back in 2013 i bought the long overdue first european vinyl press of the black dahlia murder's third full length "nocturnal" from 2007. it was a nice edition with clear blue/black smoke vinyl out of 500 copies. in the meantime inflated second-hand prices for this edition had been asked and payed. usually i tend to keep my stuff but this time it was different. i obsessed over a bolt thrower record for which i needed some cash.
so i searched my collection for something valuable i could let go of. if it wasn't for the occasion of the tenth anniversary re-press of "nocturnal", i would have never sold my initial copy. a nice dude from the states actually payed a hundred bucks for it. wow, i never considered to pay that much money for a single record myself so it felt strange that someone else thought it was worth that much cash. anyway, in the end i didn't get the bolt thrower record i wanted but a few other gems instead, but this will be a different story.
what i did get to balance the loss of my first press "nocturnal" copy was this lovely new edition by metal blade records. there are a few differences to the first press. the first is that the anniversary press comes with a lyric sheet and a custom paper dust sleeve instead of a printed dust sleeve. layout-wise the lyric sheet is a replica of the printed dust sleeve from the first press. the second change isn't visible at first glance.
metal blade chose not to end the a-side with the title track but with "deathmask divine" (so now six songs on the a-side and four on the b-side).a good choice in my book because it prevents the harsh cut after "nocturnal". notably metal blade forgot to change the tracklist on the back cover, so i was a little surprised when i heard "deathmask divine" on side a. the vinyl colour is a real looker. love the different shades in different lights. 300 copies made. metal blade records. 2007/2017.
