toundra - III

i already posted about toundra's second album, aptly entitled 'II'. but before i ordered that record, i got aware of this spanish instrumental band through this album right here. i stumbled across this copy of 'III' while looking through per koro's discogs offerings. the cover looked really cool and i just wanted to check what was behind it. i do this quite often, listening to bands because i like cover artworks. sometimes it fails and sometimes it works out.

after i listened to 'cielo negro' i knew this would work out. even though i think that 'II' is a bit nicer, because of the geographical concept to the music, 'III' is such a strong record. so fine balanced between the atmospheric parts and the more forceful parts that a missing of lyrics isn't even an issue. that band should really get more attention.

checking the pressing information at discogs i am a little puzzled as to what version i hold in hands. not one colour way seems to fit my opaque blue with white and black marble vinyl platter. per koro sold it with a 'limited to 100' description. well, i am inclined to accept this assumption. anyone knows the real deal? apart from that the whole artwork together with the back cover looks stunning. love the semi-transparent insert. aloud music. 2012.

agnostic front - warriors

when nuclear blast released the latest agnostic front record 'the american dream died', they smelled the chance to sell some more records while the hype was still going. well, good bait catches fine fish, they say. and that 'warriors' re-press bait was too good to not get hooked, at least for me. the first press on clear blue, even though one thousand in existence, is quite hard to come by.

when i saw it on the bay, copies always went for over thirty, sometimes even fourty bucks. when they hit the twenty five euro mark i was out. i wasn't too anxious to get one and i hoped time would be on my side. it was, in a way. when the re-press smiled back at me not long after i purchased 'the american dream...', i didn't hestitate to order.

'warriors' was released three years after 'another voice' from 2004. the latter record was the most metallic tinged that agnostic front came up with to that point. much to my pleasure, i have to admit. when 'warriors' showed up and i listened to the album whole and in one go, it produced the same warm hearted feeling as its predecessor. check out 'addiction' and 'black and blue' and you will get a good inside view on what the album sounds like.

i actually think that the new colour, magenta or purple - whatever you call it - looks even better than clear blue. it helps a bit to oversee the stupid cover art work. i was a little surprised to find that tiny 'limited vinyl edition' beam at the bottom end of the cover. i checked and the first press had that too. funny, never saw nuclear blast doing this with any other release of theirs. 300 copies made and still available. 2007/2015.

earth crisis - the discipline

since i was pretty obsessed with metal lately, i haven't forgot about hardcore of course. so here is the new earth crisis 7" called 'the discipline'. when i read about the title of this record, and i am sure a lot of earth crisis fans did too, i was immediately reminded of the fifth song of the same name from their debut full length 'destroy the machines'. i didn't seek any information about this slab of vinyl beforehand and was therefore pretty curious as to what was pressed on it.

i came to the following conclusions. it's a four song release with two re-recorded songs from 'destroy the machines'. the first one is the eponymous 'the discipline' and the second is 'new ethic'. i actually don't know why they chose those two songs. probably because the one is a straight edge song and the other is about veganism. the two things that characterise this band. but that's just a guess though. anyone knows better?

the other two songs are tracks from the '92 demo , respectively from a compilation cassette from the early nineties. 'behind the mask' and 'time of strife' are pretty good songs with that typical nineties earh crisis chugga chugga riffing. great additions to the canon and a pleasure to any fan of the band. i'm a little puzzled as to why they actually released that 7". is it a teaser for an upcoming album? twentieth anniversary of 'destroy...'? well, i am happy to have a cameo version out of 500 copies anyway. love the different look of both sides. bullet tooth records. 2015.

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.

mastodon - crack the skye

since i discovered this band for myself last year, i have become what is widely regarded a fan. i have their records up to 'blood mountain' and was listening to these albums in a quite natural way, which means i listened to them in order of appearance. almost, that is. i heard 'leviathan' before 'remission'. whatever, at the beginning of the year mastodon announced re-pressings of their reprise records back catalogue on coloured vinyl. i was thrilled to bits as it would spare me the agony of getting original colour vinyl of 'crack the skye'.

i already have 'blood mountain' on my favourite colour pattern and so i skipped the re-press. 'crack...' was set to be released on june, second and i pre-ordered through their u.k. store. i was really excited to finally hold it in my hands. i was able to maintain the illusion of hearing the records in order of release just like it would be a new output. as i never listened to the record before, i couldn't wait to drop the needle on it. musically it's quite different to their previous stuff. way more prog rock and less metal.

i have got to say i really dig the album. not the fact that it's less metal-ish but this whole thing is so sophistically worked out, it's simply jaw-dropping. i love the weird lyrical story of a paraplegic child leaving its body in a transcendental manner, slipping through a wormhole, landing in russia of the early twentieth century where the russian cult of the khlysts passing its soul into rasputin's body. after the assassination of the assumed khlyst rasputin, his soul is trying to help the child getting back into its own body. completely over the top but because of that so damn cool.

music wise mastodon serves the whole pallet of emotions, from raging to melancholic, over heavy to progressive. the only little downer is that brann dailor's drumming got less complex. it's a wild trip anyway and you should take it right now. the album name and the title song was inspired by brann dailor's sister skye, who committed suicide at the age of fourteen. 'remission' had some references too. 'crack the skye' is the last out of four mastodon albums based on the theory of the four elements, representing 'air' or better 'aether'. don't know how many were made on this 'baby blue' vinyl. reprise records. 2009/2015. 

iron walrus - the plague

the new iron walrus record at hand. it just took this five-piece from osnabrück one year to come up with their second full length, entitled 'the plague'. this was actually the album i heard stuff from first, before i got to know any songs of 'insidious black sea'. on 'insidious...' you can hear that the band had an idea of what they wanted to sound like, on 'the plague' however they seem to have felt way more comfortable and grown together.

the songs have more depth and really stand as one. whereas 'insidious...' had some hits, the sophomore record is an unholy unit where it's hard to pick a favourite. therefore i will give you the link to the redfield records youtube channel, where you have the chance to listen to the album in all its glory.

beside the better song-writing of the walrus, vocalist sven's voice really stands out. it seems he treated his vocal chords with a huge amount of tobacco goods and whiskey in the course of the last year. so grumbling and barking that it reminds me of crowbar's kirk windstein to some extent. the art work goes hand in hand with the band's name and shows some consistency looking at the debut.

i really like that maritime theme. the record even ends with some sounds of the sea. when i ordered the records at the beginning of may the cd-version was already out since a few months and redfield had some problems with the pressing plant. as june came the vinyl was finally there and the outcome looks pretty neat. numbered sleeves, printed dust sleeves and nice marbled dark red vinyl. love when orders come with a little personal note. 525 made. get a copy here. nice job, redfield records. 2015.

iron walrus - insidious black sea

i am in a metal state of mind recently. i made my way into the doom genre and am therefore discovering a lot of new stuff. just as happened here. iron walrus is a german band and i stumbled upn them when checking the redfield records online store. the cover art of their second record, which will appear in the next post, was pretty cool and as i read 'doom metal' in the description i ventured over to the tube.

checking some tunes there, my decision was made. i wanted a copy. as redfield also had their debut record still in stock, i didn't do any monkey buisness and added it to the order. musically 'insidious black sea' is a real solid debut record. chunky riffs, beefy drums and rough vocals and the outcome is a great doom record with a distinct stoner edge. reminds me a bit of high on fire.

check out the songs 'sleep' and above all 'erdbeermund'. it's an instrumental song played over a six minute long klaus kinski sample. klaus kinski was a controversial but successful german actor in the seventies and eighties of the last century. he was known for his uncontrollable temper but also for his acting genius. this sample is a recorded reciting of a villion poem by paul zech. you can almost feel the raging energy floating through kinski here.

the album was released last year and pressed to vinyl in a crystal blue with black smoke edition. someone really spent some thoughts here matching the vinyl colour perfectly to the album title 'insidious black sea'. looks real nice held against the light. 503 copies made. comes with a numbered sleeve, mine is #227. copies still available. redfield records. 2014. 

monolord - vænir

it wasn't that long ago that i actually discovered this swedish doom band for me. something like two months ago i bought 'empress rising' and just a few days later i sensed news of an upcoming album flowing through the aether. as i was really liking 'empress...', i naturally wanted to be in the game for 'vænir'. so i weighed the odds for the pre-orders.

'vænir' was to appear on riding easy records from the states. the fact alone put me off. it meant high shipping rates. all together just too much money involved and really just the last possible option for me. fortunately the band offered an exclusive clear yellow version in their own web-shop. shipping from sweden wasn't cheap too by any means, but affordable at least and therfore reasonable.

i would have liked an opaque colour version but beggars can't be choosers. so i ordered. when the time of release date came nearer, the band posted on their facebook that it had to be delayed due some shipping errors by the delivery company. it all took an month or so extra but last week it finally showed up. the record looks pretty good as long as i am concerned. cool cover art. the word vænir is the name of a swedish lake, the third biggest in the world actually.

considering this, there should be a story to the cover motive. would really like to know it. anyway, the musical part of this release is pretty damn good. i just listened to it for a couple of times but i can say that it is every bit as crushing as 'empress rising' is. check out some tunes on the band's bandcamp page. riding easy has orange and black vinyl left. monolord has still some of the band exclusive clear yellow, or better clear gold, left in stock. get a copy, it's worth it! 200 made with a monolord amp-etching on the d-side. riding easy records. 2015.

oathbreaker - eros|anteros

another record that is lying around for a way too long time. oathbreaker's sophomore album 'eros|anteros' came out two years ago and that was when i actually bought it. now i'm finally coming around to post it up. again the starting point was a visit at burnout record store hamburg. i heard of the new oathbreaker record via the deathwish news letter but wasn't sure if i liked the band.

i didn't listen to any stuff of them, so when i came across a first press copy on milky clear vinyl at the store and put it on the turntable, it was my first encounter with this belgian crust/black metal/hardcore band. the first bits of the opening voice tracks on 'upheaval' of female singer caro sound much like alvin of the chipmunks on serious drugs and that put me off a little. nevertheless i liked the following stuff. thus i was a bit divided and so i put it back on the shelf.

being on my record store tour, i reached saturn store and stumbled upon another copy of the record. this time on the more limited electric blue colour way. i considered to and fro, in cause of the missing of a turntable at the store i grabbed a cd version and listened to it again. finally i came to the conclusion that i was unable to resist. all too obvious, indeed. but i really don't regret buying 'eros|anteros'. it's a great record, very raw and dark. check it out! sorry for the bad pics but it was actually winter and bad light when i took the photos. 700 copies on 'electric blue'. deathwish inc. 2013.

slomatics - estron

you remember that post about conan's split release together with slomatics and how i said the latter band wasn't my cup of tea? well, when i looked through the burning world web page, just out of curiosity, one cover caught my eye immediately. the regular reader might know that besides my addiction for vinyl, i am a huge star wars geek. and this cover reminded me strongly of a tatooine desert secene from 'a new hope'.

with this pleasant reminiscence i checked to which band such a cool cover might belong. slomatics was the name. so with my first dislike concerning these guys from belfast in the back of my mind, i ventured out to check some tunes of 'estron'. boy, suddenly it clicked with me. check 'tunnel dragger' and 'futurian' and get spaced out! quickly thereafter i ordered a copy together with the bongripper 'hate ashbury' record of a few posts back.

this new pressing is the first burning world vinyl pressing of this release. the first press was liscensed to head of crom records from the u.k. and came on 'dried blood red' vinyl. burning world brings us an orange variant, which matches the artwork perfectly. speaking of, the artist behind this awesome work is tony roberts who graced conan's records with his visuals as well. lovely! 300 copies made. burning world threw a digi-cd of the album into the package. thanks! 2014/2015.