“Onenemy (25th Anniversary Mix)” by Circle of Dust

After discovering some backups on a floppy disk, Circle of Dust is re-releasing their debut album for its 25th anniversary.

The story of Circle of Dust’s self-titled debut is a convoluted one. Originally released in 1992 by R.E.X. Music, Circle of Dust’s Klayton (née Scott Albert) was so displeased with his debut that he considered it an “abomination” and told an interviewer that he hoped “every copy that still exists will somehow dematerialize permanently.”

In 1995, he re-recorded and re-released the album to take advantage of R.E.X. Music’s new distribution deal with mainstream markets. Later, in 2016, he released a remastered and expanded version of the album. Jump ahead to 2019, and Klayton discovers a floppy disk containing backups of some of the original modules that he used to create the 1995 release:

For the first time in 25 years, I realized I had the ability to reconnect everything from my original 1995 Circle of Dust album. I imported my ADAT recordings and went to work on mixing the songs from the ground up, excited that I finally had the ability to make these mixes sound like I heard them in my head in 1995. After seeing some of your positive reactions to my Instagram stories as I was working, I decided to officially release the new mixes for those of you that might enjoy them as well.

Which means that later this year, Circle of Dust will be releasing a 25th anniversary edition of the 1995 album — an edition that involves no new recording, only “modern processing and mixing of the original tracks.” First up is this “25th Anniversary Mix” of the album’s opening track, “Onenemy.”

I confess, I’m not always the best at picking out the subtleties between different versions/masters of the same track, but the new 25th anniversary mix does sound punchier and crisper than even the 2016 remaster. (But if you prefer the 2016 remaster, don’t worry: it’ll still be available after the 25th anniversary edition’s release.)

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