d.r.a.: dead reprise

dead reprise – dystopia

dead reprise is a hardcore band from sweden that wasn't completely unknown to me. but honestly i pretty much only knew their name. i stumbled upon them when they were connected with other skandinavian bands like purified in blood or ad arma on some flyers i saw on the net. but this little familiarity pushed me to check this band out further as demons run amok entertainment announced this release. i listened to 'the hammer of justice' that features some guest vocals by freddy/madball. song is pretty cool and so i pre-ordered it.

the whole record is not as strong as 'the hammer of justice' implicates but it's a solid release all around. the instrumental to the title song 'dystopia' (the second to last on the record) is bad ass and puts the album one level higher. reminds me a lot of sepultura. the last song 'global meltdown' picks up some hooks of the instrumental and makes it a real great ender. a wise decision of the dead reprise guys to put this two songs at the end. leaves you with a good feeling :) i need to get their first record.

this album is a triple release by demons run amok entertainment, monumentrecords and de:nihil records. i can't say how many copies of this grey with black marble vinyl version were made. sadly there is no download coupon. that sucks big time! but no sweat, the internet knows how to help out :)

2013.

ebay: crush my calm, pride kills

crush my calm - lies make life easier

this record and the upcoming 7" were two impulse purchases i made on the bay. i didn't know this band at all i just found the cover art cool. i listened to a song on the net and decided that it was good enough to get it for a low bid. in the end it was a pretty low bid with that i was able to win this record. crush my calm play crisp hardcore in the vein of verse. good stuff but i see why i never heard of them before. too much 'more of the same'.

recently i ordered some cool records (that will end up on this blog in due time) from a small german d.i.y. label called take it back records run by christian unsinn. as i read through the credits on the inlay i came across the vocalist's name of this band. in this context the singer's name can't be a coincedence: christian unsinn. funny how things sometimes come together.

this white vinyl edition of 'lies make life easier' was released by fire walk with me records, an inactive czech label it seems. don't know how many were made. 2003.

pride kills 7"

again a band i didn't know in any way. and again this was a record i don't really wanted or better i wasn't out for. i checked the seller's other stuff and found it. the cover appealed to me and just like with the crush my calm lp it was a song on the net that pushed me to place my bid. i won it for the starting bid of one euro.

there are two versions of the first pressing. 280 copies of white vinyl and the same amount of clear red vinyl. additionally there are a tour and a record release version. pride kills play some heavier stuff. i would compare them to old hatebreed stuff. good hardcore but it won't spin on heavy rotation.

this 7" appeared on this blessing this curse recordings. they had a handful other bands in their roaster of which i only know life long tragedy. but that says nothing about the reputation of the label - just my own unknowing ;-)

this blessing this curse records. 2004.

ebay: final prayer

final prayer - right here, right now

another long time want off of my list. this record is up on ebay pretty rarely. i had just one chance to score it previously and this was in a lot with three other records i either already had or didn't want. i e-mailed the seller if he sell them separately but it was his way or the highway. and so i waited. patience is a virtue. and ebay didn't disappoint.

this album is fantastic! had this on cd and needed it on vinyl. their last album 'i'm not afraid' was a scorcher too but malicious gossip has it that they changed their sound a bit into the well recieved terror sound to appeal more to the masses. bullshit i say! but admittedly i like 'right here, right now' better. simple hardcore that leaves no one on their seats. their live appearances are also very energetic. to sum it up: a real good band that should get more attention!

the cd version came out on let it burn records from germany and the vinyl was released on i.c. recordings (innovative communication). i think it was a small label that was releasing vinyl versions of albums that appeared on other labels as cd only. i know just of one other release of them which is 'narziss - neue welt'. i believe i.c. isn't around anymore. i think there are 500 copies of this. but i'm afraid i have no references to rely on.

ebay austria: unearth, dark day dungeon, cataract

unearth - the oncoming storm

2004. what a year for me. so many great records i discovered that were milestones in my development of musical taste and of course way of living. vegetarianism and straight edge became big parts of my life and still are. therefore i always look on records from that year with a feeling of nostalgia. they have a special value to me. same thing with unearth's sophomore album. it's the only unearth album i seriously listened to. don't know why their other stuff eluded me. in any case 'the oncoming storm' is great. love the great sound on this which makes the breakdowns so goddamn heavy and the melodies so catchy.

as i mentioned in my previous post i bought this off a seller from austria. just like his cataract record (which i think isn't sold to this day) i was watching this unearth record for quite some time. too high starting bid for me and so i swayed to and fro if i should pay the money or not. the balance was turned by the seller as he lowered the starting bid. now it was reasonable to me and i pulled the trigger.

'the oncoming storm' was released on vinyl through metal blade records for north america and for europe through beniihana records from germany. that label ceased to exist some years ago, 2006 i believe. they pressed 500 copies. 100 on clear red, 200 on white and another 200 on purple vinyl, obviously of which i have one. comes with a printed dust sleeve.

beniihana records. 2004.

dark day dungeon - let the sin begin 7"

as always when i want to buy something through ebay i search what else the seller has to offer to make the order worthwhile. buying just one record is lame and if there is the chance, i'll take it. excactly that happened with this ddd 7" and me. i know this swiss band from their full length record 'by blood undone'. i didn't even know that they had been releasing more stuff on vinyl.

this is probably their first release but i can't be sure because the album 'know your enemy' appeared in the same year (2002) on let it burn records. the 7" came out on paperstreet industries. completely unknown to me. couldn't find any information about them on the net either. what i know is that they pressed it on lovely thick clear vinyl but not on how many copies. mystries over mysteries... maybe someone knows?

catatract - war anthems 7"

one of the first releases of my favourite swiss band. it's a three song release and they are pretty much of the same quality as the songs on 'golem'. so worth the listen and the money (which wasn't much though).

'war anthems' was released in 1999 by join the teamplayer records. a small label from bavaria, germany which isn't active anymore.

join the teamplayer records made it a nice fold around cover with all lyrics on the inside. i think it was pressed on black vinyl only. at least i didn't find any other information. also i didn't find pressing numbers. with this only one cataract piece of vinyl is missing (actually it's two but the self-titled record of 2008 sucks and comes on a picture disc, two reasons to forget about it) - 'killing the eternal' on red vinyl.

join the teamplayer records. 1999.

ebay: cataract

cataract - golem

one of these albums i already have on cd in my collection and wanted on my favourite format. like with so many other european hardcore stuff these records are not a question of money. i got my greedy hands on this for under ten bucks. only the wait for this was annoying, to say the least. in such cases ebay is first choice and i found an austrian seller who put this record up every once in a while with a starting bid that nobody was willing to pay. me neither because shipping was expensive. he seemed to realise that with such a starting bid he wouldn't get this thing sold and so he lowered it.

i thought that my time had come but just the same day the austrian auction ended i came across a german seller with a 1€ starting bid (i bought some other stuff from austria though - check the upcoming post). ha! and even better i won it for one lousy coin. shipping was more! a bargain to me as the record is in brilliant condition.

'golem' comes in a nice gatefold sleeve with all lyrics and liner notes on the inside. love liner notes! it's the first full length record of this swiss based band. the album was first released by ferret records from the u.s. on cd in 2000. one year later lifeforce records from germany gave it the vinyl treatment. one of my favourite bands from europe that was on hiatus but is now playing shows again. hopefully they come up with something new in near future. 

lifeforce records. 2001.

burnout store: h2o, hardside

h2o - nothing to prove
i have to admit that i have never really been into those hardcore-punk bands like pennywise, ignite or exactly h2o. i couldn't really get involved with their sunny california sound. even though i saw the first two mentioned bands playing live several times on different occasions and their shows were always cool. to me there are bands that totally convince me playing live but fail to do so when i listen to their records. walls of jericho for example are one of my favourite live bands but i don't really like their recorded stuff. pennywise and ignite fall into the same category and i thought h2o was no exception.

i managed to elude a h2o show since last year where i saw them for the first time together with madball and first blood. they were the direct support for the headliner madball and madball had a hard time to keep the crowd going after h2o's performance. to me h2o was the band of the night and i said to myself that i should check them out more appropriate then i did in the past. it took me almost another year. after i saw them again with agnostic front and hatebreed and after they were a blast again i gave myself a symbolic kick in the ass and bought this record at my next burnout store visit.

i love this record! love the messages, the straight edge background and the ear worm melodies. the album is from 2008 and bridge9 did it's fourth pressing recently. i really like opaque colours with some marble effects. looks nice! tan coloured vinyl out of 1000 with download code. bridge9 records. 2008.

hardside - time is punishment

i heard some tunes of hardside recently because the label of my trust, demons run amok entertainment, released a compilation of hardside's first two 7"es on 12" format which i have to get in the near future. i wasn't hooked immediately, so i didn't pre-order it. then in december last year jake posted about his copy of 'time is punishment' and so i was aware of the fact that hardside had even an album out. but what to do with the knowledge? nothing - until mid february (yes, that's how long i'm behind with posting). flicking through the h-section at burnout and after picking h2o another familiar looking cover caught my interest.

i dragged the record to the next free turntable and gave it a spin. i listened to the first song and after half of it through i said 'yepp, bought!' i didn't even make it to the chorus because excitement took over. back home i listened to it in whole and was surprised at the chorus parts sung with a clear voice. i wasn't really sure of it but after the second listen i couldn't get these refrains out of my head. brilliant heavy mid-tempo hardcore with really catchy refrains sung by some kind of heavy metal voice. makes them unique in my eyes and that's rare!

the record was released by 6131 records. according to the 6131 shop two colour ways were made: grey marble and solid green. the solid green is slightly marbled too. i presume that grey marble is the more limited because it stands on top of the solid green option in the shop but i can't be sure as 6131 records didn't post any numbers yet. comes with download code. 

6131 records. 2012.