Hi-Res Downloads

96kHz/24-bit, FLAC; InsideOut Music IOMLTDCD 463 (supplied by www.highresaudio.com)

Well, he’s come a long way since founding Methodism in the 1700s, via The Porcupine Tree and a spell fettling guitars for Marillion, but here is John Wesley with one of those albums you can almost hear just from the cover image. Acclaimed by those in the know as reinventing the progressive genre, this album starts with a track seemingly designed to cram every metal/prog/heavy cliché into as short a track as possible, though, as a result, it does go on a bit all the way to the feedback howl with which it ends. As do several of the other tracks on this album, with their ponderous bass-lines and howling, distorted guitar noodlage, meaning there are times when it all gets a bit Spinal Tap. However, that’s not the main problem here: it’s the relentless ‘slam everything into the red’ onslaught of the mix that makes this set most wearing. Not my thing, but might be yours, perhaps… AE

Sound Quality: 80%

Hi-Fi News Lab Report

With a full 24-bit dynamic range available, why so many rock albums are recorded into – and with clipped samples, beyond – the 0dBFs end stops remains one of audio’s great mysteries. But here’s another example. PM