high on fire - luminiferous (e-one version)

this is going to be my last entry for 2015. over 200 posts this year. man, i was pretty industrious. i cut down my backlog about a fair portion of the pile but didn't manage to reduce the entirety. i will fix that next year and be hopefully able to only post about recent additions to the collection. for now i'll end 2015 with the probably best looking piece of wax that i can call my own.

as a constant reader you know that i already have a copy of the latest high on fire record, called 'luminiferous'. it's the clear orange version from century media that serves as the european version of the album. it looks cool with the d-side etching and all but when i saw pictures of the u.s. versions on the net i got pretty jealous. one colour-way among them that made me crave for it in particular. a 'starburst' colour of utter most delicacy.

as it wasn't available through any retailer over here in europe i wrote it off, especially when i already had a copy. when i was browsing through ebay two weeks before christmas i accidentally came across a reasonably priced coloured u.s. version of 'luminiferous'. it was a canadian seller and i asked what version it might be. the answer was 'red yellow blue starburst' and i cheerfully pulled the trigger on it.

it arrived here even before christmas and what a beauty it is. just lovely. musically this is still the great album it was six months back when i initially listened to it, only with the slight difference that this new vinyl colour makes it even more fun to spin it. unfortunately i couldn't find any pressing numbers. u.s. version comes with download dropcard instead of cd. e-one. 2015.

post scriptum: as motörhead seems to be a constant high on fire influence, i'd like to take the opportunity to say goodbye to one who paved the way for heavy music as we know it. rest in peace, lemmy kilmister.

electric wizard - let us prey

the third electric wizard record to appear on my blog and the fourth in the electric wizard discography. after i bought 'dopethrone' on a whim at the nuclear blast shop and was blown away by it i set out to get the wizard's back catalogue on my beloved vinyl. a fun task because there are eight full lengths on numerous colours, so a lot of searching and seeking to get the best possible option.

in this case i had to make a compromise. when i was buying this record i had the following reasonable options. the clear/black smoke re-press from nuclear blast, a few discogs options and a gold re-press from high roller records. as you can see, i opted for the solid gold version from high roller because i was able to order a 'we live' copy along and save on shipping, although other colours looked cool, too.

the record was initially released in 2002 by rise above records. back then, rise above didn't go for a vinyl version. dark times for vinyl. only the u.s. label, the music cartel, released a black vinyl edition for the north american market. five years later rise above did the second pressing on a variety of colour-ways. seven years later the third pressing came around with my golden copy being part of it.

musically this record has a gloomier feel to it. i read in some interview that the band really tried to push the boundaries of their sound in the studio. experimenting with guitar layers and trying to give 'let us prey' an old horror movie feel. works for me. i really love this one. the artwork is a bit strange, though. can't say what it depicts. looks still good. 500 copies made. rise above records. 2002/2014. 

jail - resurrection

another farewell records release. this time it's about a brand new one. germany's jail debut 7" called 'resurrection'. first release and still resurrected? well, a lot of members were playing in other bands of the past decade. the most known among them might be vocalist björn of former black friday '29 fame. it's his energetic, typical hardcore-punk voice that appealed to me back then and still does with his new band jail.

so in a way the gathered expertise of all band members have been resurrected with this release. i stumbled upon it when i ordered the river card's 'forced hand' 7" at the farewell e-store. the description said for fans of black friday '29 and synthesizers and i thought it might be an interesting mixture. it was still at pre-order stage and so i was happy to snag one of the limited band colour out of 100 pink copies.

when the record arrived one and half week ago i was a little split as to what i should think of jail. on the one hand it is very decent hardcore topped off with björn's great voice, on the other hand i was missing the synthesizer sounds. that trademark really could have set the band apart from the bulk. in the end only 'no limit' has some synths in it. forge your own opinion right here. farewell records. 2015.

the river card - forced hand

the last time i heard anything of the river card was three years ago when i got their debut full length 'momentum' and 'the great fall' 7". in the mean time the band seemed to be pretty quiet, or maybe it was just me who didn't show a sympathetic ear. whatever it was, i heard news of this new output through jake's blog. it felt a little bit like a déjà vu.

through the same channel i discovered this band in the first place. jake got a clear and a white copy at the band's e-store. i got a hold on a limited baby blue copy because the german label farewell records still had some left. i listened to their other stuff again and when i compare it to the new four songs, the river card didn't lose a bit of that energy. it's still that gritty, ny-tinged hardcore

you can listen to that whole 7" at the band's bandcamp page and if you want, get re-directed to buy a physical copy, which you should do obviously. the artwork of that record is, like all the river card releases, superb. looks lovely in combination with the coloured vinyl. 500 copies in total with 200 on white, another 200 on clear and 100 on that blue marble. farewell records. 2014.

rise & fall - hellmouth

so i have walked the path from most recent rise & fall record, which is 'faith', to the furthermost record, which is 'hellmouth'. actually i bought this copy right here before i obtained 'our circle is vicious' and 'into oblivion' but i found the retroverted chronological order somewhat cooler. anyway, i bought this slab of wax at my favourite physical record store in hamburg, burnout record store.

it was one of that records that were sitting there for a long time collecting dust on the shelf. i meant to pick it up several times before but always other stuff was more important and blew the financial frame i set. but eventually good things come to those who wait. musically this is really good stuff. it's a more raw version of their future deeds but with that feeling for energy driven, dark melodies already.

2004 the album was initially released by germany's join the team player records consisting of eight songs. anger management records, also from germany, took care of the vinyl version. jake and willem have copies of that version. 2009 rise & fall signed to deathwish inc. and two years later 'hellmouth' got re-released on some nice colour vinyl plus three bonustracks. this is what we have here. lovely opaque orange out of 756 copies. deathwish inc. 2011.

ignite - call on my brothers

when i thought of the next record to post about and was looking through my vinyl pictures, i came across ignite. i recently pre-ordered their new record 'a war against you' and so this might be a good warm-up for coming january. 'call on my brothers' was ignite's second record and came out in 1995 on conversion records. at the time they were also signed to lost & found records from germany.

their first releases 'scarred for life', 'family' and the ep 'in my time' were all released by lost & found records. obviously the band rather liked to collaborate with an u.s. label because in times without internet, communication across the pond was more difficult than nowadays. as the band asked their german label to hand out the mastertapes for 'in my time' for a u.s. release, lost & found felt decieved and threatened to boycott the release.

ignite backed down and 'in my time' and 'family' were released by lost & found records in europe. the band still signed to conversion records and released the material under the name of 'call on my brothers' in north america. in 2000 revelation records re-released the album on cd first and two years later finally on vinyl again. i now have a further re-press on clear red vinyl out of probably a shitload of copies. great record, by the way. revelation records. 2014.

carnifex - the diseased and the poisoned

the final record in two senses. it's the final record to my complete carnifex full length vinyl collection and the final record of the bunch i ordered at victory records. when i threw all that snapcase re-issues in my cart i thought, what the hell i might as well add this one, too. it's the second carnifex full length and the first that was released through chicago's victory records.

back when it came out in 2008 i was eager to hear new stuff of them. i had the 'dead in my arms' debut on uprising records on cd and really liked it. it was one of the first wave of deathcore rolling over me and so their second album was highly anticipated by me. when i finally got the cd of 'the diseased and the poisoned' i was pretty much underwhelmed.

it was the carnifex trademark sound with a better production but the album was missing something. everything is quite good but that last spark of excitement just won't jump to light the fire. it was like that back then and it is like that in present day. despite that fact i just had to get it to have them all. yeah, this confusing record collecting logic.

the label stated the record as clear pink vinyl. well when it arrived and i pulled it out of the sleeve it looked way more like clear red vinyl. only when i hold it up to the light it has this remote pink shade. whatever, this is technically a first press record because it was never pressed to polyvinyl chloride before. clear pink a.k.a. clear red is out of 500 copies. victory records. 2008/2015. 

behold! the monolith - s/t

i was checking the new arrivals section at kozmik artifactz lately, just out of curiosity. kozmik is a very decent mailorder with loads of good doom and stoner releases, thus it's always worthwhile to take a look around. this time i stumbled upon a band called behold! the monolith. i never heard of that band, i just thought their cover looked hilarious. i clicked the offer and read through the description.

it said doomy riffage, pummeling heaviness and exploratory parts that might take you on a journey to another planet. well, that sounded interesting. i seeked the band's bandcamp page to check out some tunes. after i did so, there was not the shadow of a doubt that i wanted a copy. on this record they remind me a lot of high on fire but with those expansive progressive parts thrown into their songs, they create their very own sound and i love that.

you can check out the album in whole at their bandcamp and if you have a soft spot for bands like the aforementioned high on fire, red fang or electric wizard, you definitely should give them a shot. if you don't already have, that is. as usually i am quite late to the party. this self-titled record was released almost seven years ago. still you can pick up a copy of this splattered vinyl version from their e-store.

in the end i didn't order with kozmik artifactz (but i pre-ordered the latest b!tm record there), because i found a cheaper opportunity. not much but still. again i placed my order at hhv.de - at their ebay store to be precise. the whole order went down all hassle-free. holding the record now in hands, i wonder who thought it might be a good idea to press the record on this colour-pattern. doesn't fit the artwork at all if you ask me. anyway, 200 pressed on grey with multi-colour splatter. arctic forest records. 2009.

snapcase - steps

the last piece of snapcase vinyl i ordered from victory in this year's october. the steps 7" from 1995. boy, twenty years. these timeframes never cease to amaze me. victory re-pressed alot of their snapcase back catalogue recently and i am happy to have snatched them all up. to obtain any coloured snapcase vinyl from the usual sources turned out to be quite difficult.

all the copies i came across were too pricey or went for more money than i wanted to pay. so these re-presses were welcomed opportunities to finally grab them on vinyl. the moderate shipping costs victory claims were another encouragement to pull the trigger on the items. again victory went for no changes with the original artwork of 'steps', which just suits me fine.

for me, this is the best way to make a re-press. i do appreciate some slight changes, if they make sense, but i am not that much a fan of completely new artwork. personal preferences aside, i really like the look of this thing. crisp and clean. looks very much hardcore if you ask me. of course i am an admirer of this lovely clear pink vinyl. it has some black smudges in it, which makes it even more attractive.

musically this baby rocks. those three songs were a promise that was about to be kept on 'progression through unlearning' two years later. it's that fine snapcase hardcore that they perfected on further releases. check out 'cognition', 'steps' and 'windows'. three shots of most delicate musicianship. clear pink vinyl is out of 220 copies and still available from the label. victory records. 1995/2015.

kaospilot - shadows

you probably know that, you walk into a record store and get lost in the sheer excitement of record-shopping. you pull a few bits from the racks you always wanted and then you even pull some more stuff because it looks interesting. you think, while i am at it why shouldn't i take some more? it won't do no harm. this was the way kaospilot and me came together. the cover art looked quite cool and so i threw it on the store's turntable to check it out.

after the first tunes hit my ear, i knew it was one of those post-hardcore bands with a screamo touch to it. i thought it wasn't bad and so it ended up in my collection. after i took it home it somehow got lost in the flood of stuff i buy every month. i bought this record more than a year ago and it spun only a handful of times on my turntable. i believe if it had been a band i discovered at home and took the time to really listen to them beforehand, i wouldn't have bought it in the first place.

don't get me wrong, it is not bad at any accounts but just not the stuff that excites me. i'd compare their style to oathbreaker, with the difference that oathbreaker is darker and has a bit more aggression going on. check out the record here. the band hails from norway and for 'shadows' they worked out a deal with magic bullet records from the states. my green marble colour is out of 200 copies and looks just lovely. there are a few more colour-ways. check out the breakdown here. magic bullet records. 2009.