I did! My thoughts on The Avoided Sun are kinda the same. It feels overproduced and loses the original tone of the album. But I think that’s what also makes it an interesting listen as I feel it vastly improves some tracks while greatly weakens others.
Shadows on the other hand I LOVE (mostly) how they executed it. It’s the best sounding of the 3 remakes to me. As I had mentioned, I think this album’s sound is a perfect candidate for modern reconditioning as the songs are written similar to modern lynch with fast tempos and loud and heavy guitars and drums. I found new love for Shadows with this remake.
Overall, I’m very surprised with the attention to detail lynch. put into these remake albums!
I also think that THE AVOIDED SUN kinda lost its vibe. It feels less vibrant and more dull for some reason. The re-recorded SHADOWS is what SHADOWS should have actually sounded back then.
Some interesting quotes from a recent interview:
Hazuki: To be honest, we didn’t really start by listening back to the original albums. We just dove right into the process, beginning with the drums. That part was recorded relatively early, back in 2024.
“——What made you choose THE AVOIDED SUN and SHADOWS for your latest retake project?
Reo: The key reason is that THE AVOIDED SUN and SHADOWS were originally recorded before Akinori (bass) joined the band. This gave us the opportunity to revisit them as a complete five-member lineup — the way we’re meant to sound now. It’s the same approach we took with GREEDY DEAD SOULS and UNDERNEATH THE SKIN. We wanted to give these songs new life with our current unity and strength.”
Hazuki: We were very intentional about preserving the core essence, the spirit of the original recordings. That was important to us. (…) One was to the lyrics of I DON’T KNOW WHERE I AM. Originally, the lyrics were in English. But looking back, I felt they didn’t sit naturally in the song. The phrasing didn’t quite fit the melody, and I wasn’t fully comfortable delivering them that way. Partly because English has never been my strong suit. So, I rewrote the lyrics in Japanese. That allowed me to express the meaning more authentically and deliver the emotion with clarity and nuance.
At the time, I was really set on doing it in English. I had this strong urge to try. But the reality is, the English lyrics were written with the help from someone else, and I was basically trying to fit them into a melody that wasn’t designed for that kind of phrasing. It felt awkward, like I was forcing the words into place. And because English isn’t my strength, I couldn’t connect with the delivery the way I wanted to. It didn’t feel natural to me. For the rerecording, I decided to write the lyrics myself, in Japanese. That way, I could control the flow, the emotional weight, and the subtle textures of each line. It just made a lot more sense, musically and personally.
We also made a subtle change to the instrumental break in CULTIC MY EXECUTION.
If I think back over the last ten years, starting around GALLOWS, I feel we’ve consistently kept that essence intact while gradually embracing change — layering in new elements without losing sight of who we are. This year in particular, with so many retake projects, we’ve been more in a mode of preservation than transformation, so it’s hard to say where we stand definitively at the moment. But I can say with confidence that BRINGER reflects our essence completely. It was made with that in mind. It was made to express the very soul of lynch.. That said, when I think about what we might create next year, I do feel a quiet desire to explore change a little more. I want to allow ourselves the joy and curiosity of evolution. So, maybe we’re moving toward a phase of experimentation again.
——Thank you so much for this deeply personal insight into your experiences as artists. You’ll be performing at Tokyo Garden Theater on December 28th. Can you tell us more about that live show?
Hazuki (laughs): I really need to stop saying this, but… that’s another tough question. This show will be held at a venue that’s even larger than Budokan, which was our biggest live to date. Of course, depending on the layout and stage design, capacity can vary, but it’s a big one. Because of that, we want this to be a setlist that truly represents the best of our 20 years together. A kind of greatest hits, not just in song choice, but in emotional impact. Our goal is to make this live show a stepping stone, something that leads to greater attention and opportunities for lynch. in the year to come. We want it to be a night we can look back on with pride and say: That was the moment things leveled up. Reo: Exactly. It’s precisely because it’s a large venue that we can go big with the production — both in terms of sound and visuals. We’re planning a stage show that reflects just how much we’ve poured into these past 20 years. I want the people who’ve supported us all this time to come and feel it in their bones, that it was worth the wait, worth the love, worth the journey. More than anything, I want this show to be a launchpad. A reset point that pushes lynch. into our next chapter.