Gotta say the new album lives up. It's a little more polished and what not, but that's a sign of the times. Jeff's voice isn't really gonna sound the same either.
Back in the days of cassettes a buddy wanted something I had in the punk/hardcore vein dubbed up. With a 90 minute tape you could fit an album on each side. So I slapped Beyond The Gates on side B of whatever he wanted. Later he comes to me all freaked out because he hated Possessed, went to record over them, later tried to play whatever, and Beyond The Gates was still there.