07/19/2018 19:35

Ayreon

Ayreon: 20th anniversary edition of 'Into the Electric Castle' coming in October

It was 20 years ago today, when Arjen Lucassen tought the band to play... 'Into the Electric Castle'. On October 28, 2018 the 20th anniversary edition of Ayreon's breakthrough album will be released in a variety of exciting formats.

For this 20th anniversary edition, Arjen re-mixed the audio to 21st century standards. He made it clear that it's a "remix", not a "remaster", saying, "Remastering takes 2 hours, this remix took me 2 months!".

After 'The Final Experiment' and 'Actual Fantasy (Revisited'), it's time for part 3 in the Ayreon-on-vinyl saga. Original vinyl copies of 'Into the Electric Castle' are fetching a small fortune, and it is by far one of our most requested titles for a vinyl release.

Mascot Records start off with the collector's item to end all collector's items. This is one of the coolest items they have ever released: A box set of 'Into the Electric Castle' with a 3D-sculpture of the cover, 4 CDs, 1 DVD and 3 LPs on exclusive gold marbled vinyl. The gold marbled vinyl is only available in this box, and won't be available separately.

The 20th anniversary limited edition box set will be available to pre-order between July 19 and August 6. After August 6 the label will print a maximum of 1500 copies, depending on the amount of pre-orders we receive. Production time will be longer than the regular vinyl and the 5-disc earbook, so if you order this box set together with other items, we will ship your complete order around the end of November.

The 20th anniversary limited edition box set contains:

- 3D-sculpted and framed Electric Castle
- 4 CDs: 20th Anniversary Remix + 20th Anniversary Remix Instrumentals
- 1 DVD: 20th Anniversary 5.1 Remix + Documentaries
- 3 LPs: Gold marbled vinyl (original 1998 mix) + Download card for the 20th Anniversary Remix
- Certificate of authenticity, signed by Arjen

The 20th anniversary earbook contains:
- Hardcover book with archive photos, lyrics and new liner notes
- 4 CDs: 20th Anniversary Remix + 20th Anniversary Remix Instrumental Versions
- 1 DVD: 20th Anniversary 5.1 Remix + Documentaries
- Pre-orders are signed by Arjen

The 20th anniversary vinyl edition:
- Packaged in a triple gatefold
- Three slabs of 180 gram black vinyl with the audio from the original 1998 release
- Includes a downloadcard for a complimentary MP3 download of the new 20th Anniversary Remix
- Pre-orders are signed by Arjen

(source: Mascot Records)