i am one who learns his lessons. in the past i made the mistake to ignore emp mailorder as a source for new and limited colour vinyl. as a result to that behaviour i missed out on a coloured version of madball's 'hardcore lives' record of this year. never again i would pay extra in the aftermath. by now i'm checking the emp upcoming releases section very carefully and regularly. by doing so, i just could not overlook the new unearth effort.
i really love unearth. together with killswitch engage they were part of my in between phase, where i began to look for more thrilling stuff than nu metal ala limp bizkit or drowning pool. they gave way to that european hardcore scene of the mid 00's that i hold so dear. actually, they were a part of it (aside from not being european). their 'the oncoming storm' record is an evergreen to me and with it, they formed a musical style called metalcore, which is still nostalgia to some and an insult to others.
i like to look upon this style with a part nostalgia but rather as simply good music. i have all their other albums on vinyl, too - except 'III: in the eyes of fire' of which there is no vinyl version - but i didn't find the time to write about them. unearth delivered almost with every record and as i saw the limited red double vinyl on pre-order at emp, i didn't hesitate to jump on it.
musically unearth takes no prisoners here. man, i couldn't believe my ears at the first listen. this record is played so tight, it will most likely beat 'the oncoming storm' to second place in my personal ranking. the album starts with a freaking blast beat, that i don't think i ever heard on an unearth record, and takes you on a death thrash hardcore journey of the wild kind. check out 'the swarm' and 'guards of contagion' and tell me you don't have to headbang all the way through. either way you're deaf or you're lying.
but wait, didn't i order a double vinyl pressing? you may understand my astonishment as i opened the package, because i was pretty sure i ordered such a vinyl copy. as i put in my pre-order i was surprised to see a 2xlp version at emp because century media, the label the record appeared on, sold a single lp version. ok, i thought, the double lp was probably the emp exclusive version. now i think, emp got wrong informations somewhere along the way. i kept the sticker with the double vinyl text for the oddity cabinet. century media. 2014.