cradle of filth - live at dynamo open air 1997

wacken open air is approaching and i'm in the mood for live recordings, cof stuff in particular it seems. this is a pretty cool document of a time when cradle of filth were still up and coming and the dynamo open air in the netherlands was the hottest festival in europe.

it's a short, intense fourty minutes set in an afternoon slot. already on mainstage, though. of the then line-up only dani filth remains today. crazy to think this was twenty eight years ago. 2023.

cradle of filth - trouble and their double lives

heard 'she is a fire' live last year and liked it, also i thought the set list for this record is quite cool. so finally i pulled the trigger and got this gold double lp out of 500 copies. napalm records. 2023.

integrity - harder they fall 7"

another classic hardcore re-issue. originally self-released on tape in 1989, backbite records from germany put out this 7" version thirty years later. nice pink vinyl out of 400 copies. they all come with this odd, small centre label and all three songs covered by psywarfare on the b-side. could have easily done without those. backbite records. 2019.

madball - droppin' many suckers 7"

this infamous early e.p. saw quite a few re-issues some years ago. i didn't fancy the 12" release because a 7" is the proper way to listen to those classics. released by the band's own label black 'n' blue and marketed through gsr music. 1992/2022.

atræ bilis - aumicide

i held off buying this album upon time of release, because i thought the orange retail version looked quite boring. so i said to myself to wait for a 2nd pressing which is usually just one but a crazier colour variant.

killing time on kleinanzeigen (a german 2nd hand platform), i came across this lovely first press 'koi pond' marble variant for a real good price. musically this is their best work in an already flawless discography. 20 buck spin. 2024.

diecast - tearing down your blue skies

another '20+ years ago' record. back then i didn't pay much attention to diecast, because i thought they were a lame killswitch engage rip-off. a few days ago i saw the recent re-issue by m-theory audio and so i gave it another listen. well it aged pretty good and i really enjoyed it.

this re-issue wasn't the first time this album got the vinyl treatment. in 2004 small german d.i.y. label beniihana records beat them to it. the local factor seemed to favour availability and i was able to snag this sealed copy for twelve bucks on ebay. beniihana records. century media. 2004.

still remains - of love and lunacy

twenty years ago i was blasting this banger on cd via my trusty discman. yes, you heard that right. the ancient technology of a laser operated machine which plays back music from a reflective plastic disc. but this a vinyl blog, so because you're probably as old as i am, you most likely know about that.

back then i was always surprised at how much i liked this album because of the clean choruses, which i usually was quite picky about. not so with 'of love and lunacy' and still enjoy this one a lot. 750 copies pressed on jungle swirl vinyl. first released via roadrunner in 2005. real gone music. 2025.

conan - violence dimension

the new conan crushes as usual. i have yet to decide where i rank this one in the now quite vast discography of the band, but it's a banger for sure. 150 copies made of this tri-colour merge vinyl. heavy psych sounds. 2025.

cradle of filth - the screaming of the valkyries

rock solid offering by uk's finest. not every song here is pure gold but epics like 'malignant perfection' or 'to live deliciously' really stand out. enjoy this one a lot. lovely presentation, too. 500 copies pressed. napalm records. 2025.

obscura - a sonication

it's may and this new obscura is just the 2nd 2025 album i bought so far. but quantity doesn't necessarily refer to quality and in that case, there is loads of quality. on 'a sonication' band leader steffen kummerer has yet again changed the complete personnel, surely not to the album's disadvantage. fantastic piece that easily stands in line with the rest of obscura's discography. gold vinyl out of 1.000 copies. nuclear blast. 2025.