unearth - the wretched, the ruinous

new record of this metalcore juggernaut. this is no second 'the oncoming storm' but they still know how to make a headbanger's head bang.

unearth - darkness in the light

to me these u.s. boys can't do no wrong. all of their albums are pure metalcore fire. no different with "darkness in the light". very nice match of cover art and vinyl colour here. blue sparkle vinyl out of 500 copies. metal blade. 2011.

unearth - the march

fourth full length by this metalcore juggernaut. great album as always. vinyl presentation is nice as well. 1.000 copies made on this brown/grey marble vinyl. metal blade. 2008.

unearth - the stings of conscience

this stellar debut has been re-pressed recently by good fight entertainment. i have a first press copy from back in the day on white vinyl with a fold-out piece serving as a cover sleeve. 262 copies made. knife or death records under license of eulogy recordings. 2001.

unearth - III: in the eyes of fire

finally a re-press of the third unearth full length. saw them in leipzig on their tour cycle for this record back in 2007 or so. good times. love the traces of red in the grey marble vinyl. 300 copies made. metal blade. 2006/2021.

unearth - extinction(s)

it is already four years since unearth released their last and very good record "watchers of rule" (wow, really?) and here we are with their newest opus going by the name "extinction(s)". it seems like this american powerhouse is stuck in the year 2004 forever. and you know what? that is just the right thing. when i dropped the needle on "extinction(s)" for the first time, i sat in awe as to how relevant this musical style can still sound in 2018.

there is a lot of reminisence of their classic "the oncoming storm" but still i do not get bored with every new album because the unearth guys simply know how to write great metalcore songs. "extinction(s)" bursts with energy, dynamic, precision and heaviness. those sweet overtunes in "incinerate" alone. i bought this record without listening to any song before, confident in unearth not going to let me down and the album pays back in equal measures.

i pre-ordered my copy at nuclear blast, even though i could have ordered the version limited to 100 copies from century media directly. i did so firstly because i had the chance to order a few more records from nb in one go and secondly because this lesser limited version looks so sweet. semi-translucent orange vinyl out of 200 copies as the perfect match to the artwork. seventh full length and this time completely released via century media. 2018.

unearth - watchers of rule

i am one who learns his lessons. in the past i made the mistake to ignore emp mailorder as a source for new and limited colour vinyl. as a result to that behaviour i missed out on a coloured version of madball's 'hardcore lives' record of this year. never again i would pay extra in the aftermath. by now i'm checking the emp upcoming releases section very carefully and regularly. by doing so, i just could not overlook the new unearth effort.

i really love unearth. together with killswitch engage they were part of my in between phase, where i began to look for more thrilling stuff than nu metal ala limp bizkit or drowning pool. they gave way to that european hardcore scene of the mid 00's that i hold so dear. actually, they were a part of it (aside from not being european). their 'the oncoming storm' record is an evergreen to me and with it, they formed a musical style called metalcore, which is still nostalgia to some and an insult to others.

i like to look upon this style with a part nostalgia but rather as simply good music. i have all their other albums on vinyl, too - except 'III: in the eyes of fire' of which there is no vinyl version - but i didn't find the time to write about them. unearth delivered almost with every record and as i saw the limited red double vinyl on pre-order at emp, i didn't hesitate to jump on it.

musically unearth takes no prisoners here. man, i couldn't believe my ears at the first listen. this record is played so tight, it will most likely beat 'the oncoming storm' to second place in my personal ranking. the album starts with a freaking blast beat, that i don't think i ever heard on an unearth record, and takes you on a death thrash hardcore journey of the wild kind. check out 'the swarm' and 'guards of contagion' and tell me you don't have to headbang all the way through. either way you're deaf or you're lying.

but wait, didn't i order a double vinyl pressing? you may understand my astonishment as i opened the package, because i was pretty sure i ordered such a vinyl copy. as i put in my pre-order i was surprised to see a 2xlp version at emp because century media, the label the record appeared on, sold a single lp version. ok, i thought, the double lp was probably the emp exclusive version. now i think, emp got wrong informations somewhere along the way. i kept the sticker with the double vinyl text for the oddity cabinet. century media. 2014. 

ebay austria: unearth, dark day dungeon, cataract

unearth - the oncoming storm

2004. what a year for me. so many great records i discovered that were milestones in my development of musical taste and of course way of living. vegetarianism and straight edge became big parts of my life and still are. therefore i always look on records from that year with a feeling of nostalgia. they have a special value to me. same thing with unearth's sophomore album. it's the only unearth album i seriously listened to. don't know why their other stuff eluded me. in any case 'the oncoming storm' is great. love the great sound on this which makes the breakdowns so goddamn heavy and the melodies so catchy.

as i mentioned in my previous post i bought this off a seller from austria. just like his cataract record (which i think isn't sold to this day) i was watching this unearth record for quite some time. too high starting bid for me and so i swayed to and fro if i should pay the money or not. the balance was turned by the seller as he lowered the starting bid. now it was reasonable to me and i pulled the trigger.

'the oncoming storm' was released on vinyl through metal blade records for north america and for europe through beniihana records from germany. that label ceased to exist some years ago, 2006 i believe. they pressed 500 copies. 100 on clear red, 200 on white and another 200 on purple vinyl, obviously of which i have one. comes with a printed dust sleeve.

beniihana records. 2004.

dark day dungeon - let the sin begin 7"

as always when i want to buy something through ebay i search what else the seller has to offer to make the order worthwhile. buying just one record is lame and if there is the chance, i'll take it. excactly that happened with this ddd 7" and me. i know this swiss band from their full length record 'by blood undone'. i didn't even know that they had been releasing more stuff on vinyl.

this is probably their first release but i can't be sure because the album 'know your enemy' appeared in the same year (2002) on let it burn records. the 7" came out on paperstreet industries. completely unknown to me. couldn't find any information about them on the net either. what i know is that they pressed it on lovely thick clear vinyl but not on how many copies. mystries over mysteries... maybe someone knows?

catatract - war anthems 7"

one of the first releases of my favourite swiss band. it's a three song release and they are pretty much of the same quality as the songs on 'golem'. so worth the listen and the money (which wasn't much though).

'war anthems' was released in 1999 by join the teamplayer records. a small label from bavaria, germany which isn't active anymore.

join the teamplayer records made it a nice fold around cover with all lyrics on the inside. i think it was pressed on black vinyl only. at least i didn't find any other information. also i didn't find pressing numbers. with this only one cataract piece of vinyl is missing (actually it's two but the self-titled record of 2008 sucks and comes on a picture disc, two reasons to forget about it) - 'killing the eternal' on red vinyl.

join the teamplayer records. 1999.