grave maker - demolition

with the purchase of the record of the last post 'grave maker - bury me at sea', i surely wouldn't leave it be with only one vinyl platter. checking ewald's other stuff i came across a 7“ that was destined to be the perfect match to grave maker's first full length. their first release called the 'demolition' 7“.

i foremost bought this piece of vinyl in order to complete my grave maker collection. i didn't really listened to some songs or was out for a specific pressing. ewald had a coloured copy and so i took the chance to garb it for a reasonable price. music wise this is no real surprise because all the songs also found their way on the full length.

but they are good anyway so check out 'the boatman' and rock out in your living room like crazy. the record was released on copper lung records. to me an unknown label. i don't know about other releases of them or if they are even existing anymore. my copy is of the first press. here is the breakdown: 100 copies on black vinyl, 150 copies on blue vinyl and 250 copies on my clear purple vinyl. also a green second press in existence. copper lung records. 2008.

grave maker - bury me at sea

i got introduced to grave maker a year and a half from now, when i obtained 'ghosts among men' at burnout store. since then i was looking out for their record preceeding 'ghosts...'. but to put things into perspective, i took these photos here pretty much exactly one year from now according to their digital date. so it wasn't like it took me long to get this album, it just took me way too long to write about it.

after i bought a born from pain, a bitter end and a dead reprise record  from ewald at deadformat.net and everything went so smoothly, i looked through his remaining stuff to see what else i could want. so i came across this nice copy of 'bury me at sea'. the musical content is just as good as on 'ghosts...', very solid and very energetic hardcore with some melodic hints. check out 'wreckage' and 'it's raining again', the best songs of the record if you ask me.

'bury me at sea' was released on several pressings and versions. even a european and a picture disc release out there. i have an organized crime version of the first american vinyl press from 2010. i think it was 800 copies on this nice clear gold colour. nice touch that the a-side and b-side label are showing the coins laid on the eyes of the dead sailor from the cover. that said, i really like the cover art. great comic approach. Not as cheesy as their 'ghosts...' cover art. organized crime liscensed by think fast! records. 2008.

grave maker - ghosts among men

if you have a local store that you visit quite regularly, you are probably familiar the upcoming phenomenon. when i hit the record store of my trust, burnout in hamburg to be precise, there is a certain modus operandi. i flick through the racks, pick all the records i am remotely interested in, if there's is enough time i listen to some of them and then i choose whatever i want real bad and whatever fits my financial frame i set that day.

grave maker's 'ghosts among men' was always among the records i picked for further judgement and was also always among the records i put back. i listened to some of their stuff before and knew that it was something i wanted but vinyl that was a bit more important always got in the way. incidentally i came across the pressing information of 'ghosts among men' and came to the conclusion that it was a copy of the rarest colour way which i put aside with persistency.

you know how it is with this odd breed called collectors, suddenly this record became way more important. at the next stop at burnout it was a sure thing that i would grab this baby if it was still there. as you can see it was. the music on display is real good. energetic and crunchy hardcore with great hooks. only thing that falls a bit short are the vocals. they sound a bit hoarse and feeble. one can hear that clearly when there are guest vocals to compare. the rest is brilliant though. check 'stronghold' here, rad song! clear green w/ black smoke vinyl out of 100 copies. victory records. 2010. 

this path we walk, we walk alone.

ghosts among men... we are ghosts among men.