Jonathan Davis - Medicate (Dynamic Edit)

This is what I like to call a ‘dynamic edit’ of “Medicate” by Jonathan Davis! Black Labyrinth seems to have faced quite a lot of dynamic range compression (not to confused with data compression, which concerns MP3s and such) in its digital mastering, and these edits are meant to undo that, to an extent!
For those not in the know, the Loudness War is a phenomenon beginning in the mid-90s onward, in which music was mastered louder and louder, with the underlying reasoning being that louder music sells better. As with any medium, however, there is a peak loudness a signal can reach, so dynamic range compression (which makes the louder parts of the signal quieter while keeping the quiet parts quiet) and sometimes even clipping (attempting to push a signal beyond its peak) were used to make music as loud as possible.
The issue with this is that overuse of compression can make music fatiguing to listen to, and sometimes even audibly distorted. Clipping or poor compressors as well can introduce audible artifacts such hiss or crackle into the mix. While Black Labyrinth does not seem to face any of these audible artifacts (to my ear, at least), a lot of compression made the record have a limited dynamic range, with every song almost always hugging peak loudness.
I have attempted to fix up the mastering compression of the album with a program I have called “Perfect Declipper” (creating something I dub a “dynamic edit”). This editing process makes the album more dynamic and hopefully, more listenable as a result! In this case, I was able to turn the dynamic range of the album from 3 into 11!
It’s important to note that the dynamics are not being restored with the "Perfect Declipper" program that I use, but rather, they are being approximated. While one may not be able to "declip" an album as one would be unable to "unbake a cake", I find the results here to be a convincible attempt at doing so. Only in the most extreme examples have I heard the program produce odd artifacts that would appear unintended in the album’s mix. I think it’s also important to note that dynamic range compression is not an inherently bad thing. It can tighten up performances, add grit, and help remove dynamic outliers that would take you out of the mix.
As someone who has never listened to Korn before, I found myself quite impressed by this debut by the band’s frontman, especially considering how long his musical career has been so far. The electronic production is rock solid, but I find myself disappointed by many of Davis’s vocal performances throughout the second half, from “Basic Needs” onwards. “Basic Needs” especially strikes me as bombast without purpose. It almost feels like he’s running out of emotional steam, and it makes it hard for some of these songs to resonate, in my opinion. The chorus of “What You Believe” is an absolute banger, though, and the production definitely prevents the album as a whole from growing stale.
I also produce many more dynamic edits on this channel as well as further descriptions in posts over on Reddit! You can look at this for a full list of the albums I’ve done: docs.google.co...