after i was totally blown away by bongripper's 2008 release 'hate ashbury', i wanted more of their stuff. when i scoured the market for bongripper vinyl i was a little bummed to find that prices are pretty high. when i found out that vinyl releases always have been pretty limited - in the two hundred copies range - plus the very good underground reputation of the band, those prices weren't too surprising at all anymore.
the band's big cartel shop was a dead end as all their vinyl copies of different albums were gone, ebay had nothing to offer too and so i checked discogs again with better luck. a german seller had a reasonable priced second press copy of bongripper's latest record 'miserable' available. still being on that 'hate ashbury' high i ordered straight away, without listening to any song before.
when the postman delivered the record safe and sound and i dropped the needle on 'miserable' it wasn't an instant hit like 'hate ashbury'. 'miserable' is a grower and i needed something like five or six whole spins before its greatness manifested in my auditory passages. the album has so much to offer with its slow heaviness and omious melodies. in my humble opinion it won't top '... ashbury' but it's such a good doom record anyway.
as mentioned before my copy is part of the second pressing consisting of 1000 copies in total. 500 on good ol' black vinyl and another 500 on this grey marbled vinyl. 180gr vinyl, black dust sleeves and a nice artworked gatefold sleeve make this sucker a top notch release. the art looks like some sinister lovecraft, cthulhu mysticism brought to cardboard. again bongripper released this album on their own label. all very d.i.y. great barrier records. 2014.
