The Sigils AOS Edition (Tarantura TCD-230, 231)
Fyens Forum, Odense, Denmark – May 4, 1971
It has been a year since Tarantura announced they were releasing the newly discovered audience recording from Odense, Denmark on May 4, 1971. This unearthed recording would not be exclusive to Tarantura, a reported cyber robbery by rogue members of The Dogs Of Doom brought the recording out of hiding as it was uploaded on Youtube leading to the first titles of this material. Odense 1971 (No Label), Walpurgisnacht (Wendy WECD-428/429), Odense 1971 (Empress Valley Supreme Disc EVSD-1631-2), and Live In Odense 1971 (Graf Zeppelin LZSC-504A/B) all contain this version of the recording. A proper version of the master would find its way to various file sharing sites shortly after, Odense 1971: Master Cassette (No Label), Empress Valley’s How The West Was Won (Empress Valley Supreme Disc EVSD-1557-64), and Live In Odense 1971 (Graf Zeppelin LZSC-504A/B) are from this source. Speaking of, only the Graf Zeppelin version was a very small upgrade.
Letting the dust settle, Tarantura has now released their version of thus heralded recording, released in two editions, ZOS-KIA is a 4CD edition housed in a long box, The Sigils is the slip case edition, each contain the same content, raw and remastered versions, and are both numbered editions of 100 copies each. What makes this version of the recording is that it contains an improved transfer of the master cassettes as well as mastering from Tarantura’s sound engineer Enigma. As far as packaging is concerned, the Tarantura version contains by far the most elaborate and beautiful version so far. The two versions come housed in a fold open digipack with plastic tray holders, each with its own unique photos. There is a folded insert included containing photos of historical items concerning the event, gig advertisements and newspaper coverage, and finally liner notes documenting the theft of the recording which gives this release its sub title, “The Dogs Of Doom Are Howling For More…”
Chaos Magik Illusion And Truth (Tarantura TCD-230-1,2) Raw Transfer
Disc 1 (56:49) Introduction, Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Dazed And Confused, Black Dog, Stairway To Heaven
Disc 2 (56:28) Going To California, That’s The Way, What Is And What Should Never Be, Four Sticks, Gallows Pole, Whole Lotta Love, Audience, Communication Breakdown
The first set features a proper transfer of the master tapes, the artwork is interesting and features black and white photos from the Odense concert as well as pictures of the master tapes, Phillips C-120 tapes to be exact. The only version of the Odense concert I own is Graf Zeppelin’s Live In Odense 1971 (Graf Zeppelin LZSC-504A/B), this will be used for comparison. This does not take keen ears to hear the substantial improvement of the Tarantura version, the sound is just slightly louder and the clarity and details are vastly better. First the Graf Zeppelin has a layer of white noise which acts as a haze over the sounds, this is not present in Tarantura’s. This white noise is not tape hiss, the Tarantura raw copy has a small amount of tape hiss one would easily attribute to a recording of this age. The excellent Bootledz web site lists a glitch half the way through Dazed, on the Tarantura it is at the 10:24 mark and only detectable to keen ears, Graf Zeppelin does not have this glitch or has removed it. That being said, for the raw source, Tarantura is such a massive improvement that it easily bests the Graf.
The Zoetic Grimoire Of Zos Alpha And Omega (Tarantura TCD-231-1,2) Remaster Transfer
Disc 1 (56:49) Introduction, Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Dazed And Confused, Black Dog, Stairway To Heaven
Disc 2 (56:28) Going To California, That’s The Way, What Is And What Should Never Be, Four Sticks, Gallows Pole, Whole Lotta Love, Audience, Communication Breakdown
The second set features the remastered version by sound Wizard Enigma, the artwork is unique as it also features photos from the Odense concert but in colour, colour being a visual description of the sound found on this version. With the raw transfer being such an improvement, the remaster version can only be evaluated on its own merits. Enigma’s work on this version is excellent, so much that it’s easily on par with the previous evenings recording from Copenhagen, if not exceeding it. The volume is slightly louder than the raw transfer, there is still a very small amount of tape hiss, to remove it would have ruined the sound. The frequency range is improved also, adding a bit to the top and bottom ends, all work is done very carefully. The tape glitch in Dazed is present and there is a small cut during the applause between Whole Lotta Love and Communication Breakdown that eliminates 4 seconds. After listening to the Graf Zeppelin which is not cut, I cannot figure why it was removed but in the grand scheme of things, the loss of 4 second of audience cheering means nothing. It should be noted that Tarantura does acknowledge this on the artwork, “Remastered Transfer Fully Edited/ Remastered Version”.
When all said and done, this set by Tarantura has delivered easily the best version of the Odense recording. The mastering work by Enigma is excellent, honoring the recording and making it as good as could possibly be. Even with its minute flaw, the overall sound and presentation more than make up for it. The Sigils set finds the two sets and insert housed in a slip case featuring artwork by Occultist Austin Osman Spare whose work was certainly known by Jimmy Page, Spare used “ZOS” as part of his philosophy. This set quickly sold out. Like the vast majority of Tarantura releases, if you snooze you loose. I’m glad I snagged mine when I did.
