Sonntag, 31. Mai 2015

xibalba - s/t

the month started out with a xibalba post and so does it finish. we have come full circle. this time it's about their compilation release on a389 records. in 2010 xibalba self-released their first album 'madre mia gracia por los dias'. that album generated that much attention, that it wasn't long until a big label such as southern lord knocked on their door.
southern lord re-released 'madre mia...' on cd and liscensed the vinyl rights to a389 records. they in turn decided to not only press xibalba's first album to vinyl, but also include the four songs that were featured on a three-way split with world of pain and ruckus, called 'earthquake split' on beatdown hardwear records.
beside a to 55 copies limited 2011 euro-tour press, which is damn hard to come by, a389 issued all their first press copies on black vinyl. i probably would have bought myself a black copy earlier, if i wasn't occupied with getting a reasonable priced 'hasta la muerte' coloured copy. as this task was finally accomplished the holy vinyl re-issue god came to my rescue just in the right moment. i was browsing the net for some xibalba vinyl pictures and came across a coloured copy that was new to me.
a split coloured platter that was for sale at the a389 webshop. i was baffled as to what was going on. after some research i was informed about this latest re-press and searched discogs for a german retailer might having it in stock. markus/per koro had one and i gladly took it. looks and sounds awesome. can't say how many have been made on this nice green and purple split vinyl. comes with big poster and download code. a389 records. 2011/2015.

Freitag, 29. Mai 2015

first blood - killafornia

this album came out in the mid 00's. a time where i breathed in all that was out on labels like lifeforce records or trustkill. on the latter this baby appeared. i can't recall how i got aware of first blood from california. i suppose it was a myspace discovery, as usual back then. the album is pretty breakdown-laden, something that totally appealed to me at the time.
furthermore the political induced lyrics were another reason why this album was on heavy rotation on my discman. i always wanted to have a vinyl copy since i started collecting but somehow, a reasonable priced copy never came my way. until now, that is. bullet tooth records, the now renamed trustkill records, thought it might be apt to bring up a re-press of this almost classic title.
when i read news of this over at per koro, i knew i would include this in a sure coming order. the new pressing comes on heavy duty vinyl and in a clear red colour-way. don't know how many were made or if this clear red is the only colour-way of the re-press. anyone here has a clue? in the meantime, check out 'conspiracy' and 'tides' and break some furniture. trustkill records. 2006/2015.

Mittwoch, 27. Mai 2015

code orange (kids) - love is love // return to dust

code orange, formerly known as code orange kids, came into my life completely out of a clear sky. the band's name and the album cover of 'i am king' was all about the net at the end of 2014. at first i didn't gave a damn but after quite some time with no sign of the hype dying down, i gave them a try. it was well worth it. the record was a cracker. still is.
so i said to myself to get previous stuff too. 'love is love...' wasn't high priority, though, because a re-press after the success of 'i am king' was floating around. i assumed deathwish pressing a shit load of them and so i wasn't in a hurry. again it was on one of my regular visits at burnout store, hamburg where this beauty and i crossed paths.
'love is love...' needed some more time to unfold its full glory. while 'i am king' was an initial hit, code orange's first full length is a grower. the record is pretty demanding but it pays off after several spins. nevertheless it won't outgun its successor but better this way than the other. check out 'nothing (the rat)' and 'liars//trudge'. clear orange with a nice black smudge. don't know how many were made. deathwish inc. 2012.

Dienstag, 26. Mai 2015

black breath - sentenced to life

what a record! i have this baby in my possession for one and a half year by now and i am finally getting around posting about it. shame on me, since it is so good. back then, in 2012, 'sentenced to life' got all the love on many vinyl blogs i read regulary. at first the cover really put me off. looked kind of stupid. but after some more warmly recommendations i finally checked what the buzz was all about.
man, when it first hit me, it was totally by surprise. this shit was heavy. this shit was crushing. this shit was good. plus i really began to like that cover art. i needed a damn copy. by the time, in mid 2013 i was helplessly too late to snag a coloured copy from a german distro and southern lord didn't have their euro store yet. so coloured copies would come pricey, either way. so i hoped for ebay.
you know the feeling of flicking through the racks at a physical store and then, out of the blue, you find something totally unexpected? well, with this copy of 'sentenced to life' it was just that. it was sealed when i pulled it at burnout store. so i tried to open it as unnoticed as possible. i fiddled at the shrink, half expecting black vinyl, just to finally see the red splatter polyvinyl platter. good day. don't know the pressing info on this clear red w/ black and white splatter. southern lord. 2012.

Montag, 25. Mai 2015

antagonist a.d. - haunt me as i roam

hands down, i am an antagonist fan. or better antagonist a.d., as they have to call themselves since the 2008 album 'we are the dead'. i bought their first album 'these cities, our graves' in 2006 and since then i have a soft spot in my heart for this vegan new zealand combo. i love how they describe their own sound as metalcore. and this is what it is, plain and simple. while most bands avoid this term like the plague, they stand for it. energetic and not watered down.
when i heard news of a coming record this year, i was all over it. as lifeforce from germany was involved in the release, i knew that it would come on vinyl and that i woud have to pre-order from impericon, that host the e-store of lifeforce. so i placed my order and with some delays first and then an unexpected earlier shipping, the record landed at my door last week.
musically this is just what i expected from antagonist. metalcore in its heaviest from. the sound coming with loads of pressure and the songs with the right dosage of energy and melody. check out 'coffin keeper' and 'for anyone who hurts'. the presentation is nice too. sturdy cardboard sleeve and thick vinyl. only little downer is the colour. it was described as red marble. well, the marble effect is, let's say subtle. 175 copies made. still available. lifeforce records. 2015.

Sonntag, 24. Mai 2015

scarred mind - heavy mental

scarred mind is or was a hardcore band from the düsseldorf area. i am not really sure about the current status of them. when i gathered information for this post i checked their facebook page and the last activities there are a year old by now. but no hiatus or split entry on the page or something. mysterious. we will see what the future brings.
musically scarred mind delivers snotty and no-frills nyhc in the vein of newer bands like backtrack or expire. i really dig it. so i hope they come back soon. i could use some more stuff like this. in the meantime check out this release in its whole glory at the label's bandcamp page.
speaking of, the label worship records, which comes from my area, hamburg to be precise, seems also to be defunct. so i didn't find any shop of them where the interested reader could score a copy. just take one from per koro instead. unfortunately i was unable to get any pressing information. the whole pressing seems to come on clear vinyl, though. worship records. 2012.

Freitag, 22. Mai 2015

kataklysm - heaven's venom

more hardcore lately, time for some metal again. kataklysm is about to release their new record at the end of july this year and i am not overly excited. not that it would hinder me from pre-ordering 'of ghosts and gods'. with the last record 'waiting for the end to come' it was the exact same thing, so we will see what the new record will bring.
anyway, that's not the point here. the point is 'heaven's venom'. it was the first kataklysm album i really got into. i knew 'serenity in fire' and 'prevail' before but only vaguely. when 'heaven's venom' came out in 2010 i got myself the cd digipak version. it took me a while but after several listens, it really grew on me.
i pretty much like everything about the album. the crushing groove, the epic melodies, the crisp tue madsen production and the kataklysm trademark par excellence - the northern hyperblast-beat. the only little downer is the cover art-work. looks pretty cheesy. anyway, check out 'faith made of shrapnel' and 'as the wall collapses'.
back then, i still wasn't into vinyl. that took two more years and so i missed the vinyl release and the limited coloured run for 'heaven's venom'. in the past i wasn't really focused on that record but as i came across an pretty reasonable buy-it-now priced copy on ebay, i finally stepped up.
the presentation by nuclear blast record is the usual quality. gatefold sleeve with all the lyrics and 180gr, heavyweight vinyl on a lovely shade of opaque red. #201 of 250 copies pressed. i'm going to see kataklysm live at this year's wacken festival. i'm pretty excited to see if they can deliver on stage just as they do on record. nuclear blast. 2010.

Mittwoch, 20. Mai 2015

last mile - heavy weight

last mile was a hardcore band from denmark, consisting of an all-star danish assemble. jacob bredahl of former hatesphere and barcode fame, michael sørensen also from barcode and laurits medom - ex-singer of as we fight. they released a demo, a full length, which i still don't know and am not really interested because of no vinyl version in existence, and this four-song e.p. called 'heavy weight'.
when i saw this over at demons run amok store for the first time, i said to myself to order it with whatever new dra-release would come next. right now i can't really remember with what record, must have been the a perfect murder lp two years ago. anyway, the songs on here are solid modern hardcore. nothing too thrilling but always a good listen when i put it on. check out 'hell hound' and judge for yourself.
the record was available in three different colour-ways. white out of 246, clear green out of 104 and this lovely looking marbled orange out of 105 copies. apparantly that record didn't generate much attention in the hardcore world, because after full six years there are still all three colours available over at dra. good for you, though, go get one! demons run amok. 2009.

Dienstag, 19. Mai 2015

prayer for cleansing - the tragedy

when i was doing my between the buried and me series two months ago, gathering information on the net, i stumbled upon prayer for cleansing several times. i already had a vague idea of what they sounded like from the 'old days', a.k.a. myspace. but i never drew the connection to btbam. they were kind of the forerunner band, sharing two members that would go on founding btbam, with btbam vocalist tommy among them.
the flame of my interest was now lit and i headed over to the tube to check some music. the first song i checked out was 'salvation'. in a way it sounded familiar and i really liked it. after a quick discogs search i found a seller from finland offering 'the tragedy' 7" for a reasonable price. i pulled the trigger and here we are.
there are three songs on this 7", the first one, 'the closet', is a song from the vault that the band re-recorded. the lyrical story to it is pretty heavy stuff. it's about a friend of the singer david anthem, who comitted suicide. david found said friend hung in the closet. boy, that story gives me a hollow feeling in the belly.
song two was specifically written for this farewell release and 'salvation' is a cover of the cranberries' song of the same name. that's why it sounded familiar! despite my usual refusal of cover songs, this one is real good. the whole 7" is. really like it. to get a hold on their full length will be quite difficult though. well, time will tell. second press on opaque mint green out of 516 copies. surprise attack records/ war torn records/ southern empire records. 2004.

Sonntag, 17. Mai 2015

human animal - dark days

looking back i can't really remember how i came to know about human animal. i believe it was on one of these occasions where i recieved the annual newsletter of per koro. a list of new-in-stock-items which i use to read through, always on the hunt for new vinyl platters. there is always a little description to inform the intrested reader about the musical content of each new record.
i don't know what sentence or comparison tipped me off, hell, i don't even remember if this was the way it happened at all. but, and that is for sure, i ordered a copy. it turned out not to my disadvantage. human animal plays crisp and catchy hardcore of a modern tinge. heavy and melodic at the same time. good stuff. you can check out the 'dark days' 7" in its entirety at their bandcamp.
this pennsylvania based band consists of members that played in many different bands before. brother keeper's, anchor or xdisciplex a.d. to name a few. a little supergroup, so to speak. well, not really. the record itself appeared on holy mountain. unknown to me. they pressed two colour-ways. 100 copies on coke bottle clear and 200 on this grey mix vinyl. holy mountain music. 2013.  

Samstag, 16. Mai 2015

downpresser - perverted justice

i do like a good dosis of downpresser from time to time. i bought their first full length 'don't need a reason' two years ago and really liked it. naturally i wanted to hunt down their remaining output. somehow it's not that easy to get a hold on these two vinyl releases and one split of them. when i leave out oversea options to avoid high shipping rates and unreasonable priced options, well, then there is no option left.
ok, the unreasonable priced point is disputatious but i just don't want to pay over fifteen bucks for a nothing more than solid 7". call me stubborn but in the end that's just the reason why i still don't own 'age of ignorance'. i'll play the patience game with this one. same thing with 'perverted justice'. overpriced or overseas. but then came ebay. finally i was able to see if i could get the record for the money i believed it was worth.
in the end i got it for even less. good deal in my book. musically it's pretty well executed, fast and snotty nyhc hardcore. not as heavy as 'don't need a reason' but but i like it that way. 'perverted justice' comes on a one-sided clear 12" with a big poster, functioning as an insert with all necessary information concerning this release. streetcleaner records. 2008.

Freitag, 15. Mai 2015

no turning back - take control

in my quest to reduce my backlog, i'm posting up another record from the vault. no turning back's sixth full length record 'take control'. i can't remember a bad ntb record. this one is no exception. 'take control' was the last album that appeared on netherland's reflection records. after that the band founded their own label, also called take control.
this album even got a u.s. pressing, which shows that the band is held in high esteem in the hardcore world. the u.s. pressing came via think fast! records and is to be distinguished by the orange coloured lettering on the front. the european version comes with blue coloured lettering.
the gatefold sleeve comes with a classic hardcore live set picture and the inner sleeve shows some more of it. so only by judging the classic cover approach, one can tell what kind of music is pressed to the vinyl. speaking of, check out 'forget today' and 'always will be'. got this clear blue version on ebay. 200 copies made. reflections records. 2011.

Donnerstag, 14. Mai 2015

toundra - II

i'm walking on unexplored ground with this record right here. i thought i was never a fan of instrumental music. i mean, i do enjoy instrumental songs on records, but usually those are meant to give one a little break and to prepare for more face melting hardcore or metal insanity. i never imagined i could stand a whole album full of non lyrical music. though, toundra album covers crossed my path with persistence in the past and as i was browsing through per koro's discogs offerings, i ran into another lovely looking cover art.
actually it was the cover for their 'III' record, which will be featured here in due time, but it was the spark that ignited my interest for this madrid based band. i checked some tunes on their bandcamp and found myself really enjoying it. they manage to keep the listener tuned with the right arcs of suspense at the right time. real good stuff! now i wanted a physical copy. on my search i came across a small german d.i.y. label called narshardaa records from north germany.
they re-released in collaboration with some other small labels toundra's second album, aptly called 'II'. i really like the concept behind the music. every song represents a specific region, city, island or river of our mother earth and reflects the bands feelings toward these geographical landmarks. very sophistically worked out. i really dig it. the 2010 release is already in its fourth pressing now coming in white and purple vinyl. it's my first record with different rpm's. side a cut at 33rpm and the following cut at 45rpm. 200 made and still available. narshardaa records. 2014.

Montag, 11. Mai 2015

trapped under ice - big kiss goodnight

at first i had some troubles to get into trapped under ice, but as soon as the 'stay cold' 7" sunk its claws into me i was sold to this baltimore based band. i still think 'stay cold' is their crowning achievement, but 'big kiss goodnight' may come pretty close. i am not sure if this record was meant to be their farewell work, in any way the title is more than appropriate because 'big kiss' was their last release before the split.
the album is packed with raw energy and sounds so angry. just like your favourite hardcore album is supposed to be. check out 'pleased to meet you' and 'still cold' and wittness sheer hardcore to the point-ness. i won this record at the end of an ebay auction. by the time the second press was still availabe, but i thought, if i could get a first press copy for a reasonable price i'd rather take this one. as you can see, i got it for a reasonable price.
the first press copies come with a nice matte cardboard sleeve and a printed dust-sleeve, made of thick cardboard as well. i don't know if all copies came with it or if the seller was just very kind to throw this into the package, but i got a big poster with the cover art included in the sleeve. 1.000 copies made on this ultra clear vinyl. reaper records. 2011.

Sonntag, 10. Mai 2015

path of resistance - who dares wins rsd '15

one of my guilty pleasures has always been earth crisis. i like their old stuff as well as their post-hiatus stuff of more recent dates. in november 2013, when i ordered alot of victory records stuff on their black friday sale - i already posted about the between the buried and me records - i paid a considerable chunk of money and was therefore allowed to choose a free item.
i could pick a free cd. when i was browsing through the compact disc releases, i came across the path of resistance debut full length 'who dares wins'. i knew this band because of its earth crisis side-project character, but i never really listened to them. with the possibility of getting the album for free, i checked some tunes on the net, liked them and threw the cd in my cart.
to snag a vinyl copy for a reasonable price was on my agenda ever since, but not on top of the list. therefore i was delighted to see that victory planned on re-releasing it on coloured vinyl for record store day 2015. last year's rsd was a disaster where i came up short on all vinyl i wanted. i got all my stuff afterwards through the good ol' internet.
so i didn't bother going out at this year's saturday, eighteenth of april. as the path of resistance record was the only one i wanted anyway, i thought i could easily get a copy online or maybe on a later date at burnout store. the album didn't seem to attract alot of listeners on this particular day, and so it was still waiting fo me at burnout last weekend. loveley presentation. thick cardboard slip sleeve, heavy white vinyl and a nice insert with the story of how this album came to be. 800 made. victory records. 2015.

by the way, the path of resistance is not to be confused with the german nazi band of the same name. educate yourself and overcome this cretinism. fuck off, nazi scum! 

Samstag, 9. Mai 2015

forfeit - the lower depths

i really liked forfeit's first release, their 'visions' 7" from 2008. it has the groove, the energy - soild all the way through. so of course i wanted a copy of their full length, which appeared a year later. i got the 'visions' 7" through willem and i remember it wasn't that easy to get a copy back then. with 'the lower depths' things were different. i could have bought a copy at per koro at any time.
they still seem to have it in stock. furthermore a copy was sitting at burnout record store for at least one and a half year. that must be the timeframe in which i saw it for the first time and finally bought the record. that timeframe already indicates that this record wasn't a high priority of mine. strange, because as i told beforehand i actually really liked the 7". somehow i always thought the lp couldn't really live up to the 7".
when i finally listened to the album my worries had been confirmed. the record is ok, still solid, but there is the one thing missing which makes an ok record a good record. can't quite put my finger on it but 'the lower depths' is just an average hardcore record to me. check out 'something against me' and 'cut off'. 800 copies on white vinyl. reaper records. 2009.   

Mittwoch, 6. Mai 2015

monolord - empress rising

i've been on a little doom kick lately. stuff like conan, pallbearer and iron heel were regular guests on my turntable's slipmat. so when i was at burnout records store the last few times, i was always checking the stoner/doom/ambient section. i stumbled upon the monolord before and even listened to 'empress rising' in excerpts at home after that.
the tunes failed to really grab me but at the next visit, as i flicked through this vinyl section again and the empress was still smiling back at me, i took it as a sign. this time i took it from the racks. with a knowing nod of the shopkeep i opened the shrink, pulled a lovely blue marble vinyl platter out of its sleeve and gave it the needle.
man, listening to music digitally is one thing, but nothing can beat the excitement of dropping the needle on polyvinyl chloride in its most beautiful form. that's why i love this shit. suddenly it all clicked with me, i grabbed the record, threw my hard-earned money on the counter with a smile and left with the good feeling of adding another little treasure to the collection. check out the video for the title track and listen to 'icon' and get fuzzed.
what i hold in hands is the blue marble vinyl from the second press out of 200 copies. there are quite a lot variants of the first press and a third press also already available. check out discogs for more detailed information. by the way, monolord is about to release a new record called 'vænir'. i already pre-ordered and you should too. riding easy records. 2014.

Montag, 4. Mai 2015

on bodies - the long con

on bodies is a band from the states that i never heard anything before i bought this release and ever since. i was browsing through the hardcore racks at burnout records and came across this album accidentally. i pulled it out of the racks out of curiosity concerning the front cover. as i took a more thoroughly look at the packaging, i recognised a band member wearing a foundation shirt. i listened to 'when the smoke clears' alot at that time and so i sat down to the next turntable.
as soon as the first tunes from the vinyl through the headphones reached my hearing apparatus, i was sold. this is fast, angry and pissed off hardcore with a strong political message. good in my book. foremost western governments and organised religion and their strategy of keeping people in line to maintain power and money flow are crossing the lyrical firing line of on bodies. check out 'we carrion' and 'comes from money'.
the ep was released in 2013 by german label coffebreath and heartache. they were unknown to me until then. checking their releases, the majority of their stuff is still unknown to me. only hot water music and iron chic ring a bell. but still just a tiny bell. whatever, this release looks superb. a marble silver, one sided 12" vinyl platter with a killer b-side screening. 'the long con' got its first u.s. release this year. a 10" by irish voodoo records. 200 copies of this version made. coffeebreath and heartache. 2013.

Samstag, 2. Mai 2015

xibalba - hasta la muerte

it was a true odyssey to get my upper extremities on this sucker. in the past i attempted to snag a copy here and there, but without the absolute will to do so. thus these attempts failed miserably. after i made 'tierra y libertad' and the split with suburban scum mine, fell in love with their heavy sound and couldn't get enough of it, i was pretty determined to finally obtain 'hasta la muerte'.
after ebay was a dead end, i searched discogs thoroughly. i came across an offering from canada. thankfully the exchange value of the canadian dollar to the euro is way more favourable than the u.s. dollar's. so all in all i paid round about 35 bucks. european bucks, that is. reasonable to me. anyway, to keep costs as low as possible i chose the cheapest shipping method which darrell, the nice fellow i ordered from, was offering.
exchanging some mails in order to carve out details of the deal, darrell warned me that surface shipping would take up to eight weeks from canada to germany. i consented because i'd rather wait than pay another twenty bucks for faster shipping. i asked darrell to lower the value of the item on the customer's declaration, to prevent myself from paying taxes at customs. unfortunately after eight weeks of waiting that little trick didn't work out and the record landed at customs nevertheless.
after some phone calls with customs and with the appreciated help of darrell - i will not go too much into detail here but again a big 'thank you', mate! - the record finally was mine. musically this is easily their best work. bulldozing! check out 'no serenity' and the title track and dance hard. the presentation is top notch too. ultra thick cardboard gatefold sleeve with apocalyptic art and some lovely blue marbled vinyl. looking sharp! 500 copies made. southern lord. 2012.

Freitag, 1. Mai 2015

snake eyes 7"

everytime when i hit the vinyl picture file at my comp the past few days, i was really annoyed by how many records are sitting there for a ridiculous long time. round about ninety pieces of vinyl waiting for the write up. so i made a decision. i'll try to clear my backlog by not later than the end of the year. my post average the last months was at something like twelve. i'll increase the number to twenty. with exeptions included my calculation should work out.

i start my task with the record that, according to its digital date, is hanging around for the longest. snake eyes self titled 7". i didn't really know anything about this band when i first heard of them. funny that the person who pointed me towards it, wasn't aware of them as well as he won it via an ebay auction.
read jake's post about it here. when i read it back then, i remembered that i saw it a couple of times before at my favourite physical store, burnout records hamburg. so i said to myself to check it out the next time i would go there. a word and a blow and two months later i was the proud owner of a white coloured snake eyes 7".
jake already wrote about the most interesting facts about this band. i can add that this seems to be their only vinyl release and is part of their only two releases spanning discography. a demo from 2005 and this baby from two years later. i think it's safe to say that they called it quits. the music itself is great though. check it! 570 copies on white. 1917 records. 2007.