hypocrisy - osculum obscenum (tape)

of course floga records wouldn't just drop one classic hypocrisy album on tape. nuclear blast had four more to offer but i went with only one other. to me it made sense to start with the early albums. so after i bagged the debut "penetralia", the sophomore album from 1993 seemed like the most obvious choice. i had to decide between two shell colour-ways, transparent green and transparent red.

i went with the green shell and think it looks very neat with the detailed print on the shell and all. just as much care went into the j-card. a multi-panel card with some band pics on one side and cool live pics on the flip side, all made of sturdy and textured card. the sound quality is awesome too. musically this old school death metal with an american tinge to it. i like this album a bit more than the debut. 250 copies made. floga records. 2018.

hypocrisy - penetralia (tape)

some old school death metal for a change. when i listen to european death metal from the early nineties, the bands usually originate from the united kingdom. speaking of bolt thrower, benediction and the like. i rarely venture into scandinavia, most of the stuff coming from there is not my cup of tea. when i saw these nice tape re-issues by floga records for a couple of old hypocrisy albums, i got curious, though.

my knowledge about hypocrisy records is limited, to say the least. i have listened to "a taste of extreme divinity" only, years back when i good friend of mine used to play it in his car. after i checked a few tunes of "penetralia", i was sure that this was up my alley and so i ordered a copy with a yellow shell. lovely j-card with much care for details and nice art. 250 copies made. floga records. 2018.

intronaut - valley of smoke

intronaut was a bit of dark horse to me. i tried to get into them previously. since they were on lifeforce records with their first album "void" back in 2006 and i used to listen to all what the label released, i checked a few tunes (i think i downloaded an mp3 from the label site - jesus, like in the stone age). but back then i wasn't ready and four years ago when century media released "the direction of last things" i didn't understand them.

how come i got "valley of smoke" on vinyl now? well, i bought the latest integrity re-press of "to die for", which was released by the german d.i.y. label backbite records, directly from the label's shop. browsing through the shop i saw that backbite also re-released two intronaut albums. i was interested and when i checked "valley of smoke" on the tube it finally clicked with me. unfortunately all the colour copies were sold out.

in such cases discogs is the first address for used copies. backbite has also a discogs store, or better the physical record store which is run by the dude who also runs backbite has a discogs store. strangely there were copies available and via a make-an-offer option i was able to lower the price to an appropriate bargain. the album itself is fantastic. progressivity, simplicity and atmosphere are forged into an unstoppable beast. love it! 100 copies on brown vinyl. they turned out a bit dark. actually released in 2010 on century media. backbite records. 2018.

length of time - shame to this weakness modern world

not too much new vinyl additions to my collection as of late. one of the few is this re-issue of length of time's e.p. called "shame to this weakness modern world". the original pressing on goodlife recordings from 1999 was way out of the price range, i was willed to pay and therefore i was really happy to snag the re-press which gsr music unleashed onto the world. i missed out on the actual start of the pre-orders and kind of stumbled upon it accidentally.

when i arrived at the scene the pre-orders were still going and i was happy to get a copy of the limited white vinyl version. it was delayed by the pressing plant which sent too much black vinyl instead of white by mistake. the delivery date was postponed from january to mid-february. when my copy finally arrived i was really pleased with the outcome. at first i was disappointed in gsr changing colours and layout of the original pressing.

by now i have grown to really like it. still i prefer the original but those black and white aesthetics really work well with the image shown (although i don't know what it depicts). musically i love everything length of time did and this e.p. is fantastic. great crossover sound made from hardcore and metal to forge the beast that is "shame to this...". gsr made 300 copies on white vinyl housed in a lovely reverse board cover sleeve coming with an insert. twenty year anniversary. gsr music. 2019.

post scriptum: for the first time i ordered a bundle. i could have done without the poster but the cd of "let the world with the sun go down" and this lovely shirt were well worth the price of admission.

jeff rosenstock - worry.

after i really fell in love with the snotty, musical sophistication that is "we cool?", i wanted more of jeff rosenstock's recorded stuff. the first record i came across, was the "worry." lp. it is the follow-up to "we cool?" and came out in 2015. it was pretty much on the cheap side but i was actually looking for some early pressings, as they seemed to have the cooler colour configurations.

i landed at the finest vinyl page and found a copy on clearance with the information that it was a baby blue and pink merge copy. yeah, that sounded good and so i ordered it. a few days later it arrived and it turned out to be one of the latest pressings on ultra clear vinyl. so i e-mailed the mailorder with the plea to return the copy as it wasn't the one i actually ordered. i got no response whatsoever and as i didn't care too much, i just kept the record.

instead i make bad advertisement for the mailorder (fuck finest vinyl!) and will never order from them again. the album is pretty sweet, though. urban gentrification and social inequalities are the main topics lyrically and musically this is just the fantastic mix of punk, pop, alternative rock and singer-songwriter music that made me rave about rosenstock's "we cool?" album before. lovely! fourth pressing out of 1.000 copies. sideonedummy records. 2015/2017.

slugdge - gastronomicon

the last of the three full lengths of slugdge being pressed to vinyl. with the steady success of the slugdge vinyl editions, i am sure the debut "born of slime" will get the vinyl treatment in due time as well. but for now i am done with the little collection. i am really excited to add "gastronomicon" to the stack because it is such a rager.

i am most impressed with the quality of any slugdge record so far. "gastronomicon" is no exception. so well executed prog death metal that the band has no peer. uinque and most entertaining. every word uttered to describe them is a waste of resources because you have to listen to them in order to fully comprehend. take my advice and check them out via their bandcamp page.

at the end of the bygone year willowtip records gave "gastronomicon" its first vinyl pressing although the album was actually released five years ago in 2014. again i was bound to find a european distro carrying the record, if i wanted to avoid nasty oversea shipping rates. the only one that i found was jpc.de but with a hefty price tag of almost fourty bucks. so i rather looked out for an option i went with quite a few times as of late - amazon.

look and behold there was a seller that offered a copy for almost ten buck less. no hesitation, it was mine. again no colour indication, so i assumed i would get the least limited - the random edition. i was right and have now this cool blue and brown marble double lp version. my grandma had an old tooth mug that looked just like the brown lp. it's translucent held against a light source. very nice all around. 250 copies made. willowtip records. 2018.

spawn of possession - cabinet

spawn of possession is a band i largely overlooked. i became aware of them when i saw the vinyl re-issue of their sophomore album "noctambulant" go up for pre-order at the artisan era internet shop. i am still looking for an e.u. retailer that carries artisan era records (anyone a clue?) and of course i was looking around on the bay. no "noctambulant" but the first album "cabinet" crossed my path.

"cabinet" already was released sixteen years ago in 2003. the label it actually appeared on was unique leader records and they lisenced the vinyl rights to french label osmose productions ten years later. the two labels seem to have teamed up quite a few times apparently. my copy of decrepit birth's "...and time begins" is a product of that liaison as well. back then black and limited red translucent vinyl was pressed and i was delighted to see the red lp on sale with a reasonable starting bid.

in the end i placed the only and thus the winning bid. the record arrived in prime condition. sharp edges to the sleeve, no seam splits on the printed dust sleeve and clean vinyl. the seller knew how to ship the goods well. musically this is fast and technical death metal of the breathtaking kind. archspire must have been great spawn of possession fans because there are quite a few similarities. not sure how many have been pressed. osmose productions. 2013.

biohazard - state of the world address

one of my long time wants got a re-press and of course i am there to gladly add a reasonable priced record to the collection. biohazard's "state of the world address" from 1994 was one of the hardcore records that reached my ears in an early stage of my musical socialisation. therefore i still hold this record close to my heart and forgive the little flaws generously. again, the problem why i didn't purchase an original copy earlier was the goddamn price.

i simply did not want to cash out the fifty bucks plus for a copy in good condition. thus i settled for the cd and later on for the tape version. as music on vinyl always does nice re-issues being close to the original edition, i had no hard feelings with getting this baby. only i was concerned a bit about the choice of the vinyl colour. silver vinyl seemed like a good idea looking at the black and white cover picture but i really hoped for orange.

orange? if you know original cd and tape copies of the album, you know that warner bros. music issued those editions in clear orange plastic cases with a black biohazard sign on the front. i really would have loved mov picked up on that theme; clear orange vinyl or a transparent orange protection sleeve or something. ah, what a missed opportunity. whatever the music still sounds lovely from vinyl. check out the album here. 1.000 copies made. music on vinyl. 2019.

napalm death - harmony corruption

at some point in 2017 i bought my first copy of the earache grindcrushing splatter series (morbid angel's "altars of madness"). after i snagged up the second piece (napalm death's "from enslavement to obliteration"), i began to consider starting a little collection. after i managed to grab entombed's "left hand path" for serious money, i was all in for the challenge. again ebay was the source for this find right here.

at the very end of 2018 finally the next piece of the puzzle fell into place. obviously all of the missing records (bolt thrower's "realm of chaos" and nocturnus' "the key" for example) are not for the faint of heart. therefore i was surprised to get "harmony corruption" from napalm death for a price which was ten bucks lower than the usual discogs going rate at the moment. i mean, it is one of the rather cheap records of the series but a good deal is a good deal.

the pre-owner took good care of his record really. the sleeve is almost in mint condition and the vinyl looks super clean as well. musically i like this album way better than "from enslavement to obliteration". probably because of the longer duration of the songs and the increased death metal portion in the overall sound. "harmony corruption" was the first album with barney greenway on vocals who left death metal act benediction for napalm. 2.000 copies made. earache records. 1990/1991.

devotion - head space astronaut (tape)

the second record i ordered for a sweet clearance deal was this devotion tape. i wasn't familoar with the band at all, i just thought the cover looked cool in a way. so i checked out the record on the tube and was really impressed with what i heard. lovely stoner metal with chunky riffs, melodies for days and the right grit to make it stand out of all the rest. convince yourself here.

this u.s. based band released two albums so far. one in 2009 and this one here in 2016. so with a bit luck we meet again on this blog in 2023. the tape version is super neat. the layout of the j-card cover and the clear cassette shell with silver liner and white print gives the release a real oldschool feel. "headspace astronaut" was only released on analog formats. vinyl and tape. tape version made by kram records. 2016.