dimmu borgir - stormblåst (tape)

this year has been rich in dimmu borgir records already and after i saw them live at wacken open air in august, i am a bit on a dimmu kick. so when nuclear blast put up a tape version of the band's second full length in their store, i didn't think twice and ordered a copy. as i wasn't familiar with this record whatsoever, i informed myself and found out that i just bought a re-recording of the album. dimmu released "stormblåst" in 1996 via cacophonous records. it was recorded at endless sound production and due to a tight schedule the band had to make compromises concerning the sound.

obviously this was bugging leading band members shagrath and silenoz that much, that they were losing their sleep over this. in 2005 they decided to re-record the whole affair in the way they originally wanted it to sound. they entered abyss studios in sweden and settled this once and for all. among fans of dimmu's early days, the re-recording is like a red rag to a bull. the band felt the need to justify for "stormblåst MMV" right from the beginning, so there is even an explanation in the booklet.

that doesn't concern me to be honest. i think the record is quite good. it is way more forceful than i had anticipated. the production doesn't seem too clear to my ears but i experienced that quite often with abyss studio productions. not really my taste in most cases. the tape is pro-made and looks and sounds well from front to back. 100 copies made with the light grey shell. nuclear blast. oldschool records. 2018.

zaum - eidolon

after i listened quite a lot to "oracles" because it is probably the best doom metal record i came across this year so far, i wanted more. the overall oriental/mesopotamian theme really appealed to me and so i checked what further works the duo might have under their belt. i stumbled upon their most recent album "eidolon" from two years ago. i checked possibilities to grab a copy on the internet and found an option at high roller records from germany. i added a copy of "eidolon" to the two gorguts re-issues, i wrote about recently, and it arrived here in prime condition.

it seems like the two dude's favourite subject in school were the history lessons. "oracles" brought us back into the ancient middle east and "eidolon" tells a story of a high culture from south america. frankly, i have to admit that i fail to distinguish between maya, aztec and inca. i read in some review it was about the aztec. can anyone shed some light on the issue? musically this is yet another masterpiece of mystic atmosphere and heavy drone/doom metal. the guys in zaum have such a delicate sense of the right balance - you have to hear it! this is a re-press on "emerald" green out of 333 copies. i hate records. 2016/2017.

zaum - oracles (tape)

zaum is a new discovery to me. i was browsing the urtod void bigcartel shop, which is a german d.i.y. label and distro. they have some good tape releases on offer and so i stumbled upon a very interesting looking cover art work. it reminded me strongly on the southern lord release of sleep's "dopesmoker". i love painted vast landscapes as cover art and so i was bound to listen to some tunes. after the duration of thirteen minutes called "zealot", i knew i had to have this. five bucks paid and a few days later my cassette copy arrived.

the whole journey through "oracles" is as mysterious as it is stirring. it is quite amazing that just two guys can create such a dense atmosphere. drums, a 6-string bass and a voice as the core elements. a little synthesizer here, a bit sitar there and there you go - perfect monolithic doom metal record with a hefty oriental edge to it. do yourself a favour and check them out. the tape itself is of high quality. great sound all the way through and good preservation of the whole artwork throughout the j-card. still i consider getting the vinyl version as well - time will tell. 100 copies made as a re-press by greek aisxini records this year. originally released on i hate records in 2014.

slomatics - a hocht

northern irish doom/sludge outfit slomatics gracing this blog with a recent re-press of their second full length "a hocht". initially it was released in 2012, cd version made by burning world and vinyl rights liscensed to head of crom records. i was introduced to small uk label head of crom via their pressings of the first conan record, which i never got my hands on. in its day head of crom pressed a clear orange vinyl edition out of 300 copies, which proved to be difficult to obtain. therefore i was really happy when burning world announced a re-press this year.

as i wanted to save on shipping, it took me a bit of time to finally order a copy. when the new bongripper came around and burning world was handling european pre-order affairs, it seemed like the perfect chance to order "a hocht" along. musically this record may become my favourite slomatics album. "a hocht" is no big deviation from their other works in terms of sound but the dynamic, the flow is fantastic. droning, yet catchy - check it out. i always wondered what the record title meant. google says it's irish and simply means "eight". don't know if that is correct but the album has eight songs so maybe that's the trick. clear red vinyl out of 300 copies. burning world records. 2012/2018.

type o negative - the least worst of

type o negative had an undeniable influence on the metal world during their existence from 1989 to 2010 and beyond. pete steele was one of the most charismatic vocalists and frontmen in contemporary music and so it is no wonder that the band generated quite a cult around itself. i am ashamed to admit that i fairly overlooked type o when they were active and even years after the passing of pete steele and the associated breakup of the band. a cover song of "love you to death" from pallbearer was the spark to lit the fire of interest.

the song is part of pallbearer's "fear and fury" e.p. and i have this piece of vinyl since its release in 2016. recently i began to really appreciate the cover song but never bothered to check out the original until a few weeks ago. i listened to more songs of type o negative, which i vaguely knew from the past ("everything dies" for example, which i used to watch the video of on music tv back in 1999). i decided that those were great and that i needed some vinyl.

unfortunately i found out that type o negative vinyl is not for the faint of heart and doesn't come cheap. in the face of those mean second hand prices i threw the towel. in today's re-issue madness i am pretty sure that there will be new pressings of all the type o full lengths sooner or later. thankfully a copy of this best of compilation fell into my hands at a media markt for a very decent price of fifteen bucks.

the price was too good and the opportunity to get some great type o songs on vinyl too tempting to not take it with me, even though i usually do not buy those best of comps. as this one wasn't just a label pick but the band itself chose the song selection, i think it's one of the better assortments. a few different non-album versions and a good cross section throughout the band's carreer. all this comes on heavy black dual vinyl in a matte cardboard gatefold sleeve with printed dust sleeves. good work by roadrunner and cargo records. originally released in 2000. vinyl version from 2014.

gorguts - the erosion of sanity

when listenable records from france re-issued "considered dead" first in 2016, they also did a re-issue of gorguts second effort "the erosion of sanity", originally released in 1993. strangely the album was never pressed to vinyl before. i have a few roadrunner releases on vinyl which came out in the same year or even later. it remains a mystery to me why the label refused the production of a vinyl version.

so the 2016 edition was technically speaking a first press and this makes my copy part of the second press. actually it is just a re-press of a re-issue. fuck all that anyway, what counts is listening to the music on vinyl. and musically gorguts delivers heaps of typical early nineties death metal with a strong american tinge. "the erosion of sanity" is more diverse than its predecessor and sometimes the beginning progressivity shines through.

although i have to say the record has its lengths. it is not always able to keep my attention up and at this point i prefer "considered dead" over this full length. the presentation by listenable is cool, though. great transfer of the cover art into the lp format, sturdy insert and slightly marbled orange vinyl to round out the package. funnily the hype sticker advertises it as splatter vinyl. come on, really cannot see this. 500 copies made. listenable records. 2018.

gorguts - considered dead

gorguts became one of my most respected bands since i have their masterpiece "obscura" in my collection. the works of the band are never easily digested but so rich in detail and sophisticated musicianship, that a gorguts record will always be a pleasure for the ears. i own all their post-"obscura" records and couldn't decide which one might be better. "from wisdom to hate", "colored sands" and "pleiades' dust" are proof of the uniqueness of this canadian prog death monster around band leader luc lemay.

but there is also a pre-"obscura" era. a period in the early nineties where gorguts were part of a flourishing scene which chose to call their music death metal. a time where bands like death, obituary, deicide or suffocation were releasing milestones of the genre. right into this time frame, maybe when the death metal hype peaked, gorguts released their debut "considered dead". they even got a record deal with roadrunner records, the label all the aforementioned bands released their stuff on.

i don't how the album was recieved back then but when i am listening to this re-issue now, i assume it was quite successful. it ticks all the right boxes for a death metal fan of the time. it is a solid effort which doesn't show any hints of the brilliancy to come, though. still, i really enjoy it. the presentation by listenable does the original justice. only the back of the sleeve got a work-over that ties in with original very well. i love the cover art by dan seagrave here. 500 copies on clear blue with black smoke vinyl. listenable records. 2018.

whitechapel - this is exile

metal blade pursues an aggressive policy of re-issuing everything which isn't fast enough to escape their grip. i took advantage of that expansion a few times and as long as i am concerned, metal blade can keep them coming. earlier on, late in last year the label pressed whitechapel's debut "the somatic defilement" to vinyl for the first time and now the band's second full length "this is exile" is queued up next.

when pre-orders went live at emp mailorder, the host of the european metal blade store, it took me a few seconds to secure meself a copy. that was in april but release date was in july. i don't have a problem waiting for pre-orders but three months were quite long. anyway, i survived the waiting and i have to say the pressing is of great quality. the first press just came on shitty picture disc and that is why i never bothered to obtain it.

this new pressing does the album justice. it comes in a regular slip sleeve with a double-sided insert and nice colour vinyl. the only thing which is weird is the missing of the poster. the sticker clearly indicates a poster but there wasn't any after i unsealed the record. i checked the net for info and only found pictures without a poster but no statement, so i'm still not sure. whatever, my copy is #20 out of 200 and looking sharp on clear with black and red splatter vinyl. metal blade. 2008/2018.

crowbar - sonic excess in its purest form

back when i bought my first crowbar piece of vinyl at kiel's blitz records store, i also held a copy of "sonic excess in its purest form" in hands but only walked away with "odd fellows rest". in hindsight i regretted that move quite a bit because i found it hard to obtain a copy afterwards. at one point all reasonable priced copies vanished from ebay and discogs and i never saw another one sitting in physical store.

i thought, i just wait for an ebay auction to get my hands on the record and focused on other things. time passed and i forgot about the album. when i finally saw the band live with converge in leipzig this year, i was blown away by their show. crowbar was close to beat converge to second place in terms of intensity and so their appearance served as great reminder to get that record eventually. just out of curiosity i checked ebay again and look and behold, there were a few reasonable buy-it-now options by a commercial seller from switzerland. i used to buy from them in the past and was never disappointed. no change with this order.

"sonic excess in its purest form" was released in 2001 by spitfire records. a record label completely unknown to me. a little research unearthed the information that the label isn't active anymore these days and that they released mostly liscenced stuff for the north american or brazilian market. i believe this crowbar album was one of their genuine releases. anyway, they never did a vinyl version back then and so back on black handled the job fourteen years after its initial release.

the presentation by back on black is very nice as usual with this british, re-issue specialised label. sturdy gatefold sleeve, black dust sleeve and heavyweight coloured vinyl. love the band picture on the inside of the gatefold. what a bunch of handsome dudes, right? these guys have class standing around half-naked and looking real happy. hilarious. the album is fantastic musically. i love "repulsive in its splendid beauty" in particular. 500 copies on clear blue vinyl. back on black. 2015.

crimson glory - transcendence

the second record i scored at the von gestern store is an oddball. when i pulled it from the racks i didn't quite know what i was holding in hands, only the vague idea that i saw the cover somewhere a short while ago. i remembered that i had seen this on the music on vinyl homepage. the terms "progressive metal" and "roadrunner records" i also recalled. with these two in combination i thought i might as well give it a shot, especially as this was the original european roadrunner pressing.

musically this heavy metal with a bright progressive side, which makes it quite an enjoyable listen. in reviews on the internet the record is praised as one of the conceptional most coherent and influential melodic metal albums of the decade. frankly, i never heard of neither band nor record but it was re-issued by music on vinyl as a matter of fact. so there must be a demand for the album. anyway, i like the look of the original press. recorded at the infamous morrisound studios in florida, by the way. roadrunner records. 1988.