ays - suburban haze

when i get into a band that already has a bunch of releases out, i always find myself trying to get their whole output together very quickly after i got hooked. i don't know, it's something like a new mission that i have to accomplish. sometimes it works out better than other times. anyway, after i bought ays' first vinyl full length release 'wreck my soul', it wasn't long until i got myself a copy of the follow-up 'eroded by the breeze'.

i ordered the latter at cobra records mailorder because daniel, the owner dug up a box with some left-over copies in his warehouse. while taking the chance of owning this nice piece of vinyl, i thought i might as well throw their latest 7" from two years ago into the package. listening to it, it feels like ays finally found the sound they were already looking for on 'eroded by the breeze'. while the full length lacks a bit substance, this 7" burns all the way through.

great mix of the typical ays energy ridden hardcore and the new darker elements, which already shown through on 'eroded...'. check out the title track and the video to 'ambitions' and see what places hardcore can take you. i really like the cover artwork, although i can't say what it means. anyone a clue? i have the clear vinyl version out of 300 copies. cobra records. purgatory records. dead souls records. 2013.

ays - eroded by the breeze

i did quite often hold this record in hands. it was one of that records that sat at my favourite record store for what seems like ever since it was released. i even did listen to it at the store but there was always some other records that i preferred to buy instead. when i picked up their second full length 'wreck my soul' at cologne's underdog store, it was like a starting signal for me to also pick up 'eroded by the breeze'.

funnily in this year's spring cobra records owner daniel dug out a forgotten box with some left-over copies of 'eroded by the breeze' from his storing room. so he put up fifteen copies for sale in his online shop. so everything was laid out right in front of me, i only had to reach out. this is exactly what i did and thus i am now the proud owner of a black and white split copy of ays last full length.

this sounds very much like some stuff that could have been released by deathwish inc as well. while 'wreck my soul' was a straight up hardcore record, 'eroded...' is dark and punk ridden hardcore of that converge end of the spectrum. usually i prefer the latter sound but in this case i choose 'wreck my soul' over 'eroded...'. not that this album is bad but the straight up hardcore was on better terms with ays.

well, you might want to forge your own opinion? here is your chance. check out the album in its full glory. 'eroded by the breeze' was a co-release by the mentioned cobra records and purgatory records from wales, uk. purgatory did some colour-ways and cobra did some, too but i haven't found a source telling me the exact breakdown. i am afraid i don't even know how many of my split version have been pressed. cobra records. 2010.