Ministry – ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ

Sounds insanely good. I’m actually really surprised on this one. My copy is flat and no pops, no noise, no clicks, very impressed. EQ wise it’s on the brighter side but nothing obnoxious or fatiguing. I cranked it up no problem. Great release.

Sounds incredible. No pops, clicks or surface noise on my copy. Includes printed inner sleeve. This pressing will shake your walls.

I expected this to sound a lot worse than it does. For over 40 minutes on a ten inch, it's pretty good! It's cut very quietly, so any defects are going to be amplified, and it's maybe a little bass-shy (not that I recall any nineties version being very heavy on the low end.) I wouldn't necessarily recommend buying it over any other pressing, but I'm glad to have it.

I own a copy with the same runout matrix as shown for the 2020 release, but the labels with warner-logo shows the design from release of 2011.

Sounds excellent! Clean. You know it from the first few seconds.

A great gem for Ministry collector's, but get the 1992 UK/Europe first press 12" release for superior sound quality.

FWIW, the label shown here does NOT match my album, although the runout is correct. There is some kind of I think newer WB logo with a Black Circle. So, I don't know if this label shown here is the right one.

I often wondered what the purpose was of having this issued as a limited edition 10 inch vinyl. It's too long to fit onto this format at more than 44 minutes of music. Surely this would compromise the sound fidelity on playback? I only have the 12 inch vinyl to compare it against plus the original CD. I did however purchase the limited 10 inch of NWO (b-side Fucked) at the time of release, which was pressed OFF CENTRE for crying out loud and I am sure is one of many such similar bad pressings which are therefore unplayable, unless you are able to remove the spindle hole from your turntable and just place the disc on - via trial and error - until it does not wobble from side to side when it rotates.

Awful quality control - and the sort of thing you would never expect in the 1990s but would FULLY EXPECT now in this day and age - when the more expensive vinyl becomes and the more needless coloured formats they are released in, quality control and sound quality becomes severely compromised and almost every new record you buy now has issues of non fill, debris on the disc, scuffing from poor packaging, crackling, clicking and popping at every turn as well as being pressed off centre or with holes too large or small (and the rest of the irritating problems that come with new vinyl with few exceptions, such that buying new vinyl is almost like a lottery not knowing whether you will hit lucky with a flawless copy or be saddled with one containing all kinds of imperfections).

A minor MIRACLE has just occurred!!! You'd better believe it! I have purchased many MANY brand new so-called 'remastered' and 'half speed mastered blah blah' 180 gram reissues and repressings in the past by various artists (in various vinyl colours) and, I am sad to say that, despite every such record being cleaned/wiped before play, ALL OF THEM have had the usual irritating clicks, pops, crackles and even HUGE SCRAPING STATIC noises whenever they are played.

Even those which play relatively quiet STILL have the odd JOLTING AND LOUD SUDDEN clicks or pops just when you least expect it - which serves only to annoy the fucking bejesus out of me given how so many new vinyl records just lack that meticulous quality control (that was so much an important part of the manufacturing process for all vinyl between the 1970s and the late 1990s going into the early 2000s) and these days happily cost an arm and a leg to purchase thanks to the disgusting greed-flation that has suddenly afflicted vinyl records since 2020.

HOWEVER..... I have just purchased this Rhino remaster of the last truly great Ministry album ever (I had the CD from way back in 1992, just never got the vinyl at the time), and having taken the record out of the sleeve, noted how spotlessly clean and shiny the vinyl was both sides. NONE of that fucking irritating debris or paper sleeve dust stuck to the playing surface that you have to clean off.

I actually stuck this record on my turntable without even needing to give it a quick wipe first as it looked pristine. THAT is also a first for me!

And it was ABSOLUTELY SILENT - AND NOISE FREE - THROUGHOUT SIDE ONE AND SIDE TWO. NO clicks or pops or even one single crackle. How the hell is this even possible? Each track burst in and sounded larger than life - the remastering is crystal clear and full of clarity - better than the CD even.

I don't have the 1992 vinyl original to compare this to but for me this remaster and heavyweight reissue has completely bucked the trend and surprised me greatly by how utterly perfect and flawless it plays.

Every time the record hits the end of each side you always expect loads of crackling or scraping or the usual vinyl noise that comes with run-off groove traversing...but not on this pressing. The gaps between each track of the 9 were also so quiet it was untrue.

Truly exemplary quality and dynamic sound, and I am just fucking amazed that I have finally - FINALLY - managed to get my first ever 100% perfect A+++++ heavyweight vinyl repressing of a back catalogue album. I am only surprised it has taken me so long, or am I just perpetually unlucky? Surely that can't be the case.

Rhino have really excelled themselves here. It's the best (and quietest) heavyweight pressing I have ever heard. But why can't they - and all other record labels come to that - at least try and keep up these impeccable standards all the time instead of being so hit and miss? After all, it is simply shocking now how many expensive vinyl pressings are hurriedly manufactured (as well as poorly packaged/housed in their sleeves) and sound like total shit to the discerning listener. A classic case of cynical profiteering to the detriment of ensuring a quality product. It is just unforgivable.

But not here - this pressing of Psalm 69 is just mind-blowingly good. Very impressed and very happy indeed!

Has anyone compared the sound of this original 12” pressing to the more recent Rhino pressings?