In his healthy habit, Pusciferthe geek-pop son of Maynard James Keenan Puscifer -in which his voice sounds more girlish and less disturbing than in the rest of his projects-, delivers his compositions of “Existential Reckoning” (2020) to a handful of prestigious collaborators who undo and redo these songs in disparate ways (and with results).
Remix albums usually lack a common thread for obvious reasons, therefore, the best thing to do would seem to be to focus on the most outstanding versions of the work, either by result or by the personnel that covers it.
Carina Round, vocalist of the band, takes charge of “A Singularity”, highlighting the hypnotic power of the song, taking it to misty climates, like a dream. His partner Mat Mitchell takes the opening theme “Bread and Circus” and strips it of its interesting crescendo to make it sound even more Depeche Mode than the original version.
“Apocalyptical” it loses much of the tension of its 2020 edition in the hands of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross who turn it into a pseudo-clubber track of more than eleven minutes.
“The Underwhelming” It is the rockiest and perhaps the best song on the record, and it is also true in this remixed cousin: Angelina Juliette Commagere reinvents it with brilliant dynamism; the theme changes its skin but does not lose hook.
In another success, Troy Van Leeuwen (QOTSA) and Tony Hajjar (ATDI) deconstruct the primary robotism of “Grey Area” in the way that some Talking Books, Billy Gould’s experimental group from Faith No More, would.
The popular Phantogram take “Postulous” and they place it in a Bristolian climate, dark gray skies and forecast of hallucinatory rain.
Lastly, the legendary bassist of Tool Justin Chancellor and former Crystal Method Scott Kirkland shine in “UPgrade”. In a rhythmic context of slow drum n bass, Chancellor and his bass mold the ethereal character of the track to their liking and ironically, taking into account the type of musician he is, he manages to show him an earthy character, worthy of thanks.