In a day where music and bands are as disposable as income, it’s always a great feat when an artist reaches a 10 year milestone. Sweden’s Feared are one such band that is celebrating that milestone, but feeling unfulfilled with their first two releases, they have decided to celebrate in a different way – by rerecording and revamping those first two albums Refeared and Rejects to create a ‘best of’ album aptly titled Reborn. Now anyone that has had a chance to listen to these releases would agree that while they were good, there was definitely room for improvement, and this re-release is an attempt at rectifying those imperfections from the first time around.

Once the music kicks in, the first thing that springs instantly to the forefront is the blasting of the drums. Obviously having the chance to revisit and re-record these songs has given the band a chance to record with some real drums rather than just having the drum programming that was present on Refeared and Reject” and boy does it make a difference. The tracks have an instantly recognizable rejuvenated energy behind them that springs from the backline and it just makes everything sound much crisper than before.

Musically, everything that fans loved about the first two Feared releases is here, and the tracks have been delicately picked and placed to highlight every facet of this album. From a purely production viewpoint, there is so much to love here and this release is a master class of how to revamp an earlier releases and bring them up to a more modern standard, as the album just exudes so much more energy than the initial album runs. But with that being said, there isn’t anything musically new in here, and for those looking for new tracks or thinking that this album will reinvent the wheel it’s probably best to look elsewhere.

This ‘Best Of” has so much going for it. Taking all the hallmark work that was laid down on the first albums and wrapping it into one neat and tidy re-recorded and remastered collection. Reborn is definitely something that I would recommend getting your hands on if you are a true fan of the band, or for those wanting to test the waters with Feared; however, for any casual fans or those that have the band’s earlier releases and don’t frequently revisit them, I’m not sure if there is anything ‘new’ here that would be worth pursuing.

I can think of other ways to celebrate 10 years of being a band than by re-visiting my first two albums, but with that being said there are sometimes calls made like this which make a lot of sense. I think Feared have hit the nail on the head here by celebrating this way, and have produced a ‘Best Of” album which is miles and above the originals.