high on fire - snakes for the divine (colour re-press)

finally eone came around the corner with a colour vinyl pressing for high on fire's 2010 album "snakes for the divine". the records were released last year already (to its 10th anniversary), i just forgot to post it here. the splatter is subtle but looks cool when glowing. the album is splendid, of course.

crowbar - time heals nothing

i missed out on the first vinyl pressing of this rager from last year like a goddamn amateur and thus was very happy about the second round. e-one made these beautiful clear with black centre and red/yellow splatter edition and there was no way i was missing out again. one of my favourite crowbar records!

the contortionist - intrinsic

the contortionist is a band i eyed for quite some time. i always missed out on predecessing re-issues, which didn't come in too great numbers in the past, and found second-hand options way too pricey. e-one did me the favour with this easily obtainable re-issue of the band's second album "intrinsic" from 2012.

the band plays such a delicious blend of djent metal that i am really looking forward to more re-issues of their back catalogue. the colour-way of the vinyl looks pretty ace as well. i think there were 500 copies of these pressed. 2021.

kirk windstein - dream in motion

what kirk windstein touches becomes at least solid and even more often plain brilliant. that guy has such a creative output that i always stand in awe when i see the list of albums, he was involved in. because i consider myself a fan of the riffmaster, it was a no-brainer to me to pick up his solo work.

i expected material in the vein of crowbar, especially after i listened to the single "dream in motion". the whole album is a bit quiter and a bit more experimental than that song and i really enjoy it, although i prefer the stuff from his main band. cool cover art (with the lettering in type o negative fashion) and lovely ultra clear with orange/blue/grey splatter double vinyl with etched d-side round out the package. e one. 2020.

lord dying - mysterium tremendum

saw the band's name thrown around numerous times before because their first two records have been released via relapse records. never came around to actually check them out. when i was in cologne to visit family, of course i took the opportunity to check some record stores. in this case it was one store - andrä records.

they are selling only used stuff and i found two gems in the metal bins. suicide silence' "no time to bleed" and this one here, lord dying's third full length "mysterium tremendum". man, i hear a lot of mastodon and old baroness weirdness but still enough own flavour, to not leave a bad taste in mouth. great record and great artwork. e-one entertainment. 2019.

impending doom - the sin and doom vol. II

i came across this record by impending doom accidentally when i was browsing the new vinyl section at nuclear blast records. the band was among the many deathcore bands which sprung numerously in the mid to late 00's. i used to have their second and third album on cd and later on, when i started getting into vinyl, i bought their first three albums on vinyl from merchnow from the states.

when impending doom moved from facedown records to entertainment one for their fourth album "baptized in filth" in 2012, the label didn't produce a vinyl version. same procedure for their fifth album "death will reign". so i lost track of the band. now, for record number six entertainment one came to their senses and pressed it to vinyl. i saw some pictures of an opaque white marble version on the internet, what i pulled from the sleeve is an interesting clear with black smoke variant, though. don't know what's up with those versions, maybe an u.s. and an european edition?

musically the band did not stray far from the path of their first three records. deathcore that has its great moments but, to be honest it also has a few dull ones. maybe it is just me who had higher expectations that the guys had evolved stronger in the eight years between "there will be violence" and this latest effort, but the album fails to really excite me. e-one released this in a single pocket sleeve with a printed dust sleeve. don't know how many have been pressed. e-one. 2018.

high on fire - electric messiah

high on fire is an institution. since my love for this band evolved four years or so ago, i can't think of a bad album of matt pike and his two companions. so of course when i heard news of an upcoming new album, i was all over it. at first only pre-orders for north america appeared. no big deal. high on fire is on e-one entertainment since "snakes for the divine" and since they have no european distribution, century media released an eu version for each record. usually a bit later than e-one.

so i waited. release date came nearer and nothing over at century media. i couldn't find any info on the net and started to panic a bit. i was close to order from the states when emp came to my rescue. they offered a black and a red vinyl edition both labled as spv records releases and the red one limited to 100 copies. when i tried to gather information at the spv page i couldn't find anything. i ordered the sketchy red vinyl anyway but the suspicion arose that i actually ordered the red e-one edition.

when the record arrived i unwrapped the opaque red u.s. version of "electric messiah" of which emp had 100 copies available for europe. spv simply slept on a coloured e.u. version. now they corrected that error and some green marble lp is available for pre-order, set to be released in december. anyway, musically "electric messiah" is just another great stoner metal/punk n' roll record of hof. they just cannot disappoint. one of my favourites of the band for sure. go for "sanctioned annihilation"! really nice shade of red marbled vinyl. i am not sure how many were pressed. e-one. 2018.

crowbar - the serpent only lies

new crowbar tunes are always welcomed from my side. may it be some re-press or a new record of these louisiana based sludge lords. something like two months ago i read about the announcement of the band's eleventh full length recording "the serpent only lies". pre-order information was pretty scarce and so i stumbled upon a pre-order option at nuclear blast for a clear green version. as i didn't mean to sleep on this, i placed my order immediately.

in the coming weeks more options popped up. a clear red version from emp and a gold version from napalm records. i wasn't that overwhelmed by the colour options but i was ok with clear green, as i thought it would be the least boring colour-way of the lot. a little more time went by and at one of my regular searchs in the nuclear blast new vinyl section, i came across a clear version exclusive to the shop. now clear vinyl isn't my favourite as well but definitely the coolest among them all. so i hit up nb asking them to alter the order and here we are.

crowbar is a phenomenon to me. this band managed to stay true to their sound for over a quarter of a century and still their stuff doesn't bore me. i have this problem with heaven shall burn for example. this band is repeating itself with every album by now and i don't feel the desire to get their new releases anymore. not so with crowbar. basically they repeat theirselves as well but i enjoy it. just listen to the killer title song, a masterpiece.

for the last two records, "sever the wicked hand" and "symmetry in black", e-one entertainment was teaming up with century media records for an european vinyl version. this time e-one joined forces with steamhammer records, a division of spv. steamhammer released "the serpent only lies" in a gatefold sleeve with printed dust sleeve and a cd of the whole album. as i already said, i have the clear vinyl version of 180gr quality and limited to 150 copies. e-one. steamhammer. 2016.

crowbar - s/t

after i bought the 'odd fellows rest' lp from crowbar at the beginning of the month, i was already planning to get what else was available on vinyl from this new orleans based sludge band. i knew of the other two back on black re-presses of 'lifesblood for the downtrodden' and 'sonic excess in its purest form'. therefore i was checking some offers on discogs. when i logged in i stumbled upon the 'recommendations' feed.

there i saw yet another crowbar vinyl release on coloured vinyl. it was the second and self-titled record from 1993, re-pressed by e-one music last year. the colour-way was a lovely yellow/orange swirl pattern. it's the type they usually call 'starburst'. my latest copy of high on fire's 'luminiferous' was pressed on the same pattern, only with more colours in the mix. anyway, i assumed this would be the limited colour of this pressing with more copies on black vinyl. when i dug a little deeper i came to the conclusion that the whole pressing came on this colour-way.

good news, this would spare me a lot of trouble trying to chase a limited colour-way, that went unnoticed by me in the first place. i checked the obvious sources and found a good offer on the bay. it was a swiss seller from whom i bought a lot of cd's back in the day through the amazon market place. the only little thrill here was that the item wasn't described as coloured vinyl, but in the end all was well. the album itself is great, it breathes the nineties. rightfully called their break-trough album. e-one music. 2015.

high on fire - luminiferous (e-one version)

this is going to be my last entry for 2015. over 200 posts this year. man, i was pretty industrious. i cut down my backlog about a fair portion of the pile but didn't manage to reduce the entirety. i will fix that next year and be hopefully able to only post about recent additions to the collection. for now i'll end 2015 with the probably best looking piece of wax that i can call my own.

as a constant reader you know that i already have a copy of the latest high on fire record, called 'luminiferous'. it's the clear orange version from century media that serves as the european version of the album. it looks cool with the d-side etching and all but when i saw pictures of the u.s. versions on the net i got pretty jealous. one colour-way among them that made me crave for it in particular. a 'starburst' colour of utter most delicacy.

as it wasn't available through any retailer over here in europe i wrote it off, especially when i already had a copy. when i was browsing through ebay two weeks before christmas i accidentally came across a reasonably priced coloured u.s. version of 'luminiferous'. it was a canadian seller and i asked what version it might be. the answer was 'red yellow blue starburst' and i cheerfully pulled the trigger on it.

it arrived here even before christmas and what a beauty it is. just lovely. musically this is still the great album it was six months back when i initially listened to it, only with the slight difference that this new vinyl colour makes it even more fun to spin it. unfortunately i couldn't find any pressing numbers. u.s. version comes with download dropcard instead of cd. e-one. 2015.

post scriptum: as motörhead seems to be a constant high on fire influence, i'd like to take the opportunity to say goodbye to one who paved the way for heavy music as we know it. rest in peace, lemmy kilmister.

high on fire - luminiferous (century media version)

a new high on fire record. the seventh full length and the first one i witness right from its release date. thus i didn't have to search second hand markets like discogs or ebay, thus i didn't have to buy some re-press, no. i was right there for the pre-order process. man, this year seems to be a fruitful one for new releases i am interested in. i am up to my ears in pre-orders. but that is a different story.

to the point. when i heard news of a coming hof record european pre-orders weren't up. since 'snakes for the divine', high on fire releases their stuff through e-one entertainment from the states. and since then century media handled release matters over here in europe. no exception with 'luminiferous' and so i waited for cm to come up with a vinyl release. when they finally did, century media offered various pre-order options.

i opted for the 180gr clear orange variant. even though it was not as limited as a dark green edition, i thought it looked better in combination with the cover art. i am satisfied with my decision after checking the pictures now being available at cm distro. century media seems to have sold out on their copies already but nuclear blast has some left to get you covered.

e-one also had an u.s. version to offer. a grey with black 'starburst' pressing. i checked the net for some pictures but couldn't find some. i would really like to see one. sounds like a cool colour variant. anyway, what does the new album hold musically, you may ask? right so. 'luminiferous' is a cracker on all accounts. it comes with the right dosage of furious motörhead punk metal and their very own stoner-doom heaviness.

the whole album is very well balanced and will stand in line with their previous work. not one stinker among them. but before i bore you with more inexpressive talk, you will most likely want to check some tunes for yourself. here you go with the whole output at one dash.

lyrically it's about the wide subject of conspiracy theories. chemtrails and stuff. but i will have to go deeper into the matter before its luminiferous effect will enlighten me wholly. again a high on fire album cover art looks pretty sinister, can't say what it depicts but it looks great. the d-side etching shows the entity from the cover. comes with a cd of the album. 200 copies made. century media. 2015.

high on fire - snakes for the divine

another month, another high on fire post. but as much as i enjoyed writing about a new record of high on fire in my possession, the monthly consistency is about to cease. 'snakes for the divine' marks their fifth studio album out of six and i have them all now. so i will have to wait for a new record to write up a new post.

at first i thought this particular record to be the hardest one to come by. as i looked out for it on the bay germany for the first time, i found an offer with a fifty euro price tag and another one with a hundred euro tag. totally insane, especially as there is only black vinyl and two bigger pressings of e1 records and century media in existence. i didn't bother to check discogs and so i assumed it would be pretty much of a task to get a copy.

so when the time had come to get a hold on 'snakes for the divine', which i picked to be the last record to get because of its 'rareness', i checked the obvious sources and found an ebay offering for twenty bucks postage paid. cool. even cooler it was an american pressing on e1 records. now ebay seems to have quite a lot options for reasonable prices, so does discogs. first cut may be the deepest, but sometimes most on the surface.

musically it's great stoner/sludge worship as one came to love it from high on fire. the in the majority great songs easily outgun the one or two weaker pieces and in my personal ranking it comes third after 'de vermiis mysteris' and the superb 'death is this communion'. check out 'holy flames of the fire spitter' and the title song and move your real or imagined long hair in circles. horns up! e1 records. 2010.