Samstag, 28. September 2019

spirit adrift - divided by darkness

it took me quite a long time to finally be convinced by spirit adrift. it started in 2017 when 20 buck spin records announced the release of the second full length by a band called spirit adrift. i never heard of them before but when they were likened to pallbearer, i was all ears. i am a fan of all things pallbearer but "curse of conception" could not really grab me.
i filed spirit adrift as "not for me" and moved on. when "divided by darkness" came out it was the same play. again i gave them a try but it did not click. while i was checking the van records store (van records is the european distributor of 20 buck spin) lately searching for the new tomb mold, i came up empty handed in tomb mold terms but found a second press for "divided by darkness". listening to the tunes this time and suddenly everything made perfectly sense. i ordered a copy quickly.
the record is fantastic. the pallbearer comparisons are undeniably accurate but that is not a bad thing. "divided by darkness" gets better with each song and in combination with the breathtaking artwork this bad boy might be the best doom metal release of the year. on a side note: after opening the parcel and pulling the vinyl from its dust sleeve, i was delighted to see that i actually got a tri-colour merge copy from the first press. lovely surprise. 250 copies made. 20 buck spin. 2019.

Freitag, 27. September 2019

nocturnus a.d. - paradox

somehow i slept on the release of this gem right here. nocturnus were part of the massive earache records roster in the early nineties, where this fine u.k. label gathered the slickest bands from europe and across the pond. bolt thrower, morbid angel, entombed or godflesh just to name drop a few. and among them there was a band called nocturnus and their debut record called "the key".
a mixture of oldschool (back then not so oldschool actually) death metal, progressive death metal and sci-fi lyrics. something new and very well executed. mike browning, the mastermind of nocturnus reformed the band in 2013 as nocturnus ad with the plan to pick up where nocturnus left off with "the key". well, almost thirty years after the debut's release the new album "paradox" finally saw the light of day - and i missed it. when i got news all the colour vinyl was already gone. i am pretty well networked when it comes to new vinyl releases, but that one slipped through my fingers.
so i waited for a re-press which came sooner than i anticipated. i am a bit bummed that this clear green/black mix vinyl is one of those that look almost black when not held against a light source which is quite lame. well, beggars can't be choosers and musically "paradox" is at least as strong as "the key" in my humble opinion. not pure gold (which "the key" wasn't as well by the way) but a damn strong return to form. 100 copies made. profound lore records. 2019.

Sonntag, 22. September 2019

type o negative - none more negative

wow, it's been a while since i wrote something here. i don't know why but i didn't feel like posting anything. i got enough cool stuff to post in the coming days, though. i thought, i come back with a bang. my dearly awaited and desired copy of the "none more negative" box set by type o negative. since i bought "the least worst of" for a steal, i was hoping for re-issues of the type o back catalogue. little did i know that destiny would make it easy for me.
three months or so ago i got wind of warner music in the shape of run out grooves records was about to re-press the complete roadrunner records full length releases from type o (which means six out of seven type o albums) in a monumental box set. this box was actually released in 2011 for the first time for record store day. i ordered this new edition from nuclear blast even when the price of admission was not for the faint of heart. 200 bucks made my bank account frown upon me but there was no way i was going to miss this box.
after a little release date delay of two weeks, i feel like it was worth the money and definitely the wait. a beautiful and sturdy outer slip case with minimalistic art (which i think is cooler than the 2011 edition) houses the six gatefold/double lp records. they all got their original artwork (especially "the origin of the feces) but none comes with the iconical lettering in the corners of the cover. the vinyl colour is a nice opaque green with black marble. i will post the records individually so for now the pictures will do. 5000 copies made. roadrunner records / warner music. 2019.