this was actually my first integrity record. i mean, not the first i listened to but the first one i went out and actually bought a physical copy of. why? i don't really know. i am aware of the massive impact this cleveland band have had and still has on hardcore but it was never like i needed to own their music. that little spark that would lit my interest just wasn't there.
that one day in november 2013 - you might recognise that this record is one from my backlog - when i did one of my countless visits at burnout record store i simply couldn't overlook the well sorted integrity section. i pulled 'suicide black snake' from the racks, the at the time newly released album. i read a lot of good stuff about it, i liked the cover art and so i thought checking it out could do no harm.
on the contrary actually because i found myself really enjoying it. after listening to the opener 'suicide black snake' and 'i know where everyone lives' there was not the faintest shadow of a doubt that i would get this cracker. again it seems that i have my very own snail pace for discovering heavy hitters for myself in today's hardcore and metal scene. converge, mastodon, high on fire and now integrity. well, who cares anyway!
the whole album is great. i fell in love with their gritty metal influenced hardcore-punk and their occult lyrics. pretty unique mixture for a hardcore band. especially for 'suicide black snake' i really dig the bluesy parts that found their way into integrity's sound. a prime example for that sound is 'there ain't no living in life'. my personal favourite of the album.
the presentation by a389 records is awesome and does fully justice to its musical content. the record comes in a gatefold sleeve with lovely artwork and the well known integrity watermark prints. on the cover as well as on the inner gatefold. black dust sleeve and a massive poster are just the icing on the cake. the vinyl itself comes on a nice clear with multi-colour splatter version.
my copy is from the first press and is out of 550 copies. checking discogs for pressing information i saw that 'suicide black snake' was pressed on a shit load of colours. boy, what a pain in the ass for an die hard integ collector. anyway, this album was the little spark that lit my interest. expect some more integrity stuff in the future. a389 records. 2013.
