Killing Technology

The chain of influence continues. Early this year I posted about an Overkill record that I was excited to pick up, and that led me to rush out and pick up a Powermad album. After writing that post, I hit the ground running to chase down Voivod's Killing Technology. There is just something about picking up those old 80's metal records that hits like nothing else.

I've struggled with a number of problems from Discogs sellers earlier this year. A few times I've ordered a specific colored vinyl version, only to receive a regular black vinyl copy in the mail, and problems struck again with Killing Technology. I really wanted to own an original Noise pressing out of Germany for this record. I don't know... the album was released on Noise, so I wasn't too interested in a US imprint pressing through Combat Records. So when I found a US seller with a listing for the German Noise pressing at a decent price, I jumped on it. Too good to be true and they actually sent me the US pressing... plus it had a promo hole punched into the cover. Fuck. At least the seller was very accomodating and gave me a full refund, apologized and told me to keep the record. I'll take a free record, even if it wasn't the pressing that I was intially looking for.

Man, this album is so killer. Front to back, Killing Technology is loaded with classic Voivod thrash songs. Listening to this album today and now I'm thinking that I want to listen to it everyday. Man, I've been wanting to have this record on my shelf for a long time now, and it feels so good to own a copy (even if it isn't a German Noise press).

Field Of Flames

I wasn't too excited when I was buying the recent Side By Side reissue, so while I was placing an order with REVHQ, I had to find something else to add to the cart to make things more interesting.

I'd seen the Field Of Flames (not to be confused with Fields Of Fire) name pop up as a suggested artist on Spotify quite a bit recently. Like, oh I see you are listening to Magnitude, here are a bunch of other bands that you might like. I've never had much faith in those algorithms, but surprisingly Spotify has come through on more than a few occasions. Also, I'm pretty sure that at some point I'd heard the guys on the 185 Miles South podcast mention that Field Of Flames worships that 90's hardcore sound, so after quickly checking out some of their songs, it seemed like a good move to add this record to my REVHQ cart.

Field Of Flames definitely has that 90's influence, I mean, hell, there is a cover of Blanket from Unbroken on this record, so that should give you some kind of indication where they are coming from... although FOF definitely has more of a metallic edge than Unbroken. But even with those older influences, Field Of Flames still definitely sounds like a modern hardcore band, and while I can imagine that this will turn off older hardcore dudes that are stuck in the past, I'm just happy that kids are doing shit like this today.

Don't Fuck It Up

I've never been a big fan of the Side By Side compilation that Rev released back in 1997. The band is one of my favorites from that era, but that record is just too messy for me. Songs from the original 7 inch, compilations, the demo and live stuff... ugh, it's always been too much for me to sit down and listen to. When I listened to the Side By Side episode of the Where It Went podcast, I was surprised to hear Sammy talk about feeling the same way, and that he wanted Rev to reissue a cleaner version of the band's discography.

This year we saw that Side By Side reissue happen. Seven songs from the 7 inch, and the three songs that ended up on the Together and The Way It Is comps. Because I'm impossible to please, I do miss So Fucking Blind from this tracklist though. Since I already own a copy of the original 7 inch (3rd press), I really wasn't sure that I needed this 12 inch reissue, but in the end I figured that I'd better buy a copy now and not regret it later... although has there been a person in the history of record collecting that regretted not buying a reissue? Either way, I've got one.

The packaging on this looks fantastic with the original cover design, and I love the nice large insert. I'm not too excited about the vinyl color, but as a REVHQ exclusive limited to 450, that was the way that I went.

Sometimes I'm Happy

I've always been a bit fascinated with these unofficial releases. Hell, I remember as a kid going into a record store in Portland that had a section of live bootleg cassettes for sale, and as I'd grown up in a time of FBI warnings around illegal recordings of movies and live concerts, I was certain that I was going to be arrested as a part of some sting operation when I bought one. Bootleg records felt dangerous, and I'm sure that fueled my fascination with them.

A couple of years back I was buying a lot of live boots, but I got to a point last year where I made a conscious decision to ease up and put that money towards records that were more important. A year had passed since I'd bought my last one, and that itch came back, so I started looking around at what was easily available.

This Black Sabbath bootleg is from a series of three shows that the band did in Italy in February of 1973. This double LP captures the full live set from their Bologna date, and it sounds fantastic. Recorded on their tour for Vol. 4, we get a bunch of songs from that album, plus an early recording of Killing Yourself To Live that Sabbath would include on their next album, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath... plus the song Sometimes I'm Happy, which will end up being torn apart and pieces will show up in Symptom Of The Universe a couple of years later. Overall, a very cool setlist.

The packaging for this is well done with the Vol. 4 layout, but with Geezer on the front cover and Ozzy on the back. Looking good!

No Sense No Feeling

Admittedly, I was a bit slow when it came to High Vis. I was really digging the first few songs of their album last year, but overall, I was a bit underwhelmed with the record. It did grow on me though, and as we worked our way into 2023, I found that Blending was getting a lot of play time, and for a couple of months it was probably the record I was listening to more than anything else.

I still hadn't bothered to check out the first High Vis album, No Sense No Feeling, but when I heard that Six Feet Under (who knew this label was even still around) was reissuing it this year I quickly preordered a copy. Given how much Blending grew on me, I had high hopes for that first record. I assumed it had a stronger hardcore vibe than their second album, and I was excited to check it out. I think that those expectations keep tripping me up, because the first couple of spins of No Sense left me feeling a bit flat. Like Blending, think that I just need to spend more time with it, and I'm sure it will click with repeat listens.

109 pressed on orange / clear colored vinyl.

The first press on No Sense No Feeling from SFU came with a bonus flexi that the label threw together as a thank you to customers for their patience when the vinyl saw some production delays. Two live songs from a High Vis set back in 2021. Too bad this wasn't from their set at Outbreak fest last year, and included thier version of Dirty Money. What's up, dickheads?! That would have been very cool to have.

Wreck-Age

I can't remember where I first heard about Wreckage. They popped on my radar somehow and caught my attention with that great looking record cover. There was just something about that cover photo and the blue and orange colorway that just screamed "90's hardcore", and I needed to hear the record. Our Time was the first record that I bought this year, placing my preorder on January 1st, and even before I heard a note, I knew that it was going to be a killer hardcore record.

Wreckage do not disappoint. At times the vocals kind of remind me of the old Boston Hardcore band Dive, but other than that I can't really make a direct comparison. It is just hardcore, and I can easily say that Our Time will be one of my favorite records of the year.

100 pressed on orange vinyl.

Dio Live In 1983

Starting in 2018, the Dio band has participated in Record Store Day each year (and sometimes twice if they hit the Black Friday RSD as well). The offering from Dio so far has been a string of seven picture disc singles, and while they haven't been life changing, they have been fun to collect. For 2023, however, they changed things up a bit and this time out we get a live Dio record from '83.

Initially, I wasn't too excited over another live Dio album. I already had seven of them in my collection, and wasn't sure that I needed another one. I was soon set straight, because this is a killer live set as Dio, Viv, Vinny and Jimmy rip through a bunch of songs from the first album, Holy Diver, plus some classics from Sabbath and Rainbow. Dio's voice is incredible here and band are just on fire. Ronnie has been gone for 13 years now, so there won't be any new material from the man... so records like this end up being a bit special and are a nice reminder of how incredible he was as a front man. RJD forever.

Red vinyl and numbered out of 8,000 pressed.