i was in leipzig with my girlfriend to visit the parents of hers and on a trip to city centre i couldn't resist walking into this record store. i had it in good memory because last year i was able to score a darkane record there. it was the weekend of the 'wave-gotik-treffen' which is one of the biggest cultural festivals around for goth fans. its events are spreaded all over the city and therefore it is crowded with odd painted people dressed in all kinds of black or gothic related suits, gowns or bondage clothes. always interesting and fun to watch them. musikhaus kietz had something special for this day too. some obscure dj dude playing weird goth-industrial-techno stuff. i'm not familiar with this kind of music at all so probably it was something totally different but it was surely fucking annoying. not only because i didn't like it but the dude turned it that loud that the shopkeep and i couldn't understand a single word of each other as i was trying to ask him if i could listen to the record (the records weren't in the sleeves, they kept them in some back room).
this burnt by the sun record caught my attention because of the cover. i knew it from some far memory related to lifeforce records from germany. as i began to get really involved with hardcore in the early 00's lifeforce rec was 'the' label here in germany. they had all the european edge metal and new school bands i was loving at the time. cataract, heaven shall burn, caliban, deadsoil or destiny to name a few. i checked back and burnt by the sun never had anything to do with lifeforce so i can't really recall where this connection on my mind came from but it tricked me into taking a listen. i did a quick listen of two or three songs and decided it was good enough to buy it. you know, there was nothing else to get and as i hate walking out of a store empty handed i (over)payed and left.
i should know myself better by now. either it was the constant diversion of that dj dude and his music or this instant gratification thing that takes hold of me when i'm in a physical record store. when i listen to that record now i always come to the conclusion that i could live without it and my world would still be turning. the music isn't that bad. some sort of chaotic hardcore and i can enjoy that if well executed. but the problem with burnt by the sun is that they deliver some good rudiments but there is always something missing in the songs to get them out of the grey mass. to be honest this record bores me. but maybe it's just me and it will grow on me... if i can overcome myself and give it some more spins. song titles are great though. 'dow jones and the temple of doom' is a nice word play :)
900 pressed on clear blue vinyl, 20 test pressings, 100 on the infamous 'not for puplic' clear vinyl and 1000 on white vinyl. relapse records. 2002.
