Axemen". That song was called "Shakedown" which was rerecorded and appears on the "Triumphant Return" cd (their best in my opinion). "No Second Chances" which appears on the cd "In The Kingdom" was rerecorded and included on the Whitecross compilation cd "One More Encore". This is a group that knows they have treasures lying in their catalog.

As a side note, the title track of the 4 song e.p. "Love On The Line" actually did appear on cd however it wasn't a Whitecross cd. They contributed the song to another various artist compilation called "Testify" (send me an email at hdetter at gmail.com and I'll burn a copy for you). Two of the remaining three songs "No Way I'm Going Down" and "Enough Is Enough" appear on the self titled debut however "I Believe" can't be found on cd anywhere. This song was a departure from the trademark Whitecross sound in that it's blues-rock oriented and Rex handled the lead vocal chores (Scott's unmistakable background harmonies are excellent).

Anyway, "enough is enough" on the Whitecross history. Here's hoping that this leads to a cd with new music.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Improving a classic!!!, December 12, 2005

By 

David Smith "TRIOdevil" (Northeast Tennessee) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Brainchild (Audio CD)

I'll begin by noting that I don't consider myself a Whitecross fan; I do, however, enjoy great Christian hard rock and metal. Like so many other folks, I first discovered Whitecross back in 1987 when their debut release generated quite a buzz in the CCM community. They were the answer to my prayers; I was tired of listening to Christian music that tried unsuccessfully to appeal to fans of hard rock. Aside from the obvious Stryper, Saint, Messiah Prophet, and even Bloodgood, there was little on shelves back in 1987 that really sounded like the music I heard on secular rock radio stations. When I first heard "Who Will You Follow," I thought I was listening to a re-tooled and converted version of Ratt. I was stunned to learn that Whitecross was its own entity, and that they had an entire album full of tunes that could easily fit with many successful secular artists at the time. Over the next few years I found that I liked each successive Whitecross release less than the one before. I'm not sure if their debut was so good that it was impossible to top or if I was growing as a music fan. Though I never became a Whitecross fan, their debut release retained a special place in my heart. So, once I learned that Rex and Scott were planning to re-record their classic, I was both ecstatic and fearful. I was happy that their early music would get another shot at appearing on a CD, but I was worried that they would taint my memory of the original recording. I had fears the band would make the same mistake that Ozzy made when he recently had the bass and drums on his first two classic albums re-recorded. Fortunately, I was to be pleasantly surprised. In my humble opinion, I feel that Whitecross improved their debut. I'm sure that purists would argue the first release is the better of the two versions, but I don't think so. The new version of "Whitecross-1987" has all the chops and riffs of the first recording, but it is also a bit more thunderous. "Enough Is Enough" (despite its silly "enough, nuff" chorus) is solid, and the guitar work comes through much more powerfully than the original. Likewise, "Signs of the Times" offers a take on the original that is true to the 1st version but much more aggressive. Best of all, the inclusion of "Love on the Line"--an often overlooked Whitecross song--rounds out the CD with a classic sound that doesn't compromise its power for a slower tempo. The song is reminiscent of AC/DC's earth-shaking "For Those About to Rock." Even the lone new track, "Re-Animate," fits on the disc rather nicely. Though the track is an instrumental Rex Carroll piece, it sounds as if it could have easily appeared on the original debut release nearly 20 years ago. All said, "Whitecross 1987" is a worthy rendering of the original recording. In fact, I feel comfortable saying that it is better than the original. Listening to the CD makes fans realize how good Whitecross's debut was, but it also reminds us that some things just get better with age...