per koro pt. 5/5: throwdown

throwdown - venom & tears

cross my heart - i'm a throwdown fan. i always loved 'haymaker', i began to really love 'vendetta' that i had on cd in 2006 but never really appreciated back then and i discovered their first two albums ('beyond repair' and 'you don't have to be blood to be family') which i love the shit out of them. plus two 7"es, one of which i posted already - 'drive me dead' - and another that i could already obtain and that will land on this blog in due time. so the only release that i don't have and which exists on vinyl was 'venom & tears'. i was a little undecided wether to order it or not. i heard some songs of it and knew that throwdown was going a new direction. more pantera-metal kind of. i wasn't sure if i liked it and so i held on for some time. but then finally the scale turned in favour of 'venom & tears'.

i think i can safely say that i really like this record. of course it's not another 'haymaker' but i like it for what it is. if i wasn't a throwdown fan i probably wouldn't spin this as much as i do. but in the context of their whole discography this album makes sense. don't get me wrong, it's a good one. the breakdowns are as heavy as only throwdown can deliver, cool hooks and straight edge, it's all there. but it's a new direction. like always when bands take a new course the older fans usually like the older stuff more because it was the very thing they became fans in the first place. as i said before it's still a pretty good listen though. i didn't listen to 'deathless' yet, which is their latest album from 2009. it never got released on vinyl and that's why i wasn't interested. but now i'm curious. heard that throwdown are writing new stuff. interesting, interesting...

'venom & tears' was pressed on two different colours. there is a dark red version and my marbled blue. dark red is limited to 660 copies. the blue one is limited to 433 copies plus 4 test press copies. i got the numbers from dead format but they seem odd though. all together that makes 1097 copies. strange number. anyway, if the information is correct i have, again, not the less limited colour way. in this case it's even the rarest. that was a good order from per koro ;-)

trustkill records. 2008.  

per koro pt. 4/5: lifeless

lifeless - no love for the world

sometimes my memory just escapes me. in this case i have no clue how i stumbled upon lifeless. what i know is that i listened to the 'intro/born dead' song on youtube and then i remember being sold immediately. if you like your hardcore pumping through like a steamroller then lifeless is just right up your alley. good mix between 2-step-parts, breakdowns and apocalyptic melodies - i even felt reminded of some kind of type-o-negative vibe going on, unstoppable. lyrics are pretty dark and negative but not primitive. by no means they are very innovative but they're damn good just for what they are.

this u.s. based band is around since 2008 and even made it over the pond twice. nlftw is their first release and it was released by harvcore records. never heard of them though. i checked their current roaster and only know agitator because of their new record on six feet under rec. that's it, besides a turmoil re-release. lifeless has a new 7" out called 'if i could be anyone but me'. need to get my greedy hands on that.

the record comes on nice marbled clear orange vinyl. looks pretty decent! additionally you get a download dropcard for a digital copy. cool, too. pressing info is as follows: 100 clear-red mix, 100 navy blue (for record release), 300 translucent orange and 500 on maroon. as you can see i didn't get the most common pressing this time, which is usually the case when i order from a distro. just like with the previous h2o record. lucky me, haha.

harvcore records. 2011.

per koro pt. 3/5: h2o

h2o – s/t

in this previous post i already let see through that i’m the owner of this recent bridge9 re-pressing of h2o’s self-titled debut record from 1996. i saw another copy sitting at burnout store in hamburg several times but never came around picking it up. so this time around i threw it in the cart at per koro. because, as always with per koro, prices were and are very moderate.

the b9 re-press comes with a lovely embossed cover. not just only the h2o logo is embossed, nope, it’s the whole flame, dice and cards thing. great stuff. the vinyl looks pretty good, too. “clear green vinyl, what’s so special about that?”, you might ask. well, the pictures don’t do it justice but the vinyl has some sort of white shades through it. i couldn’t make it visible in the pictures with my shitty cam. so you just have to believe me or buy your own copy :)

musically it easily has become my favourite record of h2o. lovely straight edge induced melodic hardcore punk. positive all the way through. love it! just like on the other records the debut comes with features of loads of nyhc roalty. stigma/af, anthony/killing time or jimmy/murphy’s law to name a few.

first press on blackout! records in 1996. clear green vinyl. limited to 700 copies and the second rarest of this re-pres. two other colours pressed: white/300 and clear purple/1000. record holds a download dropcard. bridge9 records. 2011.

per koro pt. 2/5: agnostic front

agnostic front – another voice

this was on my wantlist for a long time. i really like af’s heavier hardcore stuff after ‘dead yuppies’. ‘another voice’ marks their first release on germany’s nuclear blast records in 2004. at the time nuclear blast did a vinyl release on clear red. i’m not too much of a fan of that colour and so it was nice to find that durty mick records released a version (re-issue for north-america, i suppose) on mint green vinyl which i spotted on ebay but didn’t bid on due to my own fucking forgetfulness.

fortunately browsing through per koro i found it in their distro. it was the durty mick version and the description said it would be the green vinyl. as you can see with you own eyes it’s not the mint green vinyl. the oxblood version came instead. in my opinion oxblood red looks almost as exciting as clear red. the only advantage it has in comparison with the clear colour is the fact of being an opaque colour. at first i thought about e-mailing marcus from per koro asking him for a green one. but then i condemned this thought because i know that marcus doesn’t have a green one of which were only 300 pressed and probably just sold out. because if he had one he would have send it. he’s a decent guy.

the music however is pretty damn good! probably the angriest stuff they ever wrote. love the guest appearance of karl buechner on ‘still here’ because at the time earth crisis wasn’t still there :-) (split up in 2001 if memory serves and re-united in 2007). 700 pressed on oxblood red vinyl. comes with an embossed cover and printed dust sleeve.

durty mick records. 2011.

per koro pt. 1/5: the acacia strain

i have some geek rules when it's about blogging. i post about records in the order i recieve them. not in the order i ordered them. there is no exception. geek rule number two is that i have to listen to the records at least once so i can form an at least half decent opinion. geek rule #3 is that i categorize my posts according to the places i got the stuff from. when there are more than three records i got in one go i divide the post into as much parts as needed (even numbers if possible), which is actually geek rule #4.

why i tell you that? good question! i'm about to change one of my rules. by now i think it's cooler to give one record one single post on its own. so i'm starting a little experiment today. the next five records to come are all of one order from per koro. when i start with the first today, i have to get the four following posts done by this month (because that's geek rule #5). i'll see if i can make it and this procedure works for me.

enough said. onto the record...

the acacia strain - death is the only mortal

man, the new acacia strain. it's not actually new. it came out somewhere in 2012. i recognized this release but i wasn't too keen on actually getting a copy for several reasons. first reason was that 'wormwood', the precursor album, didn't really convince me. they had become too slow, too bulky and too dissonant. next reason was that at the time i was involved in too many other stuff and the last reason was the availability. i knew of two versions and i knew i would get the more common one if i order from a german distro. to get the limited version i would have to order from the states which increases shipping rates. i try to avoid that in the recent past. i found that i can get almost everything through german distros or local record shops. so it took me quite some time to get a copy of 'death is the only mortal'.

i added it to my last per koro order because i got pretty curious about what the record would sound like. i listened to it 4-5 times by now and i think i can safely say that it's a bit of a let down. they pretty much walked the way of the 'wormwood' again. it's still too slow, too bulky and too dissonant. in some moments you get the feeling that they finally push it forward with some up tempo parts and some nice melodies but just in the next seconds they fall back into their tardy sound walls. a bit too monotonous to me. i wish they would go back to the sound of records like '3750', 'the dead walk' or 'continent'.

so taste is arguable but what is definitely cool through an objective view is the presentation. nice gatefold sleeve with cool art work on both sides, a nice lyric sheet, white vinyl and a cd to rip the music for your digital amusement. white vinyl is limited to 1000 copies. theres a green/pink splatter version also 'limited' to 1000 copies (this is what i thought to be the more limited one). seems like a pretty high amount of copies to me. are they that successful in the states?

rise records. 2012.

ebay: bitter end

bitter end - mind in chains 7"

another good hardcore band i'm getting into recently. i checked them out before but as i said in the last post, that 'first cut is the deepest' thing doesn't really work with me. on one of my regular 'killing time on ebay' searches i came across this baby here. the opportunity of getting this for a low price was right in front of me and so i listened to some songs of that 7" on youtube more closely. lo and behold i liked what i heard. i threw in a bid and won it for lousy three coins.

bitter end plays some snotty hardcore in the vein of 50 lions. so just right up my alley. it came out on malfunction records which is by now a division of deathwish records if memory serves. it's their first release and therefore a good door opener to me willing to check out the rest of their discography. so next on my list is their output of 2007 'climate of fear'.

my opaque orange vinyl version is from the second pressing of 500 copies. 'mind in chains' must have been quite successful as the first press came with 1000 copies and all sold out just like the second press. first press' breakdown is 500 on clear with red and black splatter vinyl and another 500 on black and red split vinyl. malfunction records. 2006.

d.r.a.: bitterness exhumed, blkout

bitterness exhumed - a place of many ghosts

because of the great stuff this label was releasing in the past i can almost buy blindly from demons run amok entertainment. so when new releases get announced i always check them out. no exception with bitterness exhumed. before pre-orders went up one could check a video on youtube of their song ‘opposition’. i think it was mainly chosen because of the guest appearance of nico from war from a harlot’s mouth. bitterness exhumed play a bastard of metal and hardcore with lots of dissonances, breaks and dark melodies. pretty much in the vain of wfahm. i think this youtube video was supposed to appeal to wfahm fans. and what can i say – it worked out just well. i was hooked.

as soon as pre-orders were up i secured myself a copy of the special pre-order vinyl version. it comes with a simple fold around cover with different artwork, kind of an obi strip and a poster. first impression is amazing. the art of the fold around cover looks ace. even better than the actual cover artwork, which is pretty good too.

more cool details to come. first one is the wax seal on the back of the strip. the vinyl for the pre-orders is pressed on clear red with black splatter colour pattern. it matches the alternativ artwork and therefore is a good choice of colour. the inside of the alternate cover is stamped with a custom made bitterness exhumed stamp. thumbs up!

the normal cover and the printed dust sleeve are made of thick quality card. the artwork by sin eater is great, too. only the combination of the pre-order vinyl and the cover colours look a bit misplaced. ah well, can’t have it all.

the pre-order sleeve is numbered out of 100. i have #56. as i learned via discogs ‘a place of many ghosts’ is compilation of six new songs and five re-recorded songs from two ep’s. one is called ‘doomridden’ and was only available on cd and the other is a self-titled two-song-7”. i already looked out for the 7”. but it’s from 2011 i believe and only the black version available through the band’s big cartel. got to snag a coloured copy on ebay.

the music is very good for a debut as well. sometimes they just put riff after riff next to each other but on a high level for sure. already excited to see how this band will develop.

500 made. 100 for pre-order on clear red with black splatter vinyl. 400 on clear vinyl. demons run amok entertainment. 2013.

blkout - point of no return

a strange story that is linked to this release. it actually was released in the end of 2012. of course i checked a song back then because it’s d.r.a. after i did so i put blkout aside because i didn’t like the song (can't tell you which one it was). then at one of my regular visits at burnout record store, hamburg i listened to a bunch of records in the store. among them was blkout. i decided to listen to it again. i mean you know how it is, you have a whole bunch of new music and sometimes you get lost in the sheer flood of it. sometimes i just can’t rely on my first impression. i passed the intro and the tunes of the first song ‘something to remember’ kicked in. boy, that was actually pretty good. i just listened to that one song because more stuff was waiting in front of me. but i said to myself to get a copy from the label. i didn’t bought it right there because it was just the black version and i knew that there was a coloured run.

when i finally listened to it in whole, i just don’t know, i was kind of torn. the rest of the record isn’t definitely that what the first song was promising. the record reminds me a lot on fire and ice whom i don’t really like. on all accounts ‘point of no return’ isn’t a bad record but it’s that discontent feeling of expecting something different.

the presentation is pretty cool though. i love the artwork on that one. the choice of colours and that the white printings on the sleeve are of some glossy quality. the big fold out insert in poster size with all the lyrics is great, too. ‘point of no return’ was released by resist records for australia, six feet under records for north america and by demons run amok entertainment in europe. 300 on clear orange with black splatter vinyl and an unknown number of black copies. 2012.

discogs: die young (tx)

die young (tx) - graven images

if i should tell you how i came to know die young (tx), i could only reply with a shrug. i have no fucking idea. only thing i know is that this record was on my list for quite some time. per koro had it for that long in stock as i decided to get it. suddenly it disappeared from the distro. fortunately i knew of an other distro called xsentientx, where i ordered a verse record some months ago. due to some delivery problems which i will say more about in an upcoming post, the order was never executed. another option was discogs.

i found a seller from germany who offered it for a very fair price plus agreeable shipping costs. as i looked closer i found out that the seller was christian unsinn from take it back records of which i ordered records recently (scroll down two posts). it was too late to add 'graven images' to the other stuff. annoying! and more annoying because i couldn't blame anyone else but me ;-)

the music however is pretty good. not one songs that clocks in over two and a half minutes. all solid metallic hardcore. what is more interesting and definitely outstanding are the lyrics. a lot of socio-politically subjects get addressed. all referenced with quotes of some pretty smart people like upton sinclair, sigmund freud, greg graffin or friedrich nietzsche. what is even more cool is an explanation referring to the lyrics, where they say that the stuff they sing about are not all their own ideas. rather borrowed or adapted. they didn't want to impress with it but encourage people to communicate and educate themselves. cool thing. they had me anyway as they are calling their stuff punk music!

cd on eulogy recordings. pressed on lovely white with blue splatter vinyl. printed dust sleeve. 700 made (another 300 on clear blue with white splatter vinyl). teenage disco bloodbath records. 2007.

let it burn rec: the haverbrook disaster

the haverbrook disaster - the chosen few 7"

the haverbrook disaster (yeah named after that infamous event from the simpsons) is a young band from the south of germany. they already have a full length and a split with demoraliser in their vita. but unfortunately all released on cd only. same problem with the new album ‘weather the world’ out on let it burn records. this seven inch was a little teaser for the album. it contains two songs: ‘the chosen few’ which will appear on the album as well and an exclusive song ‘the beautiful life’ only appearing on this release.

i love the direction the new songs are going. they dropped the most of their ‘tough guy’ parts for more two step parts and sing-alongs. brilliant stuff. the 7” comes in three versions. one on plain ol’ black vinyl, a clear vinyl and my version on nice clear with white splatter vinyl.

there were 200 of ‘the chosen few’ 7” pressed. here is the breakdown: 50 on clear vinyl, 50 on clear with white splatter vinyl and 100 on black vinyl. still hoping that someone will press the ‘weather the world’ album to vinyl. check them out!

let it burn records. 2013.