biohazard - mata leão (tape)

i remember that back in the day when i was lending stuff from the local library (usually comic books and radio plays on cassette) they also had a section for contemporary music. i don't how this biohazard album "mata leão" found its way into their selection among u2 and madonna compact discs. must have been the major label connection. anyway, i loved the record back then and actually wanted to have it on vinyl almost as long as i collect them plastic platters. problem here were the goddamn high prices for a copy.

i did not intend to unload fifty bucks plus on a fucking biohazard and so i stood away from a purchase. now this tape release came to my rescue. i found a seller from france on discogs who sold this baby for three bucks. shipping was even higher than the tape. my copy looks fantastic. minimal wear to the print on the shell but the rest is in prime condition. j-card with whole artwork and the sound quality outstanding. great release and great album all around. check it here. warner music. 1996.

biohazard - s/t (tape)

it is a pain to get early biohazard records in a good condition without paying over the odds. it is the strange combination of old fans who still want original copies and driving up the prices and no new releases of the band and no new fans, that would make re-issues interesting for a record label. to me tape releases from back in the day opened a new door towards a physical copy of the first biohazard record.

i found a small german mailorder, hoz records, which had a few used and new tapes on offer. i was really surprised to find a copy of the "biohazard" album for four bucks. i was bit hesitant because i knew that there were a few polish and russian editions out there. even though some of them are even official, they feel a bit second rate to me and i definitely wanted an u.s. version. so i asked, got a positive reply and the tape was already mine. when it arrived at my place i was pleasantly surprised to find the tape still sealed.

cool, to unwrapp a nearly thirty years old cassette is almost a vulgar but pretty satisfying act. musically biohazard didn't climb to those heights they would reach with the sophomore release "urban discipline", but this album is no stinker either. that typical crossover sound is already there and the groove parts are crushing. love the signature voices of evan seinfeld and billy graziadei and the interaction of both. maze records. 1990.

morning again - martyr

eventually some lovely goodlife colour vinyl on this blog again. i found it harder and harder to obtain the missing goodlife recordings releases in my collection. they are subject to both, rare availability and high prices on the regular second-hand market places. this is a somewhat unfortunate combination. the more i am happy to cross one off the list. this might be not a major want of mine but still, another great piece of nineties heavily metal induced, straight edge hardcore. florida's morning again with their e.p. "martyr" from twenty one years ago.

the first vinyl pressing for "martyr" was desaster for goodlife and the band. the pressing plant used damaged or unclean plates to press the records and thus all the copies appeared to have the same flaws. discogs says that there are twenty five remaining copies of this novelty still around. frankly i am happy to have a copy of the re-press in great condition. i love the haptic of the cover sleeve. some sort of grainy cardboard. musically this e.p. is a killer. crushing metallic hardcore with great accoustic guitar parts. goodlife recordings. 1997.

ghost - opvs eponymovs

i am back from wacken and back in shape to write some new words. this year's festival was a blast! personally i gazed at the best line-up of all my four participations in the world largest all-metal festival. i witnessed fantastic shows of converge, gojira, dimmu borgir, madball, mantar and of course ghost. this time i didn't find any vinyl in the many small booths (i wish back that big merchandise tent) at the retailer area and so i was looking if i had any record at home not written about, which might be apt for the topic.

so here we are with ghost's debut "opvs eponymovs". the band played on friday, or better saturday morning at 1:45 a.m. man, that was a tough time slot for me. i was around for quite a few hours and watching cool bands and because i am old i really felt torn watching ghost. on the one hand i was really enjoying it because they were that good but on the other hand i secretly wished it to be over soon because my back hurt. anyway, it was worth the little pain. check out this video of some dude who stood almost at the same spot as me.

so, what does "opvs eponymovs" sound like? well, i don't have to tell you because most probably you know that already. i am the one who is alarmingly late to this band here. it is just the right mixture of doom/stoner rock with occultism and pop music. there is more emphasis on the doom/stoner part on this early record but it doesn't seem too far from the recent stuff. great music all the way through. i am in love with ghost. this is a recent re-press by rise above records on lovely opaque turquoise vinyl out of 500 copies. bought at nuclear blast. rise above. 2010/2018.

galactic empire - episode II

actually i wanted to be done with all my posts about 2018 releases in july but here we are with the last one in august. ah well, does anybody care anyway? galactic empire was one of the surprises of early 2017 and i was blown away by the technical finesse with which the band played all those lovely orchestral pieces john williams wrote for my favourite movies of all time. even the songs for the sequels worked like magik to my muscles of the neck, i couldn't stop banging my head.

galactic empire made a few north american live appearances and their success even brought them to europe for a string of shows. i was lucky enough that they also played in hamburg so i went there in late april and the gig was a blast. the guys played in full costume which must have been unbelievably hot. even i was sweating just from existing because the small venue was well stocked. galactic played a fantastic gig and i was close to get the new record from the merch table despite my pre-order still going.

i could restrain myself eventually and waited patiently for my ordered copy to arrive. i bought it at jpc.de and it came in in prime condition. they know how to pack vinyl! musically episode II was not as familiar to me as the debut because quite a few songs are adaptions from the recent star wars movies (which are excellent in my humble opinion). still they play them with such virtuosity that i enjoy them anyway. great record and great colour-way. cyan blue and black merge out of 838 copies. rise records. 2018.

post scriptum: tomorrow is the first festival day of wacken 2018. i am excited for converge, ghost, dimmu borgir, gojira and a few more. i am off to wacken! see you...

pestilence - hadeon (tape)

almost done with my attempt to get all the 2018 releases off of my to-blog-pile. with the new album of pestilence i had problems from the get go. i was digging the re-issues of their classic first four records a lot and still listen to them occasionally. after their break-up in the mid-nineties they returned in 2009 and sixteen years between "spheres" and "resurrection macabre" changed the band, indeed. not only the personnel but the music as well.

i listened to a few bits of "resurrection macabre" and it didn't really set me ablaze. so i didn't even bother with the other post reunion records. when "hadeon" was announced i also tried my ears on the singles "multi-dimensional" and "non physical existent". these were cooler but not fully convincing as well. i dropped the idea of getting the record. then came my new weakness for cassette tapes and the option to buy it from nuclear blast with my recent order.

eight bucks seemed fair and here we are with "hadeon" on tape. musically this is solid technical death metal with a hint of the ingenuity of the old days. when i feel like listen to pestilence i certainly reach for their old stuff but this album won't just collect dust either. it is too good for that. the transfer of the artwork into the tape format worked quite good and the sound quality is good throughout. a shame there are no lyrics printed in the j-card. 300 copies made. hammerheart records. 2018.

bongripper - terminal

i am really stoked to have the new bongripper in my hands. these instrumental doomsters are not known for dropping full lengths at a high rate. so it doesn't surprise that "miserable" is already four years old. the more i was happy that i was spot-on for the pre-order deals here. a few months back i missed out on some bongripper re-issues because when i was at the party it was already old news. not really a problem because i already had vinyl copies of these re-issues but it annoyed me to have missed out.

so i e-mailed the guys asking for something like a mailing list. to cut it short, i am now recieving the bongripper newsletter and via this channel i heard news of the pre-orders for "terminal". the band handled north american orders themselves and burning world records from the netherlands did so for europe. it's a collaboration with history and everything went smooth again. i opted for the grey and purple swirl variant and am very happy with the outcome - vinyl looks fantastic. musically the new record is just the same, fantastic!

their ultra low tuned string sound and the kiloton drumming is a sonic experience of its own and with this album bongripper reduced the duration which proved to be refreshing for the overall song-writing. "terminal" feels more compact with loads of memorable riffs and lovely melodies. the physical component of the album is also superb. nice gatefold cover with sick artwork by sam alcarez and the aforementioned grey/purple merge vinyl as a fine match. 500 copies made. great barrier records. 2018.

obscura - diluvium

oh yes, the new obscura through the speakers! i fell in deep love with this german technical death metal band two years ago. "akróasis" was a goddamn scorcher that annihilated everything in its path. it was obvious that i needed more. after i bought their early days compilation "illegimitation" and snagged "cosmogenesis" via ebay, only "omnivium" was able to elude me until now. that being said, it was out of the question to be all over the pre-orders for a new album when they were announced.

i hate to admit it but social media helped me. in his youthful energy my brother-in-law suggested that i should take advantage of instagram. i could follow bands and labels without being active on my own, being anonymous so to speak and was never to be late to a pre-order announcement again. he has got a point there. so my instagram relapse feed told me time and place for the pre-order and there i was, able to buy the most limited colour-way. only i didn't want it because a less limited one looked cooler. it was nice to have the chance for once, though.

"diluvium" is such a strong record. i only listened to it a handful of times but i am absolutely blown away at this point already. intelligent arrangements, fantastic melody lines, sophisticated bass play and those delicious solos, not to speak of the amazing drumming - "diluvium" is obscura par excellence. hard to pick some favourites so check them all out. the presentation is simple but effective. slip sleeve of nice matte cardboard with lovely artwork by orion landau and sweet splattered bone white with deep purple merge out of 250 copies. album of the year so far! relapse records. 2018.

converge - beautiful ruin

another converge release and so soon after last november's full length "the dusk in us". for this 7" the band and label did without a lengthy pre-process. they produced the records, put them live when they were ready and delivered right after the sale. a nice change for once. there were four store exclusive colour-ways and one retail colour up for grabs. since the deathwish eu store is loctaed in italy, i usually go for the epitaph exclusive colours because they ship from germany which means domestic shipping costs.

kingsroad merch is the exclusive retailer for epitaph, so i placed my order there. frankly, i wasn't really excited for the epitaph colour which was clear with a black blob. i think clear vinyl is pretty boring and in the mix with a black blob it didn't do anything for me. whereas the neat aesthetics of white vinyl does appeal to me, so my choice was made. the four songs appearing here were recorded during "the dusk in us" sessions. for one reason or another they were not meant to be part of the full length.

thankfully converge thought these songs to be too good to be forgotten in the vault and pressed them to this nice 7". four times fast and heavy converge venom right where it hurts. i saw the guys live this year's april in my old hometown leipzig. they played at conne island, to which i have been numerous times in the past. a great night with heaps of energy from the band. i am about to see them again at wacken festival and hopefully they play one or two songs from "beautiful ruin". white vinyl out of 2000 copies comes with a lovely mirror board gatefold sleeve. deathwish inc. 2018.

dimmu borgir - eonian

dimmu borgir got a lot of playtime on my turntable recently. mainly because of nuclear blasts industrious policy of re-pressing titles of the borgir back catalogue to commemorate the new album "eonian". with me, this tactic worked nicely in throwing money at the re-presses but failed to buy a copy of the actual purpose - dimmu's ninth full length after eight years of waiting. i finally came to terms and bought a copy after i was refunded by the label in the first place for a u.s. version which seemed to be already sold out when i ordered.

some weeks later, after i swallowed my anger, i made a move and reached out for the half and half coloured european edition. i was anxious to get a copy now because i am going to see the band play live for the first time at this year's wacken festival and thus wanted to hear the material before they played it live. well, what does the new album sound like? previously i read a few devastating reviews which opinions i definitely cannot share. there is a change in their overall sound, indeed. more industrial influences, a little less orchestration and way more choirs.

the first single "interdimensional summit" gives a good insight on the whole album, i think. for me the record needed a few spins to fully sink in. it won't become my favourite record of them but hell, it's an entertaining listen. the band saved the best songs for last and with the fantastic "i am sovereign" begins the strong last third of "eonian". the presentation is in no way inferior to the music. nice slip sleeve with reflecting golden ink, a superb 28-page booklet and slick looking black and white split vinyl. 700 copies made. nuclear blast. 2018.