Most People Are Dicks

Another record from Tim's collection that I wasn't really sure if I wanted it when I saw it. I've been familiar with Ludichrist since the late 80's, but never really latched on to them. For the most part, I felt like they were trying to be funny... and that kind of thing tends to get old really fast with me... so I never really spent much time with them. I saw Immaculate Deception available from Tim's collection, with those Combat Core labels, and I figured that I'd give Ludichrist another chance.

This album was more enjoyable than I remembered. Sure there is the goofy shit like Green Eggs And Ham or the goofy cover of Last Train To Clarksville... plus songs that are kind of gimmicky like Most People Are Dicks and Down With The Ship (which they lean into quite a bit more with Ludichrist's This Party Sucks and when Scatterbrain revived Down With The Ship and made it a hit)... but I guess that I never really was aware of the New York Hardcore connections here with Chuck Valle on bass, and guest appearances by dudes from Agnostic Front and Leeway (and cool to see guys from Nuclear Assault and Crumbsuckers show up here as well). So, yeah, this album was surprisingly good.

Happy to kind of discover this old school crossover record and get it into the collection.

Caroline Quickness

I didn't bother checking out the Quickness album from Bad Brains until last year... 36 years after its release. The Punk Note edition of those Bad Brains records looked so good that it pushed me to finally listen to Quickness, with hopes that I'd like it and I could buy another one of those great looking covers. The marketing scheme worked, and I ended up grabbing one.

I was thinking that the Punk Note pressing was probably all that I needed for Quickness. It looked great, and the version of Don't Blow Bubbles was made into an instrumental, so I was all set with only having that version, right? Wrong. As soon as I pulled the record from the sleeve and saw those Caroline labels, I needed to have it. You can blame We're Not In This Alone... I think that was my exposure to those Caroline labels, and seeing them here, I was like yes give me more of that.

You'll still find me reaching for Rock For Light and I Against I 9 times out of 10, but Quickness is still a fun listen.

Ticket To Whiplash

Prior to this month, all of my posts this year have been for records that I picked up in 2025. Moving into May, it is nice to finally start writing about records that I've bought this year. I've bought 46 records so far in 2026, so I'm obviously still working with a large backlog. It would be nice to just rip through a bunch of posts to make this blog a bit more current, but I keep struggling to find the time. Who knows, maybe I can start to get things under control this month.

Dipping back into those records from Tim's collection, it was nice to pull some more thrash. Whiplash's second record, Ticket To Mayhem, was released near the height of thrash's popularity in 1987 and it just rips with an absolute metal fury. I love how raw and unhinged this album sounds... a voice that sounds shredded and guitars at 100 mph... man, it's so good.

I always found it cool that the bassist for Whiplash, Tony Bono, ended up in Into Another... so as I was leaving metal behind in the early 90's, it was funny to me that suddenly there was a new band with ex members of Underdog, Bold and Whiplash. Seemed like a such a strange mix.

No Tears In Effect

In my early days of collecting records, I picked up a copy of Sick Of It All's Blood Sweat And No Tears back in 2005, before I started this blog. It was a red vinyl reissue out of Germany, and I was pretty excited to pick it up at that time. Sure it looked nice, but it always ate at me that I didn't have an original pressing of the album. At the start of this year, when I got the latest update of what was available from Tim's collection, I was very excited to see that SOIA album in there.

Blood, Sweat And No Tears was one of the first true hardcore albums that I picked up back in the day. Sure I'd stumbled upon stuff like Black Flag, Minor Threat and Misfits as a young metalhead, but stuff like that first Sick Of It All record, Agnostic Front's Liberty And Justice For, and Killing Time's Brightside really helped to open my eyes and start to shift my musical focus at the end of the 80's.

As a huge influence as that Sick Of It All album was on me, I'm glad to finally have an original In-Effect pressing on my shelf.

Dedicated To Murder Anthems

To be honest, I'm not even sure where I picked up this record. I know that it was included for free in a package I'd received at some point, but I wasn't really interested in it when it arrived, and I just tossed into the "junk to deal with later" pile, so therefore I didn't really register where it came from.

I remember picking up the CD for The Dedication's Youth Murder Anthems back when it was released in 2002, but like I'd mentioned in my Frostbite post at the start of this month, it was a weird time for me with hardcore. I didn't spend much time with it at the time, and it has literally been 20 years since I'd last listened to those songs. When the record arrived, I was tempted to just throw the damn thing away... but that Frostbite post awakened something in me, and I've been listening to a lot of early 2000's hardcore that I don't really spend much time with these days. With that mindset, I figured that I'd give this record from The Dedication a quick spin before I wrote it off completely.

Yeah, this record from The Dedication definitely fits that vibe I've been riding this month. Early 2000's hardcore has a sound, and this is it. I'm really glad to have this one in the collection (especially since it appears that I got rid of the CD at some point), but I'm content with just the clear vinyl pressing and I'm not going to be rushing out to buy other versions of this... for now.

Why So Serious?

When I Rise released their album back in 2008, I was a bit underwhelmed with it. Their 7 inch was insanely good... same with the songs on the split with Soul Control... but the For Redemption record just felt like it was missing something. In the years since its release, I really haven't spent much time with the album. In fact, I even sold one of the two copies of the record that I'd intially bought... and as someone that rarely gets rid of anything, that really speaks to how indifferent I was feeling toward For Redemption. When I was picking up a Spiritual Cramp 7 inch from a Discogs seller recently, I decided to check to see what else they had for sale. I saw that they had I Rise album with the special Sound & Fury cover for around $10, and I thought that maybe I should check it out and see how I felt about it 18(!) years later.

Look, the For Redemption album isn't going to compete with the earlier I Rise stuff, but sitting here in 2026, these songs are hitting me pretty hard. Since I decided to revisit these songs, they have been getting repeat time in my daily playlist, so I was very happy to grab this limited cover.

Handnumbered out of 100 made for S&F, with the George Bush/Joker "Why So Serious?" cover, and spraypainted dust jacket. Someone went really hard with that spraypaint though, as you can see some of the residue blasted through the dustjacket and left a mark on the actual vinyl.

Phone Lines Down

I've loved Spiritual Cramp since discovering their self titled album in early 2024, and have had periods where I've obsessively wanted to collect some of their records. The problem has been that their stuff isn't always easily available. They have a few 7 inches that I'd love to get my hands on, but they don't seem to pop up often, so I've been stuck playing the waiting game.

As I was writing up a post for the new Spiritual Cramp album at the end of last year, I decided to quickly check Discogs to see if anything was available to pick up. I was happy to find that someone was selling a copy of the Phone Lines Down 7 inch, and I immediately added it to my cart. Look, I wasn't thrilled with the $25 pricetag I paid for this record, but seeing how there is only one copy available on Discogs now, and it is listed at $80... I guess I won't complain. Sellers get stupid when a band starts to get popular.

These two songs are exactly what I love about Spiritual Cramp... catchy, melodic and still delivering plenty of attitude. So good.

Chopping Block Blues

I'm always down to check out a new hardcore band, so when Ralf posted about Chopping Block at the end of last year... mentioning references to mid-2000's greats like Lights Out and Desperate Measures... I quickly pulled up their songs to give them a listen.

Yeah, this is exactly what I want from a newer hardcore band... to sound like older hardcore bands. I get the mid-2000's influence here, but to me they really remind me of Berthold City with the vocal delivery. This band was a great discovery, and one that I probably wouldn't have made if Ralf hadn't posted about it... so I really appreciate finds like this and the influence record collecting blogs can still have on me.

Only 50 pressed on red colored vinyl.

Bloodied But D.O.A.

When I saw the D.O.A. collection, Bloodied But Unbowed, in Tim's collection, I wasn't sure if I really needed it. It is kind of a "best of D.O.A." record, and at some point I think that I'd like to eventually own their first couple of albums... so if I do that, this collection feels unnecessary. Still, I owned the Bloodied But Unbowed CD as a kid, and seeing the front cover artwork on the full 12 by 12 LP sleeve was too good to pass up.

Bloodied But Unbowed contains 19 songs... 10 songs that were on their first album, Something Better Change, 7 tracks from Hardcore 81, and a couple more songs from their singles thrown in for good measure. Every song here feels like a punk classic... so catchy and packed with attitude.

So while not really necessary, I'm still happy to own a copy of this.

Metal For Muthas II

The first Metal For Muthas compilation was released very early in 1980 and helped to get the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal flag waving. The comp featured a couple of NWOBHM beasts with Iron Maiden and Angel Witch, and so the label immediately followed it up later that year with Volume II.

Volume II of Metal For Muthas may not carry the same heavy hitters but, I don't know, in some ways I may reach for this follow up more often. Maybe it's because I'm so familiar with the Maiden and Angel Witch songs from the first one, and this second record just feels more fresh to me. The two songs from Trespass are fantastic, plus a song from the excellent and underrated Jameson Raid (listed here as The Raid) are the foundation here for me... but really, there is not a bad track here. All of it probably sadly overlooked except by the diehards.

One more NWOBHM record that I was able to pluck from Tim's collection, so you know it is in great shape.

Without Time X Heist Love

Occasionally I'll get a message from someone on Discogs asking if I'd be interested in selling a specific record. Spoiler alert, the answer is always no... I don't care how much you are offering. Early last year, this dude dropped me a note asking if I'd be willing to sell the copy I had of The Only Blood Between Us from Go It Alone. I had picked up that record at Posi Numbers back in 2005, and it was my only copy of that album in my collection, so I wrote him back to let him know. The guy took the opportunity to promote his own band, saying that GIA was a big influence on them, and maybe I'd be interested in checking them out. Most times I'm gonna just move on from this kind of thing and not bother, but I don't know, for some reason I figured that I'd give them a listen.

It was no surprise that I'd never heard of his band, Without Love, but when I noticed that they released a split with Time X Heist, I was a bit more interested. I'd seen the name Time X Heist around and the X in the name certainly caught my attention... so I downloaded the songs.

It took me a while to actually sit with these songs, but when I did, I liked what I heard. Each band plays that early 2000's style of hardcore, and as advertised Without Love does show that Go It Alone influence, while the Time X Heist songs kind of remind me of Where Fear And Weapons Meet, especially with Keep On Fighting and I expected them to rhyme "We can't go back to the way it was before" with the word "hardcore"... if they did, it would have been a near perfect match. This record was a nice introduction to two bands that I hadn't heard yet.

Celtic Tales

The majority of my Celtic Frost collection has been pulled from Tim, so it only made sense to pick up the first record, Morbid Tales, from him as well.

Celtic Frost were never really a big band for me while growing up. I liked them, but they were a bit too raw and rough for my thrash tastes and it seems that I rarely reached for them. Listing to Morbid Tales this week as I was thinking about writing this blog post, and I have to say that I appreciate this band much more today.

The black and white photos decked out in bullet belts and studded armbands, the touch of red lettering and the text style makes this back cover especially cool. Such a good look.

While this copy doesn't include the poster that is mentioned on the front cover, it does however include a promo sheet and photo card that has the band's signatures on the back. I'm not sure what the story is on this. I don't know if Tim picked it up this way, or if he saw the band and had them sign the card himself, but either way it is cool to own.

Rival Damage

When I'd ordered a copy of the I Rise / Soul Control split through Discogs last year, it turned out that the seller was Kyle Whitlow that used to run Rivalry Records. He was a little late in sending the order out, so he threw in a bunch of Rivalry stuff that he still had laying around. I found most of it useless to me, and wished that he hadn't done me the "favor"... but in amongst all of the copies of the Soul Control album with no sleeves was this 7 inch from The Damage Control.

I really wasn't familiar with this band. I have a copy of the Never Wash Away 7 inch from The Damage Done, but it never really stuck with me and it has been well over 10 years since I've even listened to it. However, after writing up the Frostbite post the other day, and talking about early 2000's hardcore that I missed the first time around, I decided that maybe I should revisit The Damage Done and finally check out this City Of Hope 7 inch that Kyle had sent me.

Initially I was indifferent to receiving this 7 inch, but this record kind of fits my mood right now, and I'm glad to have had this dropped into my hands. Early 2000's hardcore is currently my vibe, and the City Of Hope record fits in nicely alongside the other stuff from that time period that I'm listening to.

The Blizzard Of '26

The early 2000's were a weird time for me with hardcore. While I was still into well known hardcore bands like Bane and Over My Dead Body, for the most part I just remember being really excited over stuff from Anti-Flag and Good Riddance more. There were a lot of bands from that time that I didn't check out until a couple of years later simply because I was so disconnected from what was going on, and some bands that I'm still not really too familiar with.

History lesson. A little over 12 years ago, back in 2013, Marcus made a post over on his blog that included a copy of the Frostbite 7 inch with the Floorpunch rip off cover. I admitted in the comments that I'd never heard Frostbite before, and I told by Marcus and Nico that I needed to fix that oversight as soon as possible. I quickly rushed over to Soulseek and downloaded the songs... I listened to them once and then proceeded to let them gather digital dust on my hard drive.

Near the end of last year, I found myself digging into that early 2000 shit, and spinning stuff like the last Reach The Sky EP and Cut The Shit, and I saw that Frostbite EP sitting there in my iTunes. I gave it a listen and it clicked with me immediately. It was so good that I rushed to Discogs to pick up the record. I saw the Floorpunch rip off cover with a good price and I didn't hesitate to add it to my cart.

I don't know what my problem was back in 2013 because this 7 inch rips. Straight forward and raw hardcore... I really dropped the ball on this one. "Fuck that and fuck you and fuck everything."

I was loving this record so much that I felt the need to pick up another cover variation. I saw a seller had this Robby Redcheeks birthday bash edition with the Philly Liberty Bell cover and I decided to pick this one up too.

As I was obsessing over this 7 inch, I felt like I couldn't make a post about the record without at least picking up a copy with the regular sleeve, so I grabbed this very light baby blue colored vinyl pressing.

There are a lot of different versions of this record out there, and grabbing these three were a nice start. I'm not sure how far I want to chase these, although there a few more versions that I'd really like to pick up at some point. I was set to pick up the Sex Pistols rip off sleeve but then the seller flaked and changed his mind, wanting to keep it for himself... so that was too bad... but yeah, I have the collector itch right now, and want more of these.

Eternal Vio-lence

Forced to pick a favorite thrash record, 9 times out of 10 I'm probably picking the debut LP from Vio-lence, Eternal Nightmare. It's possible that you'd catch me on an off day, and I'd maybe say Reign In Blood, The Legacy or Bonded By Blood... but for the most part, that first album from Vio-lence can't be beat. 36 minutes of a never ending thrash attack. Perfection.

It is shocking that it has taken me this long to finally pick up a copy, but sometimes these old thrash classic sit on my wantlist forever as I wring my hands over the perfect copy to pick up at the perfect price. Fuck it. When I saw the seller that I bought the Acrophet album from on Discogs also had Vio-lence, I wasn't playin'. Time to buy.

So happy to finally have this in the collection.

Acrophet Minds

Near the end of last year, I'd was looking at some of the old metal records that I'd picked up from Tim's collection, plus new releases from Testament and Coronor, and it put me in a nostalgic mood for those classic late 80's days of thrash. 1988 was a high point for me with music... I was graduating from High School and hanging with friends and thrash was king for us... so one night I reached back to my playlist for that year and noticed an album from Acrophet sitting there at the top of the list (because my playlist is sorted alphabetically by band name obviously).

I was about 30 years late in discovering Acrophet's Corrupt Minds album, when it was put on my radar in 2019... I'd been listening to Mindforce and digging back into DRI and Suicidal, so I probably stumbled upon the Acrophet name after searching through lists of crossover bands and trying to decide what to listen to next. I did a quick download of the Acrophet album and while immediately enjoyed what I heard, I also quickly forgot about it for years. When I saw the songs on my 1988 playlist I decided to give it a listen and it was perfect for me at that time. Socially conscious anti-authority lyrics set to lightning fast music... and metal dudes on the back cover wearing Minor Threat and Agnostic Front shirts... yeah this was exactly what I needed and set the album up for repeat listens for the next few days.

When I started checking Discogs to see what may be available, I noticed that there was a blue vinyl pressing from back when the record was first released in '88. I've mentioned here before how colored vinyl releases for old 80's metal releases seems like such a rarity from those times... so I obviously needed this version. That blue wax from Triple X Records looks so good!

Gaskin's World

I haven't done a great job keeping up with my New Wave Of British Heavy Metal collection. In fact, I haven't picked up a single one since the great NWOBHM Chase Of 2022. There are still some crucial records from bands like Samson and Satan that I need in my collection, but I've just been so obsessed with hardcore lately that I haven't been listening to much NWOBHM and therefore I haven't been buying it. However, spending time with Jeff the past couple of weekends, on late night drives to New Hampshire and Boston, the NWOBHM playlist has been ripping and it's had me thinking of chasing those records again.

So it was perfect timing when the first Gaskin album, End Of The World, came up in my blog backlog for this post. This has been a weird record for me... strange because when I saw it available from Tim's collection, I was fairly certain that I already owned it. I asked Jeff to set it aside so that I could double check, but I was like 90% sure that I already had a copy. I got home and checked my record shelves and didn't see it. That's odd. Maybe I filed it incorrectly and it was stuck in a different section. I checked Discogs and my record database tool, sure that I would see it marked as owned there. No and no. I was shocked that I didn't already have this album. Thankfully it was fairly cheap to pick up from Tim's collection, but at least now I know that I own this.

Gaskin are one of those classic NWOBHM bands. Their sound and songs are not really at the level of the bigger bands from that era, like Iron Maiden, Raven, Angel Witch and the first Def Leppard, but goddamn, the youthful passion for this music and the conviction behind it is so endearing to me... I can't help but love it.

Total Soul Ignition

If I'm thinking about my favorite newer hardcore bands from the last five years or so, Method Of Doubt would definitely be near the top of that list. Their Staring At Patterns album came out at the end of 2021, and I still bounce out of my seat when that bass line kicks off the record. Fuck. So good. What other new band can make me want to chase down every pressing they make? It's a short list for sure, but with Method Of Doubt, I need it.

I don't fuck around with Scheme releases. I'm still sore about missing out on the colored vinyl for the Wreckage 7 inch a couple years ago, so when Scheme releases something that I'm interested in, I don't waste time thinking about it... I just buy it. So when the label announced preorders for the new Method Of Doubt 7 inch, Total Soul Ignition, I didn't hesitate to grab both colors of the vinyl.

With this new 7 inch, Method Of Doubt do not disappoint and they give me exactly what I want. Look, there is no denying the classic hardcore greats... that shit can't be beat... but when I hear new stuff like this record, it makes me excited for hardcore. "I know our youth is leaving, but I still feel the same."

108 pressed on pink vinyl, and 165 on mint.

Mil-Sandwich

I was a couple years late when Mil-Spec's Marathon album landed on my radar. When Marcus tipped me off that Lockin' Out had the colored vinyl in their store I quickly grabbed one. Marathon ended up being such a surprise to me. I loved what I heard, so when the newest Mil-Spec EP went up for sale a couple of months later I didn't hesitate to place my order.

I said the same thing about the Marathon LP, but if I saw this new Mil-Spec record in a store, based on the cover alone, I'd pass right by this. There is nothing going on here that would entice me to buy this. The guys like their six foot sandwiches apparently. Thankfully the Mil-Spec name is all that I needed to check this out because these songs are so good.

Five songs... well four, since the last song here is just an extended version of the record opener, When The Music Ends... and I've been listening to this daily.

Forethought Of Autumn

A few years ago I picked up the new retrospective LP for the old mid-90's hardcore band Autumn. The band seemed a bit obscure to me, so it was kind of surprising that someone took the time to put this record together and a press a few hundred copies to vinyl... but I love that someone felt that level of passion for the band, and wanted to get the Autumn name back out there 25+ years later. I admire that commitment because fuck yes, there are a number of lost 90's bands that I would love to see finally get a this kind of treatment. Anyway... as I was reading the notes on the insert covering the history of the band, I learned that before they changed their name to Autumn, they were previously called Forethought. I did a little digging and found that they had released a 7 inch under that name, and I knew that I needed to check it out.

Forethought recorded the Sands Of Salvation 7 inch in 1992, and this is quintessential early 90's hardcore... think bands like Framework, Encounter, Another Wall etc... and you know that I eat that shit up. With that in mind, it should surprise no one that when I first heard these songs, I immediately went on the hunt for this record.

The pink colored vinyl for this 7 inch doesn't show up too often on Discogs, so when I recently saw that there was one available, I jumped on it. No better feeling than discovering and falling in love with an obscure hardcore band from the 90's.

Church Obsessed

While I've enjoyed some stuff from The Obsessed, I've never been crazy about them. I've bought their last two albums, Sacred from 2017 and Gilded Sorrow from 2024, but I've never really spent much time with their more classic albums from the 90's. My friend Jeff, on the other hand, loves their classic Lunar Womb and The Church Within records. A month or so ago, I noticed that The Obsessed were playing a gig in New Hampshire at this place called The Stone Church. I did a quick search to see how far away it was, because if it was convenient I'd consider going. As soon as I saw a picture of the place, which looked like this perfect old New England church, I knew that I had to see the band play there. I quickly fired off a message to Jeff, and we made plans to go.

The Obsessed finished off a European tour in October last year playing just about everything off of The Church Within. I didn't expect that they would do the same for this latest tour, but since I was unfamiliar with the album I spent a lot of time with it in February. I was glad that I did because The Obsessed continued clebrating this record with their show in Newmarket, New Hampshire, and played nine songs from that album.

While I was just looking forward to a nice night out with live music, I didn't expect to be so excited with the show. There weren't a lot of people there, so I was able to easily step right up to the front of the stage... the sound was great and the band was tight... and within a few songs I was hooked and having such a great time.

Immediately after the set, Jeff and I were standing there at the merch table checking out what the band had available. I really wanted to buy something to support the band on the road, but I wasn't sure if I wanted a shirt from them. As we were standing there, Wino came up and was thanking us for coming out to the show. We started talking with him a bit and he was genuinely nice and appreciative that we were there (even if the photo makes him seem more annoyed with us). Jeff asked if he would sign a record if he picked one up, and Wino agreed. Now I'm not usually one that is interested in signatures from the band, but there was something about this moment that felt right, so I bought The Church Within vinyl and had him sign mine as well.

Goddamn. It is amazing how a live experience can change your perspective of a band. I've been listening to a lot of The Obsessed since that show and loving it.

Preach The Legacy

I'm still over here mining thrash classics from Tim's collection. This time I took the opportunity to grab a couple of Testament records.

Testament's Practice What You Preach album was a big deal for me at the time. It was released on my birthday in August of 1989, and when I found out that they were going to be playing at The Channel in Boston that November, I decided that I wanted to go see them. I'd never gone to a show out of state, so the thought of it was both thrilling and terrifying. I convinced a group of friends to make the trip with me, and we all piled into my car and headed to Boston for the day. This was obviously back in the day before GPS, so we just grabbed a map and hoped for the best. The two hour drive to The Channel ended up taking us more like four as we continually got lost within Boston's confusing roadways, but we eventually found the club and it was a life changing show. Until that point, I was only used to big arena shows for those few bands that toured as far north as Maine... but to be on the floor of a packed club opened my eyes to how great and intimate a live show could be. Honestly, I don't remember much about the band playing because I was probably acting a fool in the mosh pit, but from that moment on I started making regular trips to Providence and Boston to see bands play.

While probably not considered as strong as the previous two Testament albums, The Legacy and The New Order, Practice What You Preach is still a classic from the band, and I'm so glad to finally have this in my collection.

Technically, I guess that I didn't need to buy this copy of The Legacy, but personally I kind of needed it. Mark Sandwell gave me UK pressings of The Legacy and The New Order when he was visiting the US back in 2019, and I was most thankful for his kindness with this gesture. That said however, I was a little bit disappointed that I didn't have US pressing for these albums. I felt like for classic US thrash bands, a US pressing was the proper way to go.

I was content with the UK copy from Mark, until I had the chance to pick up the US Megaforce version from Tim's collection, and I took the opportunity when it was in front of me.