Dienstag, 27. Februar 2018

toundra - IV

toundra is one of a few fantastic instrumental bands that found their way into my heart. pelican, terraformer, clouds taste satanic or bongripper are constant returning guests on my turntable. toundra even was the first instrumental band i have bought some vinyl of. the band from madrid, spain released four records by now with the fifth coming this spring. i have the first three full lengths but the fourth, aptly called "IV", eluded me. the first pressing was put forth by superball music which is a division of century media.
the label produced a first pressing for the release in 2015 with a limited run of 200 copies on clear green vinyl. those sold out quickly and are now highly sought after collectibles. once a copy sold for round about one hundred euros on discogs. way too much for me. fortunately superball music liscenced the rights for a vinyl re-press to german d.i.y. label alerta antifascista. they came up with a new pressing to commemorate the upcoming new full length, i believe. if the new album is going to be as near as good as "IV", it will be an absolute smasher.
i was actually not in the know about this new pressing. luckily discogs has this certain feed on the dashboard page. the interested reader learns about new releases which does also include re-pressings and re-issues. via this link i was informed about the new "IV" edition and i didn't hesitate to order a copy from the labels own mailorder doomrock. this alerta antifascista version looks sharp, to say the least. valuable matte cardboard for the cover sleeve, a lovely etching on the d-side (which was difficult to photograph) and very nice dual clear green with green splatter vinyl. 300 copies made. alerta antifascista. 2017.

Montag, 26. Februar 2018

mastodon - emperor of sand pink vinyl

after christmas i used a bit of my annual bonus to treat myself to a record which i had my eyes on for quite some time. when the ten bands, one cause edition of mastodon's "emperor of sand" was released in mid 2017 i was torn as what to do. there was no initial colour vinyl pressing of the record plus it would come on the best vinyl colour of all - pink. the temptation was hard to resist but a hefty overall price of over fifty bucks for an u.s. import put me off. i rather wanted to play the waiting game and maybe come across a cheaper option at some later point.
this tactic seemed to pay off because a few months later the price of the record dropped to reasonable amounts on discogs. as only u.s. sellers offered the record, i still payed a considerable chunk of cash because of the high shipping rates. nevertheless i am really happy with my purchase from a nice u.s. independent record store. this pink u.s. version doesn't differ from the euro edition but in the fine print only. and in the vinyl colour of course.
i actuallly found it difficult to take pictures of the vinyl and get the colour across in the right way. when taken a closer look, one can see that the vinyl colour is a mix of white and red pvc with a slight marble effect. my shitty cam seems to emphasise the white in the mix. the last photo shows the actual colour best. musically "emperor of sand" is a masterpiece. such a strong effort that has it all. the progressivity, the hooks, the melodies, the lyrical concept - everything. glad to have one out of 3000 copies. reprise records. 2017.

Samstag, 24. Februar 2018

yob - the great cessation

since i bought my first yob record in 2014 released on 20 buck spin records ("atma"), i made quite some progress in getting the full lengths together. four out of six (they actually released seven full lengths but "elaborations of carbon" from 2002 was never pressed to vinyl) is a good average in my book. to improve it i was on the look out for the band's only southern lord records release "the great cessation" from 2009. somehow not one single copy for a price i was willed to pay crossed my path in the following years. therefore i was happy to see relapse records re-issuing the record.
i already wrote in the last post that i ordered four records at the relapse eu store. i also already stated that relapse cancelled the red fang record. ok, i wanted a refund. when the yob record was released a few days later, there was no shipping of the parcel and no refund as well. ok, i fired off a mail politely asking where vinyl and money may be. no answer. instead, i got another mail with the cancellation of the skinless record. boy, this started to really fuck me up. again a few days later still no vinyl and money for both of the cancelled records. i sent another mail just with the same result.
at some point in january 2018 i got a shipping notification and the refund for the two withdrawn albums. that was it. no answer to my mails, no explanation, no apology. i mean, i can understand if they had problems with the new eu store or something else but it's a question of good style to fucking communicate with your customers. and relapse showed no fucking class here. anyway, "the great cessation" sounds and looks great on this re-issue. the new art is stunning. unfortunately i was too late for the rarest colour-way but i think my electric blue with yellow and silver splatter looks sharp as well. 500 copies made. relapse records. 2017.

Montag, 19. Februar 2018

integrity - howling, for the nightmare shall consume

finally, my post for the new integrity record entitled "howling, for the nightmare shall consume". there are a few reasons why this baby was such a long time in the making. first were the high prices for coloured first press copies. they came with an additional 12" and this increased the price to thirty five bucks plus high shipping rates from the states. no way i was paying that much cash for a single record. as there was no colour retail version, there was no chance to get a copy from a domestic distro.
so i waited in hope for a second pressing. when the time was finally there, relapse opened an european store in the meanwhile which made an order even more worthwhile. luckily relapse dropped the bonus 12" for the second press. only three songs which i wasn't overly interested in seemed like something i could do without quite well. i ordered the record together with the latest yob re-press, so this meant i had to wait for the whole order until early december. so far, so good.
next to the two mentioned records, i had another two in the package - a skinless and a red fang record. before the release date of the yob re-press i got a mail by relapse telling me, that the red fang wasn't available anymore. well, something like this can happen. it was a bit annoying but ok. i wrote them to refund me the money paid for the record. this was when the hassle really started. but more of it in the upcoming yob post. now to the actual record this post is about. integrity explored their course adopted with "suicide black snake" further.
more bluesy solo's, melodies and spoken words by dwid along to the bands trademark metallic hardcore. a fantastic record. if i got it before the end of 2017, it would definitely have been one of my favourite records of the year. we'll see if 2018 can kick it out of my top ten. frankly, i doubt it. the packaging is brilliant. apocalyptic artwork with loads of invisible spot gloss print, fold out insert and dual silver vinyl cut at 45rpm. 800 copies made. relapse records. 2017.

Donnerstag, 15. Februar 2018

clouds taste satanic - dawn of the satanic age

the third long playing record by clouds taste satanic that i call my own. i got this one from the same seller as the "your doom has come" copy. as i already wrote in the last post, the seller offered them for very decent prices plus she came from germany which meant low shipping costs. so, all in all it was a real steal. i still regret not to have bought the debut album for a lousy tenner. ah well, there will be another chance.
"dawn of the satanic age" is of the same bone-shaking doom quality as its predecessors. i am really surprised at how the band manages to maintain such a constant creative output in such short time. four full lengths in four years is quite impressive. the album is a killer all the way through. think of electric wizard without vocals and you get a fair idea. you best check out the whole goddamn thing.
the band operates with their own label kinda like music to unleash their art onto the world. all their releases looked incredible so far and "dawn of the satanic age" is no exception. it comes in a gatefold sleeve with nice artwork, especially on the inside (dante's inferno is so metal). the vinyl colour is as opulent as it is well matched to the cover art. red and green merge with yellow splatter vinyl out of 250 copies. kinda like music. 2016.

Sonntag, 11. Februar 2018

clouds taste satanic - your doom has come

the second clouds taste satanic record in my collection. the first record of the band that i can call my own was "the glitter of infinite hell". this baby was pretty impressive, from the music right down to the presentation. therefore i tried to get my hands on more clouds taste satanic vinyl. i found a seller on discogs who had the whole back catalogue of the four-piece to offer.
this back catalogue consists of three full lengths which the band released in the course of three years - in 2014, 2015 and 2016. the seller had them all for very decent prices but i was hesitant because didn't know if i could give them the attention they deserved. to listen to four records of one band in a short period of time can be exhausting.
after a few days of thinking the debut record "to sleep beyond the earth" was sold and that was the awakening call for me to get the remaining two before they would be gone as well. so this is clouds taste satanic's second full length going by the name of "your doom has come". it is another great instrumental doom record and feels a bit crispier than "the glitter of infinite hell" because of its shorter duration.
the album really is one entity instead of the four different pieces on "the glitter...". check out the whole affair. all their vinyl releases are pressed in small quantities. this nice vinyl edition of "your doom has come" is out of 250 pieces only. someone proved sense for chosing the matching vinyl colours. white with black and red splatter looks ace! released on the band's own label kinda like music. 2015.

Donnerstag, 8. Februar 2018

obituary - cause of death

obituary's second full length "cause of death" was supposed to arrive at my doorstep way earlier than "the end complete" but an incompetent employee of the local post office upset my plans. but from the beginning: i was on the hunt for some serious classic death metal and obituary's "cause of death" was high on the list. i found a seller from austria on discogs who had a nice copy with a very reasonable price tag and bearable shipping costs. i pulled the trigger on it and just had to wait for it to arrive, right? right.
after six weeks of waiting i got back into e-mail contact with the seller, asking him if he had a tracking number or anything. he negatively replied and noticed that such a long delivery time was quite unusual. he told me to look further into the matter when back from vacation. another two weeks later i got a mail with a photo attached. it showed the parcel with a note that said "returned because not collected at the post office". i don't know what happened but i swear to god i never got a pick-up note in the mail box. fuck that! anyway, the seller gave me a refund of the money less shipping.
with that money i was able to catch a copy on ebay in lovely condition. i had to pay a bit more than for the discogs copy but it did arrive leastwise. musically "cause of death" is a rager from beginning to the end. a tiny bit more groove and less doom than on "the end complete" but that doesn't mean that this record is better or weaker than the other. both are fantastic in their own right. i love the jaguar centre labels of this pressing and the promotion sheet that comes with the record. on a side note: the artwork was actually slotted for sepultura's "beneath the remains". however the label altered the actual plans. roadracer is an imprint of roadrunner records. 1990.

Dienstag, 6. Februar 2018

obituary - the end complete

since i am in an early nineties death metal state of mind, there was no way around obituary. there were and are a lot of influential death metal bands from florida and obituary are definitely the spearhead of that movement. a groove monster with the right dosage of technicality and john tardy's signature growls on top. one of the most recognisable voices in metal, sounds like constant vomiting. fantastic. so when i was out for some original pressings, obituary wasn't to be missed.
obituary released all their early albums on roadrunner records and its imprints. this meant that original pressings wouldn't come cheap. when i fought my way through the different listings at discogs, ebay and the like, i stumbled upon a seller from russia. he had the third obituary record "the end complete" on offer for a very moderate price. of course shipping wasn't cheap but condition seemed to be ok and all together i paid even less than for ebay options without shipping.
when the record finally arrived, i wasn't that convinced of my purchase anymore. the cover is pretty worn at the edges and the printed dust sleeve has a seam split. ok, it's a loved one, i can live with that quite well. then again, the vinyl has some significant surface noise which bothers me at times. so this will teach me not to save money on the wrong things in the future. anyway, i love the record. the chainsaw guitar sound, the doomy touch to the song-writing - check it out here. released on roadrunner's r/c imprint. 1992.

Sonntag, 4. Februar 2018

clouds taste satanic - the glitter of infinite hell

that's the oddball among the records i got from kozmik artifactz. clouds taste satanic's fourth full length called "the glitter of infinite hell" is one of those records, that got my attention through the fantastic artwork. its obvious lean towards hieronymus bosch's "christ in limbo" appealed to me right away. when i read that the guys were an instrumental doom metal band, i already knew that this was one for me.
i love my instrumental metal bands. stuff like bongripper, pelican or animals as leaders are held in high esteem by my humble self. after i listened to one song of the record, i called clouds taste satanic a part of the same exclusive elite. the album consists of four songs, one for each side of the double vinyl release and has a considerable duration of approx. seventy minutes. so no easy listening but that is usually a good sign as long as i am concerned.
the album is worth every minute of attention. fantastic song structures, haunting melodies and musical variety make "the glitter of infinite hell" a hell of a strong doom record. the presentation is outstanding. what a beautiful work. the gatefold comes with embossed band logo and some spot gloss print on the inside, the dust sleeves also with spot gloss print and the vinyl discs on a lovely white and bronze merge with gold and oxblood red splatter. looks ace! 200 made. kinda like music reords. 2017.

Donnerstag, 1. Februar 2018

spaceslug - time travel dilemma

the second record from my little haul i bought at kozmik artifactz. the guys of spaceslug crossed my path before. more precise in the form of their debut record "lemanis". it was on offer upon release in 2016 at kozmik mailorder but i let it pass me by. in hindsight i regret this move quite a bit because copies of the first press already sell for triple digit amounts.
on the other hand i am sure that the rise in demand will eventually lead to a re-press of "lemanis". in this case i didn't want to wait for a re-press of their second full length "time travel dilemma" and so i got meself a copy as soon as i saw them for sale. i really love the star wars hint in their bandname and the whole space theme this polish three-piece is basing their lyrics and artwork on.
the band is playing a great brand of doom/psych/stoner metal with dense atmosphere, heavy riffs and moody melodies. they don't reinvent the wheel but they definitely get the best out of the genre. the spaceslug takes you on a trippy journey through time and space of the multiverse and as soon as you are back, you sit craving for another round. check them out at their bandcamp.
the presentation of the whole thing is top notch. the record is housed in a sturdy gatefold with thick spine. the vinyl itself comes on a very tasty looking colour-way. baby blue with white marble - yummy. 180g quality, indeed and a poly-lined dust sleeve round out the package. this variant is the mailorder edition out of 200 copies. oak island records. 2017.