alpha & omega - life swallower

in my book alpha & omega's second record 'no rest, no peace' is pretty damn good. it really grew on me since its release. after that i loosely looked out for the remaining vinyl outputs. in last year's september i have already written about their first 7" 'devil's bed' on 6131 records, which i scored on the bay. 'life swallower', the band's debut full length, was actually in my possession since march of last year. i am finally coming around to post it.

i won this copy of the u.s. pressing on ebay as well. i can't say what exactly i paid in the end but it wasn't expensive at all. my copy came in in great condition. musically this los angeles' based band knew how to record some tight metallic hardcore in 2010. it reminds me more than once of the heyday of the crossover sound from the nineties. bands such as merauder or almighty biohazard come to my mind.

check out the album in its entirety and be life-swallowed wholly. i really like the art concept here. the gatefold is made to look as a medieval book cover and opened you can gain knowledge of how to make a pact with the horned one himself. 6131 pressed three colour-ways for 'life swallower' and i have the least limited out of 600 copies. this purple with black smoke vinyl looks super lovely nonetheless. reality records from belgium even did an european pressing. 6131 records. 2010.

alpha & omega - devil's bed

i'm pretty busy with packing things because i'm moving appartments in the coming week, so everything is a bit stressful. that's why i didn't find the time to listen to as much music as i want to. i got some nice new releases but i can't say anything profound about them. next month will see more up to date posting about new stuff. for now this will have to do. alpha & omeg's first release in the form of the devil's bed 7" from 2008.

i really loved their sophomore album from last year, 'no rest, no peace', and i said to myself to get their previous stuff whenever given the chance to. and the chance came through ebay. i already lost an auction in the past and now the less limited blue version and this gold copy were ending not far from each other time-wise. the copy that was ending sooner, the blue copy, oddly went for more money than i got the gold copy for. strange world.

musically this is just the great stuff that made me fall in love with 'no rest, no peace'. great riffing, on point drumming and nice hook lines plus a forceful portion of energy. if you like metallic hardcore of any form, give them a chance. disappointment won't be a side effect. check out 'devil's blood' and 'no more pain' in case you don't believe. 1.000 copies of the first pressing: 100 on purple, 600 on blue and 300 on gold vinyl. 6131 records. 2008.

alpha & omega - no rest, no peace

i listen when people i respect recommend something to me. there are a lot of records in my collection i bought based on recommendation. this time my uncle gave me a heads up concerning the new alpha & omega record. so i checked them on the net and got to admit i wasn't that fussed about the songs at first but i just listened with half an ear. somehow my first impression was thrash hardcore. i mean, i don't really like thrash induced hardcore. don't care about take offense or rotting out and initially i put a&o in the same drawer.

and then... you know how it is when you have a physical copy in front of you that simply looks so good. such was the case at burnout, hamburg. that slick cover and that obnoxious, which is a compliment in this context, vinyl colour in my hands and i felt the urge to listen to it more properly. so i sat back in a corner of the store, a turntable and the other records i brought for a closer listen in front of me, and dropped the needle on 'no rest, no peace'.

i can't tell you anymore why i thought a&o played thrashed up hardcore. this is metallic hardcore at the heavier end of the spectrum with alot of groove, sing-a-longs and that typical l.a. feeling to it. yepp, this was right up my alley. great cover art, a big poster insert with all lyrics and opaque yellow w/ black splatter vinyl make for a nice presentation. approved. 500 on my colour, 300 on half pink and half purple w/ black splatter vinyl (mario has a copy) and 700 on olive green w/ black splatter vinyl. bridge9. 2013.