The Influence Of Halfmast

Back in 1994, it was a strange time for Hardcore. Bands seemed to be moving further and further away from that basic, stripped down sound. Bands were either adopting the emo/Revolution Summer sound, not smiling and getting serious about everything, or going chaotic and metal. Bands like Mouthpiece and Strife were few and far between. Yet, some bands deep underground, were desperately trying to keep that Youth Crew sound alive. Before Fastbreak and Ten Yard Fight made Hardcore fun again, bands like Halfmast were out there trying to keep the spirit alive.

I had purchased Halfmast's Together 7 inch back when it was released in 1994, but somehow I missed out on their Influence record released that same year. I was killing some time on ebay a few weeks ago, and I stumbled upon a copy of Influence, and snagged it for 99 cents. The record is pretty similar to Together...very raw production and rough around the edges, but still very much Straight Edge Hardcore played with heart.

While the record looks like black vinyl, it gives the appearance of some kind of translucent colored vinyl when held up to the light. For some reason, I want to say that Third Party Record just used cheap vinyl for their records, and this isn't really colored vinyl.

This record also came with a few additional inserts. Some advertisement for a movie called Barcelona, and a lyric sheet on heavy red paper. The songs on the red lyric sheet are not for the Influence record, and is titled Nation Under God. Is there another Halfmast that I'm not aware of? Confusing inserts to say the least.