casey jones - xtraitorx split 7"

i really like casey jones. i loved their 'i hope we're not the last' record and i'm still in agony that their first records, 'the few, the proud, the crucial' and 'the messenger', never made it onto our beloved format, the vinyl. and if they don't re-unite for some unknown reason, probably that will never happen because i don't know too many people that give a shit about their stuff. at least that's my impression. a real shame, that is.

anyway, checking ebay as i'm doing it quite frequently, i stumbled across this split release. it's a split between the aforementioned casey jones and a band named traitor. i never heard of them and going by discogs, they only had this one and only release. so, the traitor side is quite good. youth crew-ish hardcore with breakdowns. unique mixture, at least for me. indeed, the casey jones part is way better in my book. x up or shut up!

the record comes on a nice marbled grey vinyl. the labels were plain black labels and then got the silver pen treatment. each side marked with the initial letters of the bands and the casey jones label has the numbering. mine is #159 of 202. i can't say if the discogs pressing information is correct, because it says that there are 200 copies of the grey vinyl. but i know that there are two more. anyway, discogs tells me that there are 101 clear blue copies and 500 black copies. the label is music city six records. 2004.

cataract - killing the eternal

i'm a big cataract fan since their 2003 album 'great days of vengeance' on lifeforce records. after that they released two killer albums, 'with triumph comes loss' and 'kingdom', and i saw them play live numerous times. always good live shows, they were. then, in 2008 and after some line-up changes, they released their self-titled and fifth album 'cataract'. that record sucked. i don't know if it was the missing of simon füllemann, the former main songwriter, or if it was just me. this album felt bloodless and weak. two years later and 'killing the eternal' came out. i had a hard time with it in the first place.

it took at least one year, i think it was even in 2012 when i first recognized the greatness of this record. i don't why, because when i compare 'killing...' to the two aforementioned 'with triumph...' and 'kingdom', they are not that far apart from each other. somehow 'killing...' needed to grow on me but it finally clicked. unfortunately cataract are on hiatus right now. hopefully they'll be back soon. want some new stuff!

metal blade released the cd version and this time they let some other label handle the vinyl version. the 'cataract' album from 2008 just got the shitty picture disc treatment by metal blade. the, to me unknown, label leech records took care of it. they pressed black vinyl and 500 copies of this clear red with black splatter vinyl. regarding the choice of colour, i can't say that i'm much of a fan of this. the colour-way seems random and doesn't match the cover art. comes with a printed dust sleeve. leech records. 2010.

martyr a.d. - the human condition in twelve fractions

when i started getting knee deep into hardcore with straight edge/vegetarian/vegan ethics, lifeforce records from germany was the label of my trust. all the good bands out of the german language area were releasing, to me, groundbreaking records. heaven shall burn, caliban, destiny, cataract to name a few. lifeforce had some american bands in their roaster as well. martyr a.d. was one of them and i always wanted a coloured copy of their lifeforce record 'the human conditions...'

actually this was released by ferret records on cd and lifeforce handled the vinyl version. they did the same with cataract's debut full length 'golem', which also appeared on ferret as cd only. anyway, i had the chance to score this on ebay for some lousy bucks, but i slept on the auction's end. ohh man, that happens way too often in the past. need to get some brain training. but one time you're losing and the next time you're winning instead. discogs came to my rescue.

the always appreciated some-records-from-your-wantlist-are-available e-mail told me that i could easily buy a perfect-condition-copy of just this album. it got a bit pricier than on ebay, but that's just the deserved punishment. musically this is hardcore metal crossover at the heavier end of the spectrum with some hints of chaotic elements. i like it a lot. check some here. the coloured version comes on a lovely shade of clear red. looks almost pink in the right light. 100 copies made. black vinyl of a larger pressing. lifeforce records. 2001. 

hardside - 2009-2011 comp

about the same time as 6131 records was releasing hardside's debut record 'time is punishment', demons run amok put out this compilation of their first two 7"es 'welcome to hell' and 'crucified'. as i really liked 'time is punishment' (and you should check it out, too. yes, you!), naturally i wanted their other outputs. the coloured version of 'welcome to hell' was gone at all my usual distros, i buy from in germany. and my one and only attempt to get 'crucified' was a dead end over at per koro. so i thought that i should go for the dra comp. the record wasn't going fast, so it wasn't high on the priority list.

i even forgot to order it along with other stuff from dra a few times. stupid me. burnout store hamburg had a copy in stock as well, as i stumbled upon it a few times before. i also never bought because i thought i'd order it from dra. i tricked myself with this kind of thinking and then, with having it again in front of me again, i said to myself that i won't get suckered by my own mind again. i finally took it. musically 'crucified' is pretty good. but somehow one song is missing, as i learned by downloading it from hardside's bandcamp. why this? now i have to get it anyway in its intended way, as a 7". 'welcome to hell' sucks. at least that's what i feel towards it. you can also download it from hardside's bandcamp and decide for yourself.

the packaging is quite minimal. to reduce costs i assume. no actual sleeve but two two-sided inserts, that serve to house the record. one with cover art and lyrics and the other with backside and lyrics. the vinyl itself is one-sided. maybe that explains why they dropped one song? i don't know. the colour is pretty nice. a marbled opaque green and limited to 300 copies. another purple-grey-green mixed colour-way limited to 200 copies also in existence. both still available. demons run amok entertainment. 2012.

reality check - the world on my shoulders 7"

after throwing the unveil and the avalanche 7" into my cart i was able to add another piece of vinyl. the hardcore scene in poland seems to be up and coming. next to this reality check release, others will appear on this blog in due time.

reality check play some heavy nyhc influenced hardcore. they sound a lot like madball. and this is their only weakness. a little bit too similar to the well-known american hardcore legends. but if you like madball, be sure to check them out.

the record appeared on ratel records, a label from poland. they added a small note to the release. i like their attitude. it's printed on english and polish. i just took a photo of the english part. check it out on the picture below.

you can listen to some songs on optional the band's or the label's bandcamp. the limited coloured vinyl comes on red. the quantity pressed is 200 copies. ratel records. 2012.

avalanche - thanatos 7"

i am not that much aware of what worship records from germany are doing. i have one release of them and that is the first coldburn 7" i purchased last year. but my attention was drawn to this release because of coldburn (they released an album and i wanted to have their earlier stuff) and not because of the label. with that in mind, or better not in mind, i searched through the disributed titles at take it back records, because i wanted to add some to the unveil 7".

the first name that striked my eyes was avalanche with their first 7" called 'thanatos'. the description said coloured vinyl and the cover art looked interesting, so i checked their bandcamp. these guys are hailing from vienna, austria and playing a mixture of crusty hardcore and doom metal. usually i'm not really into doom stuff. i find it too slow most of the time. but avalanche got a stronger hardcore edge and man, they're just sharp! check them!

the record comes in a nice glue-pocket-sleeve with an insert. the vinyl colour is really great. reminds me a bit of the congress 'euridium' 7". the clear purple vinyl has some green streaks through it and is really an eye-catcher. 'thanatos' was co-released by worship records and green menace records from sweden. 150 were pressed on purple vinyl by worship and, i suppose, 150 on green vinyl by green menace. 2012.

unveil - hypnopaedia 7"

start a fire records is a small d.i.y. label with a small string of releases yet. in the past i wanted to buy a bunch of them over at disamare distro (when i bought the two wolfxdown 7"es) but they were already gone. luckily the second unveil 7" was co-released by start a fire and take it back records. and take it back had some in store left. even the coloured version.

unveil was a band from switzerland. they called it a day in early 2013. they played some great mid-nineties hardcore with a metallic edge. not only because they were a vegan straight edge band, they remind me alot of earth crisis. they released a 7" before 'hypnopaedia' and a full length afterwards. i have both of them by now so expect more unveiling in the future (word play!).

the whole 7" and the predecessor are for free download over at the start a fire website. this lovely coloured version comes on a nice clear green w/ black smoke vinyl. looks real good. additionally there is an insert and a download code, which you don't need indeed... you know, because of the free download. 152 made on green (as pre-order and record release version) and 367 on black vinyl plus 22 test pressings. 2010.

ryker's - brother against brother

not long ago demons run amok entertainment announced pre-orders for this re-release of ryker's classic record 'brother against brother'. by the time it appeared in 1994, lost and found records did release a vinyl version but the everywhere despised format of the picture disc. so i wasn't ever bothered to get a copy. finally cupcake records corrected this mistake this year. yes, cupcake records. not demons run amok.

cupcake doesn't seem to have a distro on their own, so d.r.a. sells a couple of red vinyl copies. core tex got some on blue vinyl. these were the two coloured versions i knew about but as they didn't seem to go fast, other stuff got in the way and i was distracted. being in my favourite physical store, burnout records hamburg, i found a version i hadn't on my list. as i'm much more a fan of opaque coloured vinyl than of clear colours, it was a nice surprise to find this white vinyl lp. this copy in front of me, i had no excuse anymore not to grab this great record.

ryker's were the first german band in hardcore that gained a lot of attention internationally. after 'brother against brother' they even made it to a split release with sick of it all. and the nyhc influence is undeniable on this record. heavy madball and biohazard impact is to be felt. great 90s crossover hardcore. check 'the edge', in my eyes one of their best songs ever, even though it's a cover song.

cupcake slightly changed the cover artwork. looks cool nevertheless. the vinyl has a lot of black traces going on, so it looks almost marbled. don't know if every white copy is like this. if i'm going by the first three sentences in the insert (picture above), ryker's would have to be my favourite band of all times simply by being big star wars worshippers. i can only fall into line with them, may the force never lose it's magic! through different sources, i came to the following pressing information: 100 clear red, 100 blue, 100 white and 200 black vinyl copies. cupcake records. 2013.

downpresser - don't need a reason

the first two releases of downpresser, 'perverted justice' and 'age of ignorance', were on my wantlist for quite some time. but i never came across any or never came across a copy for the price i wanted to pay. i had an option for a coloured test of 'perverted justice' but money seemed to high. but hey christmas is coming and maybe i'll enlarge my balls and catch up. so now to the record at hand. downpresser's latest output 'don't need a reason'.

i didn't order it in the first place because of the following problem. the most common colour of the first press is black. as 'don't need a reason' is out on an american label, over here in germany usually one gets the most common press from the general ditros. i didn't want the black vinyl and that's why i passed on it. but then, because i wanted to check the vinyl section at kings road merch, i stumbled upon the coloured copies of 'dnar'.

in the beginning i even overlooked the blue vinyl and ordered the clear vinyl. fortunately i noticed my mistake soon enough, so i was able to e-mail kings road before they shipped the record and change from clear into blue. the music itself is really good. pumping metallic hardcore. downpresser just knows how to play this stuff real tight. check 'twist of fate' or the title song - scorchers. shame that two or three songs are just average stuff. otherwise the record-of-the-year title had a most promising hopeful with 'don't need a reason'.

despite that. this album hits my imiginary top ten list of 2013 because of a movie qoute at the end of the record. it's a qoute by detective lt. somerset (played by morgan freeman) from the movie 'seven'. check it here. it's one of my favourite movies. that makes a special connection and that makes an special album. the vinyl colour sucks and is cool at the same time. sucks because it looks black and, here is the cool part, looks great hold up to the light. gatefold sleeve with nice and simple layout rounds it out. 600 on black, 300 on clear and 100 on blue/black vinyl. 6131 record. 2013.

wolfxdown - stray from the path

after i really enjoyed their last two 7"es, of which i posted before, i was really looking forward to their upcoming release. as i'm not taking part in any social network, i sometimes may not be the first one to recieve the latest update. but to be honest, this didn't work to my disadvantage in the past, except one time where i missed the pre-order for the latest heaven shall burn record. in this case however, i was close to miss out if it wasn't for a little flyer that i got from somewhere.

looking more closely, the text above the wolfxdown lettering says record release show. damn me, it hit me like a sledge hammer. hectically i was browsing the world wide web to gather information. thankfully i didn't miss out. power trip records from leipzig handled the pre-order and it wasn't even upped at that point. of course i had my order in as soon as it was available. what i really liked about the pre-order, similar to the 'deathrite - into extinction' pre-order at per koro, was the little tease of not giving information about the colour of the vinyl. it was just colour #1 to #3 with the limitations given. so i opted for the most limited - the pre-order colour.

as it came around i was really excited to find out. and look, it didn't disappoint. great colour scheme. musically wolfxdown went one step further. the whole thing sounds more elaborate. great straight up hardcore. reminds me a bit of expire or the latest no turning back record. finally a good new and proud vegan straight edge band from germany. next to the tight tunes, the lyrics are pretty good. straight to the point, just the way political hardcore should be. topics like animal liberation, the role of girls in the scene, anti-fascism, sub-culture and, of course, straight edge get addressed. thumbs up!

this lovely white w/ cream swirl vinyl record is housed in a gatefold sleeve with great art work. furthermore you get a lp-sized booklet with all the lyrics and explanations along some nice pictures of the band. love those booklets! there are 500 copies on grey vinyl as regular press, 300 splatter vinyl copies as band press (never saw one of these) and 200 copies on my swirl vinyl as pre-order version. plus some black copies that went on record release shows. get your copy today! co-release between start a fire records and power trip records. 2013.

the setup - minister of death

this is their second full length, following 'the pretense of normality'. i made an attempt in the past to get hold of these two records. i asked at reality records for the coloured versions, the label which released them, but with the reply that they had sold out on the two. a little time after that, i got outbid on ebay for a white copy of the debut full length 'the pretense of normality'. it went for more than i anticipated and i was quite surprised about that. sometimes ebay is beyond my limited grasp. anyway, two months ago i got one of these discogs mails.

a seller from italy wanted reasonable 15 euros for this coloured version of 'minister of death'. i did him the favour of opening my wallet and a week or so later i was able to remove another item from my wantlist. the sound of the setup on this recording isn't that far away from 'this thing of ours'. a little slower maybe. it's a damn solid hardcore record that isn't that much of a cracker as 'ttoo' but i really enjoy it.

don't really think that clear blue was a good choice for the vinyl. looks a bit misplaced looking at the colour pattern of the cover art. something inbetween the range of yellow and red would have been more appropriate, but who am i to tell. the cd version was released by gsr music. reality records handled the vinyl version. 100 on clear blue and 400 on black vinyl. 2006.

length of time - how good the world could be... again

another belgian band from that furtile time-period of the late 90's and early 00's. another goodlife record. another ebay bargain. these records always seem to go for pretty low on ebay germany. i got it for 12 bucks. good for me, i'd say. it was the first time that it showed up on ebay as long as i'm looking for it. considering that there are pretty pricey options on discogs, for black vinyl only, i don't really get why i snag these things for such slim money.

does really nobody gives a fuck about them jolly good records, except me? ok whatever, this baby looks fantastic. from the musical point of view, 'how good the world could be... again' is a sharp bastard mixing metallic 90's hardcore ala merauder with life of agony -like melody parts. it's really good stuff. the sound is of high quality, tight all the way through. can't get enough of it! check 'losing my heaven' from these holy terror church worshippers.

the presentation is special too. the cover artwork depicts a painting by german artist franz von stuck (1863-1928). it's called 'the wild chase' and shows the northern god odin on horseback. von stuck painted it in 1880. it is said that adolf hitler was a big admirer of franz von stuck's work, of this painting in particular. rumour has it that hitler even copied odin's hair style and mustache from the picture. i don't know about that. it makes a strange pick for the cover. what did the band intend with it? i'm interested why they chose it for the cover. anyone knows? apart from that, this picture really looks kind of menacing.

like other goodlife records i wrote about in the past, this lovely red vinyl reveals a nice marble effect hold up to the light. the yellow gleam is just the sun. it looks different in reality but i couldn't make it visible properly with my cam. but it gives you an idea. 200 made on red vinyl. the black vinyl version is still available. goodlife recprdings. 2000.

dead format 3/3: bitter end - climate of fear

bitter end - climate of fear

since i have all their other records in my caring home, i wanted completion. i was looking for their debut full length 'climate of fear'. of course there were more than one opportunity to get it, discogs and friends. but you know how it is, time and place just weren't right. as i saw this little gem on ewald's list, the stars were in the right position and time and place had come. 

just like all bitter end releases, their stuff seems to be like good wine to me. it gets better with time. i needed several spins for it to grow on me. by now i think it's even better than their 2010 output 'guilty as charged'. what i really like about them, they managed to sound unique. a trait of character only the real good bands call their own. listen to the song 'vigilance', one of my favourites. clear bitter end signature.

what i was able to obtain is a copy of the second press. the first press copies all came with gatefold covers. 1218 vinyl discs in total with numerous colours. look for yourself. the second press however has 787 copies in total. strange and uneven quantities in both pressings. i have one of 150 clear blue copies that were sold on the euro tour '08. as you can see with non-gatefold covers. for the other colours, check pressing info here.

six feet under records. 2007.

dead format 2/3: dead reprise - the unveiling

dead reprise - the unveiling 12"

i really loved their latest output 'dystopia' on demons run amok. it even grew on me over the time. so as i saw this record on ewald's list i surely wanted it. he priced it very reasonable so couldn't say no to it. i saw it before at the reality records shop and always said to me, that i would take it when the time was right. as this way of thinking always bears some risk, i was happy that i could aquire it in the same go as the born from pain record. you know, making postage costs worthwhile ;-)

musically it's pretty good work here. i only listened to it for a handful of times but it really grabbed me. probably it'll even beat 'dytopia'. the production is a little heavier than on the follow-up and therefore really grinds into your cortex. very solid executed metallic hardcore, that is. if you like metallic hardcore, you won't be disappointed. check some 'signs of reality' here. furthermore the slick gatefold sleeve was ennobled with great artwork by dave quiggle fine hands.

i wasn't able to find any pressing information for this record. i found a page that said that there are 200 copies of this orange vinyl. don't know if that's true. in the online store of monument records, on which the record appeared as a co-release with get this right records, the orange one has sold out. two other colour-ways, silver and white-tan swirl, still available. so orange was the most limited? please enlighten me, if possible! 2010.

dead format 1/3: born from pain - war

born from pain - war

as i made a good expirience the last time i aquired a record through the deadformat.net board, i wanted to push my luck some more instead of waiting for ebay opportunities coming my way. another record i was out for some time was born from pain's last record with che on vocals, entitled 'war'. i have this album on cd since its initial release in 2006. boy, that's seven years. quite a long time. doesn't feel like that.

in the past i could have easily purchased that record through the internet shop of the label. it appeared on hollow man records which is a division of hypertension records from belgium. the 'war' lp sat their, along with the 'in love with the end' album, for a stupid low price. i didn't go for it because postage was pretty high, but all in all the price was ok, considering the bargain prices for the records. furthermore i thought if those lp's were waiting there since 2005 or so, they would wait a month or two longer. how misdirected i was... after failing miserably, because the records sold out, i was waiting for it on ebay. time went on and it wouldn't appear. i thought 'fuck waiting!' and stretched out for it on dead format. 

same approach as last time, sending mails to people who had it in their trade lists. i was able to arrange an agreement with ewald, a solid dude from belgium. i made him an offer and he was honest enough to tell me, that he was selling his whole collection for fixed prices. my offer was higher than his fixed price but he wasn't bullshitting me and didn't take advantage on me. much appreciation for this, ewald! i think in the end it was good for him too, because i bought more off him :) so, now i have a nice shining clear red copy of born from pain's 'war' album, finally. don't know how many of these red copies were made. a black pressing is also in existence. hollow man records. 2006.

rwhaf willem: the freebies

i'm going to keep this one short because these two records are no actual purchase and the picture beneath actually says it all.

agnostic front - united blood e.p. 7"

as willem already wrote down, this one is essential. i'm not that much into the tunes, which the grooves release dropping the needle on it, but one has got to know where the roots are. hardcore history. plain and simple.

well done re-press in my eyes. bridge9 went for a new artwork but stood true to the original by printing the dust sleeve with the original artwork. the insert also included.

the sleeve comes with embossed lettering and the vinyl colour matches the colour-scheme of the sleeve quite well. solid all around. 800 copies made. bridge9. 2009.

down to nothing - 50 lions split 7"

as you can already read in picture #1, and as a constant reader you probably know, a copy of the superb split 7" is already in my posession. i got it from willem as well some months ago.

this time he sent me the white vinyl version. i think it was the most limited colour of the first press out of 100 copies. and with 50 lions being one of my favourite bands, this one is really nice to have. willem for president!

usually i don't collect several copies of one release but, of course, this is an exception. again, much appreciation and respect to willem. thank you mate. i'll give some back! buy his stuff from discogs!

6131 records. 2008.

rwhaf willem: forfeit - visions

forfeit - visions 7"

it was not long ago that i read a post on willem's 'records with history and future' blog about a special cover version of forfeit's debut 7", called 'visions'. i posted a comment saying something like: 'man, i need to get a copy myself'. being the cool guy he his, my fellow blogger mate willem felt the need to help me out of my miserable situation. he sent me an electronic mail, telling me that he had a spare copy to offer. of course i would gladly take it from his hands.

even with postage, which was a little higher than the price for the record willem and me arranged, i payed less than i would have, if i took one of the opportunities i had here (discogs and ebay). so i'm really happy to finally add it to my vinyl pile. musically it's grim, n.y.c. influenced hardcore. good stuff! the band called it quits some years ago, i think it was 2010? a shame that is... go check them out!

all in all, according to the reaper discography, there are 1022 copies of this baby. five tests and then 1017 copies on orange w/ blue splatter vinyl. out of those 77 copies were given a special pre-order cover and 50 came with a special record-release cover. so 890 with the regular sleeve, that i have. reading willem's post, this info can't be correct, because willem has a special summer tour cover out of 100. so probably there are 790 copies with the regular cover floating around. can't be sure. anyway, big thanks to willem! next up will be the freebies he threw into the package.

reaper records. 2008.

discogs pt 3/3: foundation - when the smoke clears

foundation - when the smoke clears

i came across the name foundation occasionally. was it in some fanzines, ebay auction titles, cross references in blog posts or billing of some shows that took place at some venue far far away. there are a lot of those bands out there i heard something about, but was never bothered to check them out more closely. sometimes this procedure is self-preservation, because one just can't listen to them all without going insane in order to collect, or wasting a hell lot of precious time listening to crap. but there are other times, where one is definitely missing something. however, foundation was among those aforementioned bands.

what really pushed me forward to check them out was mike's blog 'the one thing that still holds true', where he raved on and on about this band. i didn't give it much thought in the first place, because usually his taste is into youth crew styled hardcore and that's not really thing. but in one post he was drawing comparisons to bands like earth crisis and snapcase. that made me curious. and yepp, in this case i had been missing a good hardcore record. actually i bought their 2013 'hang your head' lp compilation on six feet under records before the full length but i lost my photos. this will be corrected in due time.

i had the chance to buy the latest re-press of this record on bridge9 at my favourite record store, burnout records hamburg. but i refused buying it because it comes on clear olive vinyl (1000 copies), which looks like clear dark purple or clear dark blue vinyl and that is... black, unless you hold it to the light. boring. fortunately green hell still had a copy of the first press on grey w/ blue and red splatter vinyl in stock. bought. love the layout. the inside gatefold is a collage of self-made pictures of the band, always a cool thing. furthermore you get a folded insert wit all the lyrics. 700 pressed on this colour plus  300 on splattered orange vinyl and 1000 on nice tri-coloured vinyl. good job, bridge9. 2011. 

discogs pt 2/3: congress - euridium

congress - euridium 7"

after i added the superb life of agony record to my cart, i was eager to watch through green hell's other stuff to offer, because i knew about their good supply. the first thing i stumbled upon was this little gem here. the first congress 7". i'm not quite sure if it was released before or afterwards the first full length record 'blackened persistence', which came out the same year.

i suppose it to be unleashed before 'blackened persistence' because that is usually the way things go. 7" record before 12" record. but this is a crazy world so i can't be sure. what i know is that the songs on this piece of vinyl don't really blow me away. they're good, sure. i mean, it's congress we're talking here. but compared to all their later stuff, it pales a bit.

going after the discogs book, there are three pressings. the first pressing consists of 980 black vinyl copies and the ridiculous low amount of 20 red vinyl copies. the third pressing has 1000 brown vinyl copies and my baby is also out of 1000 copies, second press and on marbled purple vinyl. man, that colour looks awesome! and that b-side label is priceless. anyone knows who this is? good job, i'm happy with it.

warehouse records. 1995.

ebay: madball - rebellion e.p.

madball - rebellion 7"

i really like madball. straight forward hardcore plus i've had always a good time seeing them playing live. with that said, my madball vinyl collection borders on embarrassment. two records i call my own, 'legacy' and 'empire'. recentish releases. non of the classics, like 'set it off' or 'demonstrating my style'. i struggle a bit with getting them because they catch quite a penny nowadays. i just hope that they get repressed like so many other things these days.

but now onto this latest release of them. it goes by the name of 'rebellion' and was originally released as a digital download. i remember reading about it at partyausfall.de, a german internet fanzine, and was hoping for it being pressed to vinyl. news said that this would happen later on the year. as i avoid facebook and other social networks like the plague, i must have missed the announcement. anyway, i kind of forgot about it.

then on one of my ritual ebay searches for new stuff i came across a shining copy of 'rebellion' on clear blue vinyl. so, when was it actually released? has anyone of the blogger crew a copy? strange that a new release by such a band like madball passed me by... anyway, i won the auction for a good price, i think, and was happy to put my first madball 7" into my m-section. by the way, the new songs are awesome! 500 made. released on freddy's own label, b'n'b records. 2012.

ebay: cradle of filth - nymphetamine

cradle of filth - nymphetamine 2xlp

i came across a lot of possibilities to grab a copy of cradle of filth's sixth full length album on ebay. but either the delusional price or the fact, that it was black vinyl held me back. then, finally, all the stars were in the right position and the time had come for me to pull the trigger. all in all i won it for a pretty decent amount of money. 

of course, this copy is far from mint condition. at least when it comes to the sleeve condition. worn edges and corners, outer sleeve and dust sleeves alike. but hey, i can live with that easily. the vinyl itself is flawless and looks lovely. 180gr semi-translucent yellow lps with some black smears. love the sleeve being a glue pocket one and not a gatefold. a non-gatefold cover for a metal release is a welcomed change for a time.

when it comes to the musical side, i'm not to one hundred percent sold on it. the first half is great. the second half however can't hold up to the first. it gets a bit dull, especially 'english fire' is a bore. probably one has to be an islander to comprehend. lyrically a story is missing. they loosely connect but don't build up on another. another minor let down for me. the record is good, really, but is simply not my favourite of them. i came up short with pressing information. anyone here a clue? roadrunner records. 2004.