Churry And The Gang

One of my favorite records from 2020 was the new Chubby and the Gang album. That thing just exploded with energy, and I couldn't get enough of it, so I was really looking forward to their new record, The Mutt's Nuts.

I was so excited for this new album that I couldn't resist checking out the first couple of songs that the band released. Lightning Don't Strike Twice was okay but the slide guitar was unexpected and initially it didn't sit well with me...and then came Life's Lemons and I was confused as to what the fuck was going on. This was not the band that I absolutely lost my mind over the year before. I hoped the full album would turn things around for me, so even though I was feeling a bit down on it, I still ordered the record along with the Time And Pressure preorder from REV at the end of summer. That Time And Pressure record saw a few delays, so here we are four months later and I finally have the new Chubby record.

It has taken me some time to warm up to this one. There is still plenty of frantic energy to be found here, but overall it is a bit more relaxed than the first Chubby and the Gang record, but there are just too many of the slower, drawn out songs... like the band is searching for another Grenfell Forever hit... and it really holds this album back for me. I just want the band to rip. Despite my complaints, this is still a fun record...it just isn't nearly as exciting as their first one.

No Time, Too Much Pressure

A box just landed in my mailbox today, so I've got to quickly get this post up before I start working on my 2021 recap to end the year.

I'd seen the name Time And Pressure thrown around a few times over the summer and given that I was hot to check out new bands, I queued them up... it also didn't hurt that the band name was the same as one of Mindset's 7 inches. I was hoping for something similar to Mindset, but instead I got something a bit different and maybe more in line with Ruiner from the late 2000's. While it wasn't what I was expecting, it certainly had my attention and had me revisiting it often. This shit was surprisingly very good, and once the vinyl arrived I quickly had to get this post up so that I could include it in my Top 10 list for the year.

I grabbed the REVHQ exclusive on yellow vinyl, but damn, seeing how much I'm loving this record, I kind of want the confetti splatter pressing... which is very weird for me, seeing how I'm not a fan of splatter, but there is something about that pressing that looks nice next to the cover... hell, any of the Safe Inside pressings look great with the cover. Instead, I have yellow.

Exodus Non Grata

It has been seven years since Exodus have released a new album. Gary Holt is the driving force behind the band, and getting the call to join Slayer for their last record and final tours was too good an opportunity to pass up...so therefore, Exodus was put on hold so that Gary could help send Slayer off in style. Over the past 20 years, Exodus has been a pretty proficient band, so waiting seven years between albums is not the norm for them. As much as I prefer Slayer, it is still nice to have Exodus back with a new album.

When it was first announced that Exodus were recording a new album, I'll admit that I wasn't too excited. Since it's release in 2014, I haven't given Blood In Blood Out much thought, and I kind of wrote it off as a disappointment. Revisiting it a few months ago, I was surprised at how well the record has held up, and it unexpectedly had me looking forward the new record Persona Non Grata.

Zetro's vocals can be a bit grating, so it took me a little while to warm up to this new Exodus record, and initially I just found myself wishing that the band had stuck with Dukes. After a few spins, I started to appreciate Persona Non Grata more and more. The band can still deliver some quality thrash, and some of the slower songs here are heavy as fuck...plus that cover art is amazing. Great record.

Dare2Be Straight Edge

Dare are a straight edge band out of Orange County California, and you'd think that would be all the info that I would have needed to check out the band. Yet, despite releasing two EPs on Reaper, I had zero interest in Dare until I heard they had an album coming out on REV this year. Given how interested I've been in checking out newer hardcore bands this year, I figured that I'd finally roll the dice with Dare.

With my first listen of the new Dare album, Against All Odds, I was a bit underwhelmed. The singers voice was a bit different than what I was expecting, and it really threw me off. To be honest, if this was a few years ago, I would have ditched it then and there without looking back...but these days, I'm trying to be more open minded so I queued it up on Spotify a few more times. With repeat listens, I started to connect more and more to the songs, and it got to the point where I was going to need to buy a copy.

Initially, I was really interested in the purple vinyl that was exclusive to the REVHQ store, but when I was looking to buy a copy, it was listed as SOLD OUT. I thought that I might be able to scoop it off Discogs for a decent price once the record was finally released, but soon a few shithead sellers started looking to flip it for $80. Fuck that. I went for the indie store exclusive on orange vinyl at a much more reasonable price. As luck would have it, this color looks fucking great...also, REV currently has the purple vinyl available in their store again, so Discogs sellers can eat shit.

This Place You Know

One Step Closer were one of the bands that really re-ignited my interest in newer hardcore bands a couple years ago. I never really lost my passion for hardcore, but about five years ago it seemed to take a back seat as I was focused more on metal records. Watching One Step Closer play the Have Heart reunion in 2019 kind of woke me up to the fact that there were a bunch of newer hardcore bands that I'd been sleeping on. For this, I'm thankful because without witnessing the fire that OSC brought to the stage at that show, I may never have been pushed to check out some of the newer bands that have quickly become my favorites from the past couple years.

I was really looking forward to the new One Step Closer record, This Place You Know. Their 2020 promo with Lead To Gray and the cover of Broken by Turning Point had me excited to see what the band would deliver next. With this record, OSC expand a bit on their hardcore sound, but a lot of their original foundation is still intact.

This is a good hardcore record, but some of these songs don't have an immediate impact, and it feels like I will appreciate this one more and more with each listen.

The purple and pink swirl colored vinyl that was exclusive to Run For Cover Records sounded interesting when I ordered it, but the reality is a bit dull. It's less of a "swirl" and more of a "blend". At least it matches the front cover artwork nicely.

Two Step To Hell

A couple years ago, I picked up the Chain Whip album, 14 Lashes. The songs were packed with a frantic punk rock energy that I loved... a bit pissed off, but they still knew how to have a good time.

When I saw that the band was back with a new 12 inch EP, I was excited to check it out. What I wasn't excited about was the colored vinyl options. I think that the clear vinyl was already sold out, which wasn't a surprise since it was limited to only 50, and that left a metallica silver option. I hate the look of silver colored vinyl, so I started to procrastinate, and then much quicker than I anticipated that option was sold out as well, and I was left with only black vinyl. The album was then pressed by some UK label, but I wasn't hot to pay overseas shipping, and soon those were sold out too. With a heavy sigh, I decided I better just settle for the black vinyl before that one was gone as well. It's all good though, because I'm actually happy with how the black vinyl looks with the orange and black colorway for the cover.

In the end, these six songs from the Two Step To Hell EP are great. The band recorded these songs during the pandemic last year, and as the blurb from their bandcamp page states, these songs are "meaner, faster, and a bit more pissed off". Right on.

To All The Fakers

I try to stay away from buying discography records these days, but every once in a while I'll make an exception. I was obsessed with One up a few years back and bought a bunch of records for the collection, so when Hellminded announced the discography LP I was interested in checking it out.

For me, the main draw to pick up a copy of Many Miles Long was that this was the first time the songs from It's Time To Believe were pressed on vinyl. Somehow that album was only released on CD, so I was not going to miss out on finally having the chance to get them on vinyl. In addition to those songs, I was surprised to discover that this discography includes two unreleased songs from The Single recording session. Fuck yes. It's cool to finally hear these songs 15+ years later.

Many Miles Long was pressed on three different versions of colored vinyl, with each one limited to 100. I grabbed the bubblegum swirl version.

If you were signed up to receive the Hellminded email newsletter, the label sent you a code that allowed you to get in early and place your order before the preorders were available to the public...so a pre-preorder. There were 15 copies of the test press available, and with the Speak Out tribute cover, I really wanted one for myself.

I really like the look of this special cover for the test press, and the upside down REV star is a nice touch.

Number 24 of 25. Good deal!

How Flowers Scowl

A couple months ago, I wanted to get an idea if any cool bands were coming down the pike, so I was looking at the preorder page over at REVHQ. I saw the record cover for a band I don't think that I'd heard of called Scowl. Their logo reminded me of Give, and with the description that mentioned influences of 80's hardcore and punk, I knew that I'd have to check them out.

I did a quick search on youtube and found a live studio session that was recorded earlier this year, and I figured that I'd check it out. I was in awe. I don't typically watch live recordings, but with this, I couldn't tear my eyes away. In fact, as soon as it was done, I was immediately jumping into another live set from Scowl. The band just raged, and Kat's fierce vocals had me hooked. I knew that I was going to have to get my preorder in for How Flowers Grow.

Preordering this record made me feel like I was kind of ahead of the pack. I wasn't coming in six months to a year late... poking my head out from a cave to check out what has been happening while I've been asleep. This time I felt, at least for a few seconds anyway, like I was actually in touch.

Wraith In Chains

I'm amazed at how low my interest has been in new metal records. There have been a few decent albums released here and there, but for the most part I've been underwhelmed. As we were fast approaching the end of the year, I was starting to get desperate in the need to find a metal album from 2021 to get excited about...and then I saw a post on Instagram about the new Wraith record.

Early in the year, I was introduced to Wraith with their 2019 album, Absolute Power. It was a fine slice of grimey thrash, and it reminded me a bit of Midnight's Satanic Royalty album with that same influence of old school thrash and Venom. I was impressed and immediately made attempts to pick up the vinyl. Everywhere I checked, that Wraith record was sold out...hell, there weren't even any sellers on Discogs. I was stuck. As soon as I discovered a few weeks ago that the band had just released a follow up with Undo The Chains, I was all over it. There was no way that I was going to miss out again. I'm glad that I made moves when I did because this thing is now sold out and unavailable.

350 pressed on "dominator" splatter vinyl.

Haunting Gasp

I wasn't paying attention when Triple B released the Final Gasp 12 inch over this past summer. The label had released a string of a few records that I just wasn't feeling, so I didn't even bother with this one. Doug set me straight though, and after he reached out to recommend them, I jumped on Spotify to see what he was going on about.

Final Gasp have some serious Samhain worship going on. Hell, even the photos from the lyric sheet insert show the band performing live covered in blood. The music and image are spot on and this 16 minute EP is like finding some lost songs from the November-Coming-Fire recording session. I'm not a giant Samhain fan, but this record leaves me impressed.

I avoided the more limited splatter pressing and instead when with the purple and red swirl. 350 pressed.

Owe You Nothing

I've discovered a lot of newer hardcore bands this year, and I've been having a blast digging into records from the last few years that I somehow missed the first time around. There have been so many great hardcore bands kicking it recently, but one of my favorite finds this year was The Dividing Line. I love my straight edge hardcore full of anger and rage, and TDL certainly hit that sweet spot for me. Their 7 inch from 2018 has been an amazing find for me this year, and when I heard that the band was going to be releasing an album on New Age, I was on the edge of my seat waiting to mash that preorder button.

It feels like I've missed the start of a number of preorders lately, so it felt good to be there on the New Age site as soon as they were launched for the Owe You Nothing record from The Dividing Line. I got burned not having any media mail options, and was stuck having to pay $17 for Priority Mail, but fuck it, I was desperate to get my order in for this record.

I was so excited for this record that I bought two copies...and I'm tempted to go back and grab the white vinyl as well as I think the three colors go great with the cover art. The shitty REVHQ and Cortex colors are gross, so I don't feel the need to get those, so any "collection" I build for this will most likely be incomplete. This album rules though. So pissed off. So straight edge. I can't get enough of it.

I completely forgot that I'd ordered the clear vinyl pressing for the Turn My Back On The World 7 inch. When I opened the package, I was surpised to see this and I thought that New Age might have dropped it in for free. Nope. I guess I was just super excited for TDL records and I forgot that I'd added it to my order.

Spark Eliminator

One of the best heavy rock bands to emerge over the past five years or so has to be Freeways. The perfect blend of 70's hard rock in the vein of Thin Lizzy, and the driving rhythms from the melodic side of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. As far as I'm concerned, the band is perfect.

Spark Eliminator is the band's third release after their debut 7 inch, Cold Front, and their album, True Bearings, from last year. Two more songs that are so smooth that I've instantly fallen in love with them. Everything this band has released has been gold. Give me more because I can't get enough.

Green vinyl was limited to 150... and the cool thing here is unlike some labels that press about ten different colored vinyl option, here you get either the limited green or the standard black... which makes this colored vinyl feel a bit more special.

I picked up Die Hard editions for both Cold Front and True Bearings that included a nice looking patch, so I was obviously going that route with the Spark Eliminator 7 inch as well. These things look so great, and will be stored with the record and tucked away where no one will see them again.

KK's Priest

When K.K. Downing announced that he had a new band after his ten year retirement from Judas Priest, I had pretty low expectations. I wasn't impressed with his exit from Priest and the mud slinging that followed... plus his launch of a "metal" men's cologne was laughable, so when he mentioned a return to heavy metal, I expected it to be weak tea. When it was announced that his new band was going to be called KK's Priest, I rolled my eyes. Christ, with Ripper Owens in the band, they could have recycled the Jugulator name or something. KK's Priest is one of the lamest band names in the history of terrible band names. Either way, I expected this band to shit the bed.

Maybe it was because my expectations were so low, but when I heard the first single, Hellfire Thunderbolt, I found myself pleasantly surprised. I mean, it didn't compare the the last couple of Judas Priest records, but it was some solid metal. I kind of got caught up in the hype and jumped into buying a signed copy of the Sermons Of The Sinner album.

By the time the record arrived in the mail, I'd talked myself out of the hype and was back to my low expectations. I just really wasn't in the mood for this record. I haven't found a lot of new metal albums that have excited me this year, so I was kind of down on this record before I'd even listened to it. I dropped the needle on this thing a couple of days ago, and by the end of it, I was kind of bored with the whole thing. I have started to warm up to this with a few more listens, and there are a few songs that really give me a kick...so this isn't as terrible as I thought it might be.

It's kind of a fun listen, but time will tell how well this holds up over the years.

Cool Blue Whip

Look. I fucked up. I know I did. When I first heard that Chain Whip had preorders up for their new record, Two Step To Hell, I ignored it. I don't know what my problem was. I assumed that I had plenty of time to pick up the colored vinyl, but I blinked and they was gone. I've been waiting for one to show up on Discogs so that I can pay a stupid price for it, but I keep coming up empty there as well. I may have to suck it up and just get the black vinyl pressing.

When I saw that Chain Whip put a few blue vinyl copies of their 2020 demo in their Bandcamp store, I wasn't going to make the same mistake and I quickly added one to my cart and checked out. I had no idea what songs were on here, but I wasn't fucking around anymore.

Chain Whip play a frantic style of punk with some ragged edges and this demo presents a more raw version of that. Three of these songs ended up on the Two Step To Hell 12 inch, but the other five only appear on this demo. I'm glad someone pressed this to vinyl.

ACAB

Bitter Branches released their debut 12 inch last year, and then Tim Singer quickly followed that up with a record from No Escape early this year. No doubt, during a pandemic year, Tim was a busy man. With that release of the No Escape record though, I was wondering if we'd heard the last of Bitter Branches, so I was kind of surprised to see a new 7 inch from the band this year.

The main thing that drew me to buy a copy of this 7 inch was the packaging. Designed to look like an old Sub Pop single, this thing looks great. I'm not interested in those old Sub Pop bands but I do like the look of those records, so it was cool to see Bitter Branches kind of pay tribute to them here.

While I thought the This May Hurt A Bit EP was pretty good, and I would give it the occasional spin, the two songs here are fucking great. Both Along Came A Bastard and Fraudulent have been getting repeat plays since this 7 inch arrived.

Shortly after receiving this 7 inch, I saw a pink vinyl pressing that someone had posted somewhere on the internet. It looked so good, and I was immediately tempted to rush out and pick it up as a second copy. Checking Discogs today, I see that the pink vinyl is limited to 18... so I guess I'll just stick with my splatter version.

Senjutsu

Iron Maiden were dropping hints that we would soon be seeing a new album from them back when I caught them live on the Legacy Of The Beast tour back in 2019. Coronavirus threw a wrench into the works for a lot of bands as we rolled into 2020, and I'm pretty sure that Maiden put the brakes on thier plans to release that new album, and waited a year or so until things had calmed down a bit. Over this past summer, Iron Maiden started dropping hints around this thing called Belshazzar's Feast which lead to the announcment of the new album, Senjutsu, and the lead off single, The Writing On The Wall. I got sucked into the hype machine that Maiden were fueling big time, and could not wait for the album to drop.

It had been six long years since Iron Maiden had released their last album, Book Of Souls. Well, I make it sound like a long time, but 5 or 6 years is a pretty standard release schedule for this band. Either way, I was so hyped up that by the time the vinyl for Senjutsu arrived, I should have taken the day off from work because all I wanted to do was sit and immerse myself into this record.

Iron Maiden must be one of the more frustrating bands out there. I mean, you know that they aren't going to give us another Piece Of Mind, or even another Seventh Son, but you still hope for a couple of tracks that harken back to those glory days, but that isn't who Maiden are anymore. While, I still absolutely love all the post-2000 reunion albums I still keep hoping to hear the band with a bit of fire. So with my first listen of Senjutsu I was pretty disappointed...and while Bruce's vocals sound better than they did on Book Of Souls, my overall initial impression was that the entire one hour and twenty two minutes of this new record was stuck at the same slower to mid-pace throughout and I was tired of it by the end. I think that part of my initial exhaustion was due to the three ten minute Steve Harris epics that end this record. Repeat listens definitely had me appreciating Senjutsu more and after a few more spins I was really liking the first half of the record.

I'm starting to warm up to this record with more and more listens. I don't think this one is going to ever rank very high in their discography for me, but I still enjoy it...and it's Maiden so it will still get plenty of spins.

I only go to Walmart to buy Iron Maiden records.

Turnstile Love Connection

It has been ten years since Turnstile surprised me with that first 7 inch. The band seem to do their own thing, and over the years they have grown to experiment with their sound more and more, so with each album I've expected the band to disappoint me. I just keep expecting them to finally "outgrow" hardcore and push those boundaries too far where I just walk away.

When Turnstile released the first song off their new album, Glow On, I figured that this was when I was going to lose interest in the band. The song, Mystery, starts off with this weird electronic sound and my first thought was that I was too old for this shit. Next came Holiday which showed some promise, but the next song we got to preview was No Surprise and I was again left scratching my head. I was so conflicted about this new album. The jaded old dude in me wanted to hate it so much, but the hardcore kid in me was telling me to just give it a try...so I preordered the album and hoped for the best.

Like most Turnstile records, Glow On took a few spins to sink its hooks into me, but man, once it grabbed ahold of me I was in deep. This record is so much fucking fun and I can't listen to it without bouncing around like a fool. The flow throughout thie entire album is flawless as each songs blends into the next so smoothly that the 35 minutes flies by without any effort...and I immediately want to take it for another spin.

If I remember correctly, a lot of the more limited vinyl pressings were sold out by the time someone tipped me off that preorders were up. I think I only had the option of brown or pink vinyl. Ummmm...yeah, pink vinyl is the way to go here. There was a really nice looking colored vinyl option that was named "cloud" that would have been nice to have, especially since Discogs dipshits are dropping $600 for it. For a record released two months ago, people are dumb... even if it is a strong contender for my record of the year.

Currently In A Wrong War

One of my favorite bands from the first half of the 90's would have to be Current. I mean, if I'm honest, my list of favorite bands from that period is pretty long, so let's just say that during those years I really fucking liked Current. Goddamn. Their Coliseum album from '93 is perfection. Anyway... so when I saw over on noecho.net that the singer for Current had a new band going, I was kind of interested to see what they would sound like. I didn't expect much out of Wrong War, and kind of thought it might be some "mature" indie rock bullshit, but man, my expectations couldn't have been more wrong.

The nine songs on the Fixed Against Forever 12 inch hit hard and fast. The No Echo article mentions comparisons to Born Against, and over at Atomic Action Records they mention Articles Of Faith. Oh yeah, these songs have the AOF influence all over them. Damn, this was a nice surprise.

When the record went up for preorder, Council Records (another connection to those old Current records) had the exclusive red vinyl pressing, while Atomic Action was offering the clear vinyl exclusive from them. In the end, I opted for the clear vinyl option. Limited to 100.

Neglect / Obey

It may seem strange to some, but for me, the most anticipated record in 2021 was actually recorded back in 1992. Similar to when those old unreleased Kingpin songs were finally pressed to 7 inch a few years ago, when I heard that Encounter were releasing a record of unreleased songs, I was beyond excited. It is so great to see these songs get a proper release.

These two Encounter songs are great. I've had the mp3s for them for years, but I rarely would play them as I tend to overlook songs that only saw a digital release. Hearing them now has been a great reminder of how much I loved this band, and after digging out thier first 7 inch again I can't get enough of it. 90's hardcore was the best.

When I ordered this thing back in December 2020, little did I realized that it was going to take seven months for the record to arrive. Oh well, at least I got a Watermark enamel pin for the wait.

When my order from Watermark arrived, I was disappointed to receive the black vinyl pressing. I knew there was a clear vinyl version, and suddenly I was worried that I was going to struggle to track one down. Given the long and painful process it took to get my original order from Watermark, I thought for sure that getting my hands on the clear vinyl was going to be a difficult task. Thankfully Discogs delivered, and at a great price too.