seven sisters of sleep - s/t

here is an quite odd one. the first album of seven sisters of sleep was on my agenda since i bought their third album and relapse debut "ezekiel's hag". a coloured copy comes via discogs almost every time from the states and i didn't want to pay oversea shipping, so i waited for a ebay chance to come. when it came i was at first a bit disappointed because it was a clear green one. in my opinion the second press comes in cooler looking colour-ways (opaque blue purple split and a purple splatter version), but then i saw the trick to it.

the seller described it as an one out of one copy. what was supposed to make it unique was not the vinyl colour itself but the custom stamped dust sleeve. it shows the "whore's nose is getting longer" artwork and a 1/1 numbering. it was part of the pre-order version and randomly spread amomgst the pre-orders. unfortunately the whole information is based on that ebay auction, so i don't really know if it's genuine. the only other information i came up with is from roots vinyl guide, an ebay auction tracker similar to popsike.

the only knowledge i gain here, is that this copy, which seems to be the one i have in my possession now, had at least two pre-owners. if anyone from a389 records happens to read this or anone else who has a clue about the authenticity of this copy, please leave a comment. anyway, the music is great. dark mix of crust, sludge and hardcore. the album creates a hefty and intense atmosphere and the great artwork ties right in. very nice. so, 250 copies pressed on clear green vinyl and cut at 45rpm. probably even a 1/1 copy. a389 records. 2011.

ringworm - the promise

when i ordered the latest re-press of integrity's 'humanity is the devil', i searched the hhv.de store for a few additions to sweeten the order. thanks to hhv.de's extensive selection i was able to add a copy of the debut full length of cleveland's ringworm. since i loved 'justice replaced by revenge' and 'birth is pain', which i acquired in the course of the last two months, getting more ringworm stuff was just the thing to do.

ringworm was founded in 1990 and after releasing a few demos, in 1993 the band released their first album 'the promise' through incision records. shortly afterwards ringworm disbanded, leaving the world a legacy of their interpretation of metallic hardcore. thankfully they re-considered their status as a band in 1998, when they fully returned. unlike integrity - the other big cleveland hardcore band - i think i like ringworm's post split releases better.

'the promise' shows the band, and i know the following insight will most likely blow your mind, in an early stage. everything is pretty raw and unpolished, not in terms of recording quality but in terms of song writing. this record is essential to understand where the band came from but when i feel like listening to some ringworm, i will reach for the records released after the millenium descended upon us.

a389 recordings did a few pressings for this re-press. i think it had been three pressings. they issued it in a gatefold sleeve, whereas the original press came with a slip sleeve. thankfully a389 stood true to the original artwork in most parts. my opaque orange copy is part of the third pressings and is again reminiscent of the original press being an orange marble colour. i have read there were a 100 copies made of my version but i can't be sure. a389 recordings. 2013.

integrity - suicide black snake

this was actually my first integrity record. i mean, not the first i listened to but the first one i went out and actually bought a physical copy of. why? i don't really know. i am aware of the massive impact this cleveland band have had and still has on hardcore but it was never like i needed to own their music. that little spark that would lit my interest just wasn't there.

that one day in november 2013 - you might recognise that this record is one from my backlog - when i did one of my countless visits at burnout record store i simply couldn't overlook the well sorted integrity section. i pulled 'suicide black snake' from the racks, the at the time newly released album. i read a lot of good stuff about it, i liked the cover art and so i thought checking it out could do no harm.

on the contrary actually because i found myself really enjoying it. after listening to the opener 'suicide black snake' and 'i know where everyone lives' there was not the faintest shadow of a doubt that i would get this cracker. again it seems that i have my very own snail pace for discovering heavy hitters for myself in today's hardcore and metal scene. converge, mastodon, high on fire and now integrity. well, who cares anyway!

the whole album is great. i fell in love with their gritty metal influenced hardcore-punk and their occult lyrics. pretty unique mixture for a hardcore band. especially for 'suicide black snake' i really dig the bluesy parts that found their way into integrity's sound. a prime example for that sound is 'there ain't no living in life'. my personal favourite of the album.

the presentation by a389 records is awesome and does fully justice to its musical content. the record comes in a gatefold sleeve with lovely artwork and the well known integrity watermark prints. on the cover as well as on the inner gatefold. black dust sleeve and a massive poster are just the icing on the cake. the vinyl itself comes on a nice clear with multi-colour splatter version.

my copy is from the first press and is out of 550 copies. checking discogs for pressing information i saw that 'suicide black snake' was pressed on a shit load of colours. boy, what a pain in the ass for an die hard integ collector. anyway, this album was the little spark that lit my interest. expect some more integrity stuff in the future. a389 records. 2013.

cynarae - s/t

boy, what the hell just hit me? that or something very similar was the initial thought that came to my mind after i listened to the first tunes of this record. but let's start from the outset. hanging around at burnout store hamburg i stumbled upon the cover of the first and self-titled cynarae album. not long before i read an entry on some blog about this record, stating it was peculiar and heavy.

a little curious, because that description leaves a lot of space for interpretation, i pulled the record out of the rack and made my way to the next turntable. i dropped the needle and then it just... well, you know what i thought. this washington state band plays some pretty hefty and crusty shade of hardcore. dark, fast and angry. check out 'prescribed burn' and be sure to fasten your seat belt.

the whole album clocks in just under the twenty minutes mark. thus the album fits on one side of a 12" record. someone involved in the process of making the record, band or label, or whoever it was seemed to think it might be funny to press the songs played backwards on side two. peculiar, indeed. just as the cover art. what is this? anyway, the vinyl colour is a pretty good match. 'bark/bone' mix, or brown with white merge. a389 records. 2012.

xibalba - s/t

the month started out with a xibalba post and so does it finish. we have come full circle. this time it's about their compilation release on a389 records. in 2010 xibalba self-released their first album 'madre mia gracia por los dias'. that album generated that much attention, that it wasn't long until a big label such as southern lord knocked on their door.

southern lord re-released 'madre mia...' on cd and liscensed the vinyl rights to a389 records. they in turn decided to not only press xibalba's first album to vinyl, but also include the four songs that were featured on a three-way split with world of pain and ruckus, called 'earthquake split' on beatdown hardwear records.

beside a to 55 copies limited 2011 euro-tour press, which is damn hard to come by, a389 issued all their first press copies on black vinyl. i probably would have bought myself a black copy earlier, if i wasn't occupied with getting a reasonable priced 'hasta la muerte' coloured copy. as this task was finally accomplished the holy vinyl re-issue god came to my rescue just in the right moment. i was browsing the net for some xibalba vinyl pictures and came across a coloured copy that was new to me.

a split coloured platter that was for sale at the a389 webshop. i was baffled as to what was going on. after some research i was informed about this latest re-press and searched discogs for a german retailer might having it in stock. markus/per koro had one and i gladly took it. looks and sounds awesome. can't say how many have been made on this nice green and purple split vinyl. comes with big poster and download code. a389 records. 2011/2015.

100 demons - in the eyes of the lord

back in the year 2000 a yet widely unknown band called 100 demons released their first full length onto the world. this connecticut based five-piece named it 'in the eyes of the lord' and let goodlife recordings from belgium handle release matters.

as usual with goodlife back then, they also pressed a vinyl version to this sucker. a bigger quantity of black vinyl and a limited edition of 200 copies on red vinyl. never came across one of that coloured copies. maybe willem, as a goodlife collector, calls one his own?

due to the lack of availability for this album i was very delighted to see, that a389 records would do a re-press for the event of black friday rsd 2014. the whole press would be done on coloured vinyl, so it was easy for me to snag a copy from a domestic distributor.

when my copy showed up i had several reasons to be happy with this output. first reason was that a389 preserved the red colour scheme for the cover. goodlife did the same with their vinyl press fourteen years ago, only a bit paler. second thing is the vinyl colour itself. split colour pattern - score!

the sticker that was on the shrink wrap and which was poorly removed by my humble self, provides you with all the necessary information according this release. unfortunately one useful information is missing - pressing numbers. i'm afraid i can do no better. anyone a clue? a389 records. 2014.

underdog store pt 4/4: die young - loss

die young (tx) - loss 7"

since i have their debut full length sitting on my shelf i was keen to get more of their vinyl output into my hands. first thing i came across was the 'loss' 7" from 2008. a more recent release since their break up in 2009, i think. as i saw it at underdog i couldn't pass on this. especially as it's probably catching dust there for five years. the price was good too. so there was no reason for me not to throw some money at the salesman.

the music on this is just great! intense and crisp metallic hardcore. better than on 'graven images'. mainly because the sound is more organic. on 'graven images' especially the vocals sounded like they put several layers over one another which really felt artificial. this time it's much better. don't know why bands do this anyway. get a new singer if he can't get it done, man! check out the title track of this piece of plastic. cool solo.

pressing information is vague on this one. discogs tells me that there is a grey marbled version limited to 400. deadformat.net lets me know that there is a blue version of the first press without numbers and 130 clear gold copies of the second pressing as last show press with special cover. oh yeah, and some white vinyl again without numbers. musik-sammler.de feeds me with the best information so far. 500 copies of the first press all together. 100 trash-purple vinyl (probably the blue vinyl at dead format?) and 400 trash/grey (hello discogs). 500 copies of the second press. 200 on white and 300 on orange, which is the clear gold i assume. don't know if they took 130 of these orange a.k.a. clear gold vinyl copies for the last show or if they pressed them specially for the occasion. but i think i did a sufficient job with this pressing info mess already. do some work on your own, ok?!

a389 records. 2008. 

stateless society pt 2/2: trapped under ice - dirty money split

trapped under ice/dirty money split 7"

of course i needed at least one more item from stateless society. that's a law. and because i'm a law-abiding citizen who knows what's right and proper i opted for another 7". what i found was the only other 7" in store and answers to the name of the trapped under ice & dirty money split release. because i'm really getting into tui at the moment and couldn't get enough of their 'stay cold' 7" there was no doubt what i was about to do seeing this record in the store. adding it to cart indeed!

in that case i didn't even listen to the songs in advance. i knew i would love the tui part. and 'gemini' and 'death clock ticking' are as sharp as expected. the dirty money part is cool too. dm was a band from the u.k., london to be precise. they played a similar brand of hardcore and because of that teaming up with tui was a good choice. on my search for information about dirty money i found out that they called it a day in 2010. check out 'hollow shell' or '2007 was a bad year', their contributions to this split e.p.

looking for pressing information deadformat.net proved to be the most enlightening source, leaving some shadows nevertheless. dead & gone records from the u.k. handled the european version with a complete different art work. a389 records from the u.s. did the north american pressing. a389's first pressing was 700 on black and 250 on clear vinyl (100 out of that numbered and with a special cover for the record release show). albeit there is photo up on the site showing a clear blue record. what's that all about? can't be part of the second pressing from 2012 according to the information given there. three colours: red, white and my grey version. unfortunately only the red pressing provided with numbers - 100 pressed. quite confusing. anyone here an idea?

a389 records. released 2008.