Staring At Patterns Of 2022

Another year gone. Some major personal milestones as I made my first attempt at a 100 mile race (and bonked at 50 miles because the temps shot up over 90 degrees). Plus, I became a grandfather (which is still blowing my mind) and I'm excited for when he is older and I can be the first to introduce him to Black Sabbath's Heaven And Hell.

Time travels with such speed these days that I look back over the past 12 months and it is one big blur. I went into the year with a mission to really add to my New Wave Of British Heavy Metal collection, but soon my attention started to wander over to some late 80's thrash records and I really focused on that for about two seconds before I started to obsess over cheap and forgotten hardcore records from the earlyl 2000's. I was all over the fucking place, but one thing stayed constant and that was wave after wave of great hardcore records that were being released in 2022. Of the 170 records that I bought this year, 56 of them were new releases. I really wanted to catch up with some older classics, but hardcore was on fire and kept me chasing new shit.

Record collecting was fun in 2022, but looking back at my list there were very few heavy hitters on there. The game has gotten stupid expensive, even for the most common shit, and I played things very conservatively this year. Each big record that I'd look at, I'd sweat the price and think it was too expensive, and I'd back off. I failed to add another AC/DC Australian first press to the collection, which was a huge disappointment, and I barely fucked around with my Top Wants list, but I still had a good time. Here are some of the records that I was pretty excited to pick up.

Typically I only do my Top 5 new pickups for the year, but I'm trying a new format for this end of the year recap. I'm a sucker for a clean look, and going with a Top 9 square made the most sense to me as I was pulling this post together, so my apologies if this gets a bit obnoxious.

1. Alert 'Demo 08' test press - It might seem ridiculous to be so excited over a demo 7 inch for a long forgotten straight edge band that probably didn't leave much of an impact in the hardcore scene, but if you know me at all, you know that I hold tight to those insignificant bands that most people have either left in their rearview mirror or have never cared about. I was fucking stoked to score this test press.

2. Caught In A Crowd 'You've Lost' record release - Yo, coming in hot on my favorite pickups is another Massachusetts straight edge band. Hand numbered and getting 1/50 was very cool. I listened to a lot of CIAC this year.

3. Fire & Ice 'Not Of This Earth' United Blood cover - Holy shit. I was so happy to pick up this one. I've had this on my Want List for about nine years, and it was the last record I needed to complete this collection. This album still makes me move.

4. Avail 'Front Porch Stories' on red - This is a record that I've always wanted, but never made it much of a priority. When Marcus was selling some records for a friend, and I saw this on the list, I figured now was a good time to drop some money and grab it. Once it arrived, and I saw how great that red vinyl looks, I'm glad that I jumped on it. An underrated Avail classic that I was happy to rediscover with this purchase.

5. Atrophy 'Socialized Hate' original press - As I was obsessing over late 80's thrash, I listened to both Socialized Hate and Violent By Nature from Atrophy a lot. Violent By Nature is a bit harder to come by, so I was happy to snatch up the band's first album for relatively cheap.

6. Endeavor 'Crazier Than A Shithouse Rat' on grey - During a mid-90's obsession earlier this year, I rediscovered the first album from Endeavor. It proved to be a bit more difficult to find a copy than I expected, but as soon as one was available on Discogs, I pounced.

7. Pegboy 'Strong Intention' - I really wanted a copy of this record when I discovered it last year, but it wasn't as easy to track down as I expected. I love this record so much and can't believe that I was over 30 years late in discovering it. When Marcus was selling off his friend's collection and let me know that he had some Pegboy records available, I was happy to finally grab a copy.

8. Warzone 'Open Your Eyes' Caroline press - I suppose that I should include this Warzone record on my list. It was the only record that I was able to cross off my Top Wants list for the year. A classic for sure.

9. Rigor Mortis 'Freaks' US Metal Blade pressing - That first Rigor Mortis album continues to elude me. Each year I tell myself that this is year that I finally grab one, and each year I fail. I've kind of obsessed over that first album for a few years, but I'd totally forgotten about their follow up EP, Freaks. Buying this copy reminded me just how great this record is... and that cover art work is amazing.

1. Method Of Doubt - Staring At Patterns

2. Bent Blue - Where Do Ripples Go?

3. Almighty Watching - Doubtless

4. Berthold City - When Words Are Not Enough

5. Statement Of Pride - A Fire Inside / Summer '22 Promo

6. Bitter Branches - Your Neighbors Are Failures

7. Mindforce - New Lords

8. Abstain - Infirm Of Purpose

9. Moral Law - The Looming End

I'm not sure if my new graphic works for showing the ranking, so I've listed it as well. I don't know, maybe I should just use an image of the album cover instead of a vinyl photo. Oh well. Like I mentioned earlier, there were a lot of great hardcore releases this year. I really wrestled with this Top 9, and it was tough to cut some records from it. One thing was certain, and that was that the Method Of Doubt record was going to be my number one. Sure it might have been released digitally at the end of 2021, but fuck it... my list, my rules... I'm including it here. Bent Blue made a solid number two though. I discovered their 2020 demo earlier this year, and along with the new EP, I listened to that band a lot. The surprise of the year was the new Bitter Branches. I enjoyed the first record alright, but this new one hooked me quick... plus "have you tried jogging?" is now my go-to response for any complaint or problem that someone has. Other records may seem like odd choices, and while I felt the need to include Spite House, Praise or Combust here, in the end I did a gut check and just enjoyed some of the ones listed here more.

1. Satan - Earth Infernal

2. Ghost - Impera

3. Midnight - Let There Be Witchery

4. Savage Master - Those Who Hunt At Night

5. Sumerlands - Dreamkiller

6. Clutch - Sunrise On Slaughter Beach

7. Saxon - Carpe Diem

8. Voivod - Synchro Anarchy

9. Early Moods - Early Moods

How about some metal? Satan continue to release amazing records. Everything they have released since thier reunion in 2013 has easily landed near the top of my favorite metal albums for the year, and Earth Infernal was no exception. Lots of surprises from bands that I already was familiar with. Ghost, Midnight, Saxon and Voivod all delivered records that were much better than I was expecting. Early Moods was a last minute addition, and I haven't even received the vinyl for it yet. I checked them out last week when I saw them on someone's Top 10 list, and was floored by their doomy Candlemass sound. I'm not sure how I'll feel after sitting with the record, but for now, they ended up bumping Vio-lence or Municipal Waste from this number 9 spot.

One last thing that I wanted to capture here was something that I picked up from Marcus last year... what I was listening to outside of the new 2022 releases. As I bounce between hardcore and metal, and become obsessed with different eras, I'm always interested to see what rises to the top. I contemplated writing about each one, but instead I'll keep it quick. I definitely listened to that Power Alone record more than anything this past year (yes, even more than the new Method Of Doubt). It is probably one of my favorite records from the past five years, and someone needs to sell me a white vinyl copy at a reasonable price. The Coolside and Blangk 7 inches were great finds this year that I returned to again and again. I was kind of surprised to see Bloodlust Revenge this high on my list, but I guess I did follow up Ecostrike spins with some One King Down, so it makes sense. Lastly, the Atrophy and Forbidden records saw a lot of playing time, and one of my biggest disappointments of the year is that I wasn't able to find a nice copy of Violent By Nature or Twisted Into Form for a decent price and pick them up.

Phew. Sorry for all the words. I know that was a lot, but if you are still hanging on and reading this blog, thanks for playing along.

Metallica Vinyl Club #7

Metallica recently announced that their fourth release in their Vinyl Club subscription would not be come out until sometime in early 2023. Vinyl production delays have just made things too unstable for the band to continue with any confidence with the subscription. It was sad news, as I really liked the surprise of what the band was going to release... plus everything was such great quality. It was a real treat. Oh well, as things wind down, I did receive the third release for 2022.

Metallica does seem to love fucking around with acoustic renditions for their songs. They already gave us the acoustic Blackened 2020 record in the Vinyl Club earlier this year, and this time around they drop four songs on us from their set at the Bridge School Benefit in 1997. I've always enjoyed the acoustic Metallica sets, in fact I purchased the official bootleg CD of their Musicares Benefit from 2014 so that I could own their amazing covers of When A Blind Man Cries and Diary Of A Madman in a physical format, so I was hoping for something cool an unique with this Bridge School set as well.

As enjoyable as this record is, it doesn't really offer anything super new. Sure it is kind of cool to have live versions of Low Man's Lyric and Poor Twisted Me, but they were already close enough to the acoustic format, so these versions aren't a great stretch of the imagination. Fade To Black is kind of a metal ballad, so even that song doesn't really push any boundaries... and then The Four Horsemen is a bit different, but the band kind of lose the thread of the song near the end and it just kind of collapses in on itself. I think that this performance was Metallica's first foray into the acoustic set, so they were playing things a bit conservatively (although their cover of Helpless from this set sounds good, and it would have been cool to see it included here). Still, this is a nice fit in the Metallica's Vinyl Club.

Nice packaging as usual with the Vinyl Club releases. Great looking cover and some writing from Lars about the show. Typically, there is an extra insert of some kind, but this time around, the band decided to forgo the cost of a special bonus item and make a donation to the Bridge School.

Decline Of New Age Records

A few years ago, it was brought to my attention that New Age Records had been releasing some great records that I'd completely missed the boat on. I had a blast diving into bands like Drug Control and The Dividing Line, but there were some that fell a bit flat for me. Decline was one of the bands and their 7 inch did not hold my interest at the time. The band were straight edge, and I definitely wanted to like them, but the songs from that 7 inch just didn't do anything for me. Five years after the release of that 7 inch, Decline are back with another record.

After reading the No Echo interview with Decline, and hearing them echo the same sentiments that I've been feeling the last few years in regards to racist MAGA bullshit, I knew that I was going to have to check out the new song that they released as a preview for the album. Compared to that 7 inch from 2017, the Broken album sounds like a completely different band to me. Where the 7 inch was raw and rough, this new record really reminds me of the Joe Nelson era of Ignite, or The Killing Flame. There is a nice polished youth crew revival feel to this whole record, except with some pissed off and political lyrics. I'm quite surprised with just how great this album is.

I didn't bother messing around with the 77 pressing and those small labels. Nah, that's okay. I'll just stick with the tri-color pressing. Limited to 115. Nice looking screen print on the b-side!

Bl'asting Concept

I'd never heard of Blasting Concept until Marcus did a post about thier first album last year. With his comparisons to the second Annihilation Time record, and the look of that album cover with some kind of skeleton wizard on a chopper, I immediately knew that I needed to check it out.

This record is such a... ahem... blast. I was surprised to find that this thing was released in 2010, because if pressed, I would have guessed it came out of the 80's alongside Bl'ast and those late era Black Flag albums... except that Blasting Concept incorporate some wild riffs and have a more snotty attitude to their songs. Man, this record is such a fun time.

I've been on the hunt for this piece of vinyl since discovering it from Marcus, but I was avoiding the overpriced sellers on Discogs. The wait finally paid off when a nice cheap copy popped up and I jumped on it. These days, it is a rare good feeling when you find a record listed for a decent price.

Orange Vis

High Vis became a big deal in 2022. Sure some brits were talking about this band back in 2020, but it didn't sound like something that I'd be interested in at the time, so I didn't bother. This year the band released a new album and were suddenly everywhere. There was so much hype that I couldn't resist and figured that I had to see what all the fuss was about.

I knew this High Vis record wasn't going to be straight forward hardcore, but I didn't really know what I was getting into. This record starts off with a bang, and if we were only talking about the first three songs, this would rank very high on my list. Talk For Hours, 0151, and Out Cold are just so fucking good, and it was at that point during my first listen on Spotify that I rushed out to buy a copy of the record. The rest of the album is good, but it never comes near the level of excitement that I felt at the beginning. I can appreciate what High Vis is doing, and it makes for a nice refreshing listen, but I'm still not sure how much I'll be pulling out this record for a spin. I mean, I like it, but it feels like it needs a boost of energy, especially at the end of the album. Those first three songs though... fuck... so good.

600 pressed on orange vinyl.

Struck Gold

When I picked up the Struck Nerve album from Youngblood last year, it was the first that I'd heard of the band. That record grew on me quite a bit, to the point where I found myself thinking it was a good idea to own multiple copies. Recently, I became aware that the band had also released a 7 inch back in 2018. It was on WAR Records, and it must have been before I was paying attention to that label, because I totally missed out on it. When I was buying one of the newer records from WAR, I noticed that they still had a couple of copies of that Struck Nerve 7 inch still in their store. I figured that it was a good time to grab one.

This is such a cool record, and it totally give me vibes of Desperate Measures, or maybe a bit of Mental (especially with that "real recognizes real" line from one of the songs). I think that this was originally a demo, so it isn't surprising that the songs are a bit more rough and raw compared to the Youngblood record, but I'm definitely glad that I picked this up.

Gold vinyl limited to 100.

New Mindforce Lords

Mindforce have consistently delivered since I discovered them with their The Future Of... 7 inch back in 2017. It seems like they have dropped something new just about every year since then, which is pretty impressive for a hardcore band, and that productivity has kept the band at the center of my attention. It seems that most years, I'm trying to figure out where they are going to fall within my Top 10 list, and this year is no exception.

Initially, my reaction to New Lords was a bit tepid. With my first couple of casual listens, it became backgroung noise and I was just thinking "Yeah, no surprise... it sounds like Mindforce." Once I really sat down with the record, and really paid attention, that's when the record started to hit me a bit harder. No doubt this is a great record, but time will tell if they reach the level set with Excalibur or The Future Of. It is a solid history to live up to.

There were 50 different exclusive pressings for New Lords and I imagine that they all look terrible. The ultra clear & neon green pinwheel with neon orange splatter is a mouthful.

Easy Prey

When I was picking up the Autumn retrospective from Hellminded, I noticed that they had preorders going up for a band named Easy Prey. I didn't know anything about the band, but that record cover had some powerful imagery so I obviously had to check it out.

I was expecting an angry record here, and Easy Prey do not disappoint on that front. These songs fully capture the frustration and unrest from the fallout of Trump style politics and conservative disregard of people, Easy Prey bundle those feelings and spit them out in these songs that absolutely crush. I'm reminded of Kiss It Goodbye with just how heavy these songs are... maybe a bit less chaotic and more oppressive. If you want to tap into that anger, Unrest will give you what you need.

100 pressed on clear with red vinyl, and this color looks really good.

Spite House

When I was picking up the End On End record from New Morality Zine over the summer, I decided to see what else the label had going on. They had a couple of great releases under their belt from Rule Them All and Sunstroke, so I wanted to see if they had any other hidden gems to discover.

While in the NMZ store, the cover art for the Spite House record preorder caught my eye. It looked interesting, so I clicked on it to check the band bio and as soon as I saw that Seaweed was an influence, I knew that I needed to check them out. There is definitely a 90's emo/indie sound going on here that reminds me of stuff like Garden Variety or early Jawbox... and yes, a bit of Seaweed. It is good, and it is the kind of record that I feel is really going to grow on me as time goes on. I mean, I like it right now, but I feel like in a few months I'm going to be loving it more and more.

I didn't want to wait too long and miss out on the colored vinyl option so I quickly made sure that I had my order in for this Spite House record. Shortly after placing my order, my friend Doug tipped me off that the black vinyl was actually the more limited pressing. Oh well, the coke bottle clear is a better look with the cover art. Limited to 200.

Fixation On Secrets

Over the past year, I've picked up both the Fixation 7 inch and the flexi, and those records are great. Raw, angry and fast hardcore. When WAR Records put up preorders for a new Fixation album this year, I quickly grabbed a copy. Shortly after making my purchase I discovered that the band had changed their singer at some point between their previous records and the recording of this new album. That move doesn't always work for me, so I was a bit nervous on how the album was going to sound.

There is definitely a change in the sound with Fixation on The Secrets We Keep. They still sound raw and angry, but instead of that thrashy sound I liked from their other records, here they sound like they would fit in with the American Nightmare kind of chaotic style from the early 2000's. It is kind of cool, I guess, but it was never a sound that got too excited over. Who knows, maybe this will grow on me.

I gave a hard pass on the more limited splatter colored vinyl, and instead just went for the red in black version. Limited to 200.

Turning Green

Initially, I was planning to ignore the Turning Point represses from REV. Even though my sad little collection for the band only contains a black vinyl copy of the LP and the split with No Escape, I still found myself stuck in that "original pressings only" mindset. When I was buying a couple of records from a store on Discogs, I noticed that they had the Revelation pressing of the Turning Point 7 inch on green, and that was when my resolve broke. I mean, seriously, when the fuck did I think that I was ever going to have enough expendable income that I'd be able to afford the original press on gold or red vinyl? A $10 reissue is likely the only way that I'll be getting my hands on a colored vinyl pressing, so fuck it, I might as well get one now.

Turning Point were flawless from beginning to end. Their sound evolved with each release, and even though we can all agree that their latter era songs are insanely good, I'm still going to be jamming that early shit. Man, this 7 inch is a perfect hardcore record. The songs still grab with their urgency and energy. So glad that I finally bought a copy of this record.

The packaging is really nice on this thing, and the REV/Hi-Impact logo on the back cover is a nice touch.

Wrong War II

I was surprised with the Wrong War record last year. The band features the singer from the old 90's band Current, and while I didn't expect much from his new band, I was immediately set straight. This wasn't any lightweight indie shit. Wrong War are a full on hardcore punk band that still manages to carry a level of anger and angst that rivals those old 90's Ebullition days. As an old angry dude myself, I really appreciate when people from back in the day can still deliver that level of discontent with something new.

With their second album, Once Upon A Weapon, Wrong War still tears it up with some old school hardcore vibes in the vein of Articles Of Faith, while Matt Weeks voice still has echoes of those old Current records. Smart lyrics and fast hardcore. Try and keep up.

I was surprised with how heavy this record feels in my hand. I'm not sure where the vinyl was pressed, but this is a thick slab of wax. Limited to 250 on "sand" colored vinyl.

Clutch Sunrise

It has been four years and a full pandemic since the last Clutch album. Book Of Bad Decisions was released back in 2018, and while I did like the record, I was a bit underwhelmed overall. The album clocked in at almost an hour and just felt too long at the time. I've come to appreciate it a bit more over the years, but when I heard that the new Clutch record was going to run a bit short, it gave me a shot of excitement to hear what they would deliver.

With each album, Clutch somehow manages to sound exactly like Clutch, but still sound fresh and new. Sunrise On Slaughter Beach still delivers what I've come to expect from the band... it is heavy rock, there are blues and stoner vibes... it just hooks me and lifts me up.

The magenta colored vinyl was an indie store exclusive, and as soon as I saw that my local Bull Moose store had one available, I was grabbing my car keys off the counter and heading up to buy my copy.