Goblins In The Abyss

Finally. This one was a long time coming.

I ordered the new Orange Goblin LP from doooomed.com back in August. It was one of my more anticipated releases for the year, so you can imagine my disappointment when I received an email in December from doooomed, stating that their entire shipment arrived on their doorstep damaged beyond repair. The distro was going to have to wait until another shipment arrived, and that wasn't going to happen for another couple of months. I'd already grabbed a sneaky download to listen to the album, but without the actual vinyl, it meant that I wasn't going to be able to include it in with my Best Metal of 2014 photo...and with my OCD in high gear, I was feeling incomplete.

Six months after placing my order, it felt good to finally have the album in my hands.

Beginners Guide To Suicide

Orange Goblin have a new album due out next week, so to prepare for it I figured that I'd post up this recent repress I received of Healing Through Fire.

Healing Through Fire was my introduction to Orange Goblin. Back in 2007/2008 I'd heard the band's name thrown around a bit, and since I was starting to get interested in checking out newer Metal bands, I gave them a shot with this album. Even after downloading it, I still managed to sleep on it for a couple more years. While I liked it at the time, I was more into the Thrash revival, and I didn't fully appreciate the more straight forward Heavy Metal/Doom style that Orange Goblin was doing at the time. By the time I finally got off my ass, and got around to buying a copy of the album, I took the cheap and convenient route, and went with the CD as it came with a bonus DVD containing a live show from London in 2006. I don't regret the purchase, but this 2014 reissue from Back On Black was a good reminder that I still needed to add the vinyl to my collection.

Such a great album, but then again, you really can't go wrong with any of the Orange Goblin stuff.

Rush Live In '74

When I first got into Rush, I only bothered with those early days. I knew that things got sketchy for Rush during the 80's, as they fell in love with synthesizers, so I never bothered with anything post Moving Pictures. People seem to really dig the last couple of Rush albums, so I'm slowly venturing into that territory, and have downloaded both Counterparts and the remixed Vapor Trails albums. I'm surprised...they are actually rather good. However, there is no confusing the difference between "good" and "jaw-droppingly amazing", and mid-70's Rush absolutely demolishes the more recent stuff.

A few weeks ago, I was hanging out with a friend, and killing time in the record store. I was trying to convince myself that I shouldn't spend any money, and then I saw this live Rush album from '74. Knowing my indifference towards live albums, I'm not sure what it was that compelled me to buy it...well, other than my recent obsession with the band, and really that is the only reason that I need.

When I got the record home, and dropped the needle on the vinyl, I was very satisfied with my purchase. Damn, these songs sound so urgent, and Geddy Lee's voice is so raw...a perfect snapshot of a hungry band on the rise. At the time, Rush had only released their self titled debut, and were preparing the follow up, Fly By Night. With tracks only covering those two albums, and including three songs that Rush never properly recorded in the studio, this live album was well worth the money spent...even though I found it available online for $20 cheaper the following week. Damn.

In Memory Of...

On May 2nd of this year, it was announced that Jeff Hanneman, founding member and guitarist in Slayer, had died at the age of 49. Such terrible news, and an even bigger shame to hear that the cause of death was alcohol-related cirrhosis. So senseless, and completely preventable with a healthier lifestyle.

While Reign In Blood is the high point in Slayer's career, I usually hold out for Hell Awaits as my favorite album from them. It was the first Slayer album that I ever heard, and it just seems so raw in comparison to their other works. With the passing of Hanneman, I figured that I'd add another copy to the collection, to honor his memory.

The orange and red split colored vinyl was pressed by Back On Black for Record Store Day this year.

Damn, that picture disc from 2008 looks gross.

This past May also marked the three year anniversary of Ronnie James Dio's death. I'm a huge fan of everything Dio, so while I was picking up the Slayer vinyl for Hanneman, I decided that I needed to buy something in memory of Dio's passing as well.

Back On Black had just released new pressings of the Rainbow albums, as well as Dio's Holy Diver, so it was a tough call on which one to pick up. In the end I went with Long Live Rock 'n' Roll. I love the look of this split colored vinyl.

It's funny. I typically don't collect multiple copies of Metal records, but that doesn't seem to be the case with these albums.

Orange Goblin On Red

That's it. Time is up for 2012. There are a few more new releases that I need to pick up, but this post cleans out the last of the 2012 albums that were sitting in my vinyl backlog.

Fellow Doom Metal fiend, Sandwell, posted about the new Orange Goblin LP back in February. The band has been banging around for the last 15 years or so, and while I enjoyed thier 2007 album, Healing Through Fire, I still didn't know much about the band. Mark seemed to dig the new album, so I figured that I'd give it a shot and I downloaded it.

Early into 2012, I was obsessed with early 80's Hardcore, and the majority of my time was spent listening to bands like Black Flag, Circle Jerks, and Angry Samoans. Because of this, A Eulogy For The Damned sat on my ipod and was largely ignored for a better part of the year. While going through my 2012 playlist on my ipod, it would get the occassional spin, but it really wasn't grabbing my attention.

As was the case with most of the new Metal releases this year, the new Orange Goblin just needed to settle in and marinate. With repeated listens, I've found that I enjoy it more and more. What was originally a low rated album for 2012, has steadily climbed, and now finds itself as a possible Top 10.

With Rise Above reissuing the band's catalog on vinyl, I need to dig in and start spending some time with these older releases to determine if I should pick these up as well.

Sandwell's copy was on clear vinyl, which was for the first pressing. Second pressing was on red vinyl. Limited to 1,000.

It Goes On And On And On...

This week marks the two year anniversary for the passing of Ronnie James Dio. I never thought that I'd feel such loss over some musician that I've never even spoken to. Yet, as May 16th rolls around, I find myself paying tribute to the man by spending most of my day listening to the bands that he took center stage for...my daily playlist becomes a celebration of Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio, and Heaven & Hell. Two years after his death, it still saddens me to think that we will never see another studio album from one of the all-time Heavy Metal greats.

Through his final band, Heaven & Hell (A.K.A. Black Sabbath), we do get one last live album...their set from Wacken in July of 2009. A few months later it was announced that Ronnie was battling stomach cancer. Even though reports of his condition were positive, with continued talk of more live shows and a new Dio album continuing the story of his Magica LP, the Wacken show would prove to be his last recorded performance.

The album captures the greatness of Dio, as well as the rest of the Black Sabbath guys. New songs like Bible Black and Fear, flow seamlessly with classics like Children of the Sea and Die Young. At 67, Ronnie James Dio still had the voice and the energy to give the fans what they came for...and the man sounds absolutely possessed as he growls "I say fuck off, I'm going to burn in Hell with you". 67 years old. Damn. The man still had so much more to give.

Judas Priest Painkiller

A couple months ago, I went to see Judas Priest in concert. The Epitaph tour. It is supposed to be their last tour, and quite possibly it was my last chance to see them live. Since I'd only seen them one other time, I was really looking forward to catching them again. The setlist was pretty cool, as they played at least one song from each of their Halford albums. Halford's voice isn't what it once was, but to see the band do songs like Never Satisfied, Beyond The Realms of Death, Starbreaker, and Blood Red Skies...it was pretty fucking awesome. For me, the highlight of the show was Night Crawler from the Painkiller LP. It was an unexpected surprise, and kicked the ass of those standard songs that Priest feel the need to play over and over and over.

Back on Black recently repressed the majority of Judas Priest's catalog on vinyl...skipping Rocka Rolla and Sad Wings, and ignoring the Ripper years. Last Christmas, I picked up a vinyl copy of one of Priest's last classic albums, Painkiller. Damn, this album is so good. It doesn't compete with their 70's output, but it sure tops what they were doing with Turbo. Unlike my past purchases of Back on Black titles, I didn't get this one on colored vinyl. There was a limited pressing on red vinyl, and I was disappointed to open mine and see it was on black vinyl. Oh well, it still feels good to finally own this on vinyl.

Raise The Dead

Is it really live? Are the crowd noises faked? I don't care. Live Undead is a Hell of a recording from Slayer...plus Tom Araya gives us some classic intros to Die By The Sword and Captor Of Sin. "They say the pen is mightier than the sword, but I say fuck the pen, you can die by the sword".

Another Back On Black reissue, this time on clear vinyl with the Haunting The Chapel EP as a bonus.

Witch Hunt

Witchfinder General were an early 80's Metal band that did their best to rip off the Sabbath sound. They weren't nearly as tight as Sabbath, and their lyrics could be downright goofy, but if you can get past their "lets trip on L.S.D." lyrics, they are a hell of a band. They released two full length albums and with each one, they take the opportunity to get a girl to take off her shirt. Sabbath and boobs are a winning combination as far as I'm concerned. Both albums were recently reissued by Back on Black.

One of the local record stores in Maine, Newbury Comics, is notorious for having a shitty selection of vinyl (such a shame because I know two of the Boston locations are pretty impressive). I stopped in the other day and much to my surprise, they had the first Witchfinder General album, Death Penalty, in stock.

I've been picking up quite a few impulse purchases for Metal vinyl lately, and this one can be added to that list. I see it. I want it. I buy it. March was a month of no restraint.

Who killed Marilyn? Witchfinder General.

Hey, I like boobs as much as your average horny teenager, but I can think of a better way to fill the inside of a gatefold sleeve. No lyrics. No band photos. No written history of the band, documenting the recording of the album. Lame. I expect more from Back On Black.

What's Words Worth?

Back in 1978 Motorhead played a benefit show to preserve some William Wordsworth manuscripts. Motorhead wasn't getting a lot of attention at this point, and even though their set was recorded, it wasn't released until 5 years later as the What's Wordsworth? LP...a cash in from the band's former label to capitalize on the bands success. This recording is rough and ugly, but so aren't Motorhead, therefore, it is perfect.

I've picked up and handful of Back On Black re-issues this past year, and the best looking ones have got to be the ones for Motorhead. The inside gatefold sleeve is full of photos, plus a story of how the album came to be. I wish that Back On Black would do more layouts like this.

Hell Is Here

Reign In Blood may be my favorite Slayer album, but there is something about Hell Awaits that makes it special. It is difficult to call Hell Awaits more evil than Reign In Blood, but there is just something about that album that is darker than it's major label follow up.

I was excited to hear that Back On Black was repressing the first three Slayer albums...Show No Mercy, Live Undead with the Haunting the Chapel EP, plus Hell Awaits. The band covered all their other albums in the Vinyl Conflict box set that came out a couple months ago...and since the Metal Blade vinyl reissues ended up on shitty looking picture discs, I was really looking forward to the Back On Black press.

Stores around here are still stocking the Metal Blade reissue, so I had to go to an ebay store to find the Back On Black pressing. Back On Black on colored vinyl, with a gatefold sleeve. Very nice, but nothing out of the ordinary, or too special. I wish the label would do all of their reissues like the Motorhead ones that they do, and include a brief history of the record and what the band was up to when it was originally released. Still, this is another quality vinyl release.

I now have four copies of this record. Join us join us join us join us.

The Saints Come Marching Back In

I'm not saying that my appetite for CD's was killed with my new ipod, but it was heavily wounded. Most of the Metal albums that I've bought in the past were typically on CD. With Hardcore, I didn't mind buying both the CD and vinyl formats, but for most of my Metal is was a choice of one or the other...and typically the convenience of the CD won out. The ipod frees me of that choice, and I can truly commit to the format that I prefer to buy...vinyl.

While I've always really enjoyed Armored Saint, I've never really been that attracted to the John Bush era of Anthrax. It was decent, but it never really captured me like the Armored Saint stuff. With Anthrax too busy fucking around with either Joey Belladonna or some new singer, John Bush must have had enough and went back and did an album with his old band mates. Now it has been 10 years since we have seen a new studio album from Armored Saint, but they sound like they haven't skipped a beat. Great traditional Metal.

I was surprised to find out that Back On Black did the vinyl release for this album. Typically, the label just re-issues classic releases on vinyl, so I didn't expect to see that they were releasing the new Armored Saint album. The other surprise was that while Back On Black releases everything on colored vinyl, for this one they actually pressed it on black vinyl. Like most of the Back On Black releases, the gatefold packaging on this is very well done.

Long Live Ronnie James Dio

There have been a few musicians that have died in my time...Cliff Burton, Paul Baloff, Ozzy's career...but none of them have touched me the way I felt on May 16th, 2010 when Ronnie James Dio passed. As far as I was concerned, everything that Dio touched turned to gold. To lose him while he was still so active in the Metal scene...to know that Magica II will never be completed...it is a sad thing indeed.

Whether it is the memories of playing basketball as a kid in my driveway with Sabbath's Live Evil playing from the stereo speakers, hearing We Rock for the first time when a friend's older brother gave us a ride to school in 1984, seeing him on the Sacred Heart tour as my third concert ever, or being amazed at how great he looked on stage in his 60's for the 2007 tour as Heaven and Hell...it is a loss that I will feel whenever I put on one of his many amazing albums.

Back On Black recently started an offshoot of their re-issue label called Rock Classics which will focus more on the older 70's Metal/Rock albums. Looks like they will be doing the early Whitesnake albums, Thin Lizzy, some Deep Purple, and of course the Rainbow catalogue. Each one is limited to 1,000 on colored vinyl, and when they were first available I immediately ordered a copy of Rising. I was so desperate to get a copy that I ordered it from overseas and paid the shipping costs. For Long Live Rock 'n' Roll, I used a little more patience and was able to pick it up from a US seller on ebay.

From the colored vinyl, to the amazing b-side labels, the packaging on these records is amazing. It is just a matter of time until I pick up other two Dio-era Rainbow albums.

Use Your Head

It took me many years to finally check out the first Motorhead album. Back when I was living and breathing nothing but Metal back in the 80's, my collection started with the band's second album, Overkill. That one along with the following two, Bomber and Ace Of Spades, are pure perfection...but really, there isn't such a thing as a bad Motorhead album. While the first album showcases the band's rough and raw beginnings, it is the foundation on which those classic albums will be built upon, and it certainly should not be overlooked.

Back On Black re-issues always look amazing. The few that I've picked up over the last couple of years have always left me impressed with how solid the packaging is. Colored vinyl. Gatefold cover. Quality.

Adolescents In Canada

This past weekend, Rob, Paul and I headed out for the 6th Annual Guy's Roadtrip. Our destination this year was a return trip over the Canadian boarder and into Toronto. A 12 hour drive, we made our first stop at a town called Niagara on the Lake, where we had reservations to take a jet boat ride down the river at Niagara Falls. The ride was awesome as the jet boat takes you down some class 5 whitewater rapids, plus it did some pretty sweet 360 degree spins as we were rocketing down the calmer parts of the river. Definite adrenaline rush. After changing into some dry clothes, we headed out for Toronto. We got to the hotel a little late, but we did bump into David Faustino, who played Bud Bundy on the TV show Married With Children back in the 80's. He talked to Rob and Paul for a bit while I was checking us in to our room. Seemed like a cool enough guy. Hanging out in Toronto was a lot of fun. We walked the streets for miles and miles...from record store to record store, but I only bought something at the first store we stopped at, Sonic Boom. Pretty cool record store with a nice selection of vinyl, but they didn't take American currency, so I had to put it on my credit card (which I was hoping to avoid). It made me hesitant to buy anything at the other stores, although I'm totally regretting not picking up the Slayer bootleg album that I had seen at Rotate This. After record shopping, we went to see a Toronto Blue Jays game. The home team won in the 10th inning with a walk off home run. Very nice. All over town we had been seeing movie posters up for this film called Dead Snow. None of us had ever heard of it, but he movie poster was so cool, that we hunted down a movie theater and caught a 10:00 PM showing at the end of the day. Movie was as good as we had hoped it would be...Nazi zombies with plenty of blood, guts, and gore. Nicely done. We spent all day on Sunday driving home, which was a little exhausting. All in all, it was one of the best roadtrips that we have been on. Good times.



The first album that I picked up at Sonic Boom was the Adolescents LP. I first heard this album about four years ago...somehow avoiding this punk/hardcore classic since it's release in 1981...and I've fallen in love with it. I have been meaning to pick it up on vinyl for the past couple of years, always putting off ordering it from Frontier Records. Seeing the 25th Anniversary pressing on grey colored vinyl at Sonic Boom was as good a reason that I needed to finally pick this up.

Another album that I've been wanting to buy for a while now was some of the Motorhead vinyl reissues on Back On Black. The pressing that they have done for the Motorhead catalog have looked absolutely amazing, but due to the price of these UK imports, I've held off on picking any up. I saw a few at Sonic Boom, and finally took the plunge by picking up Volume One of the BBC Live & In-Session double LP. Featuring some early live performances from '78 and '79, I was happy to finally add one of these Back On Black Motorhead pressings to the collection. Sonic Boom also had the 4 LP pressing of the band's 1980 classic, Ace of Spades, but with a $60 price tag, that one was still too pricey for me to pick up. Maybe some day....

Welcome to Boston, Part 4 (Xmas Finale)

Christmas came around and I got the presents from my brother, Paul. Sure I helped steer him in the right direction, but he did make some great choices. He also spent more than I expected him to, so I'm grateful for that as well. Three classics.

Man, I love me some Jimi Hendrix, and this first album from 1967 is his best. This copy is some new Back to Black reissue, and the packaging on this is fantastic. Nice heavy vinyl with a gatefold sleeve. It also includes a booklet with some reflections on the band.

Another classic reissue is the 1977 Young Loud and Snotty album from Dead Boys. I downloaded this album a couple of years ago, and love the attitude and aggression in these songs. Dead Boys was the band that originally did Sonic Reducer that has been covered numerous times, but the first time I heard it was on Overkill's first album. I've tried to check out other Dead Boys stuff, but this is the only album that grabs me.

The third, and last, classic reissue that Paul bought me was Death's 1987 album, Scream Bloody Gore. This album was re-released on Back On Black Records, not to be confused with the Back To Black Hendrix reissue. A few months ago, I was on a mission to collect a bunch of Back On Black releases, but since they are expensive imports and I can only find them at online distros, my obsession died after only obtaining two albums. Still, I hope to continue to pick up a few here and there. So I was really happy to find a copy of Death's first album at Newbury comics, and thankful that Paul picked it up for me. Great gatefold packaging, with an awesome clear with red splatter colored vinyl.

My Mom and Paul both got me the Radio Silence book, so I returned one of them and put the money towards a new USB turntable so that I can easily rip my vinyl to the computer. Thanks for everything Paul!

We're Back!

I got back from my week long vacation today. A week on the lake with the family. No stereo...no computer...no distractions. While it was nice to get away, man, I missed the non-stop barrage of music. First thing that I did, once everything was unpacked, was hit the stack of new vinyl sitting here next to my computer.

One of my newest obsessions has been Back On Black...a new record label, like Night of the Vinyl Dead, that specializes in classic Metal vinyl. Back On Black releases look fucking amazing, and have tempted me to start collecting a number of them. My first order from CM Distro was for two bands that have made a pretty strong return to Thrash over the past couple of years. First up was Onslaught. I never heard this band back when they were releasing albums in the 80's, but after a recommendation, I did check out Killing Peace when it was released last year. I loved the album...great modern Thrash, and has made me go back and visit the bands roots as well. The other band making a comeback has been Exodus. Fuck, I loved this band as kid...I even had the album cover of Bonded By Blood as a back patch for my denim jacket. The band has a new singer now, but I am still loving the albums that they are putting out, and Shovel Headed Kill Machine from 2005 is no exception. Brutal album. Since I had downloaded both of these albums, and hadn't bought them, seeing them get the vinyl treatment from Back On Black was all I needed to pick up these two killer albums.

So, yeah, just like some classic Thrash bands, I'm back. The week on the lake was perfect. We had great weather all week long, and I spent a lot of time swimming with the kids. In addition to swimming and hanging out on the beach, I got a ton of reading done. I finished book number two for The Manly Book Club. Brent made the selection this month with Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield. Unlike last month, I actually finished the book before our meeting. If I didn't have this past week off and was away from the computer and music, I'm not sure if I would have finished it. However, as strange as it may seem, I really enjoyed this book. I never would have believed that I would have gotten into a book based on the battle of Thermopylae, but damn, other than my inability to keep the names of all the characters straight, I had a great time reading this one. It's my turn to pick the book for next month. I may take the easy way out and go with something that Rob mentioned that he wants to read....Hell, it looks like a good selection, so I'll probably go with that.

In addition to my Book Club reading, I also managed to also finish reading Judas Priest : Heavy Metal Painkillers by Marin Popoff. This book was more up my alley. All the pictures of the band's old singles, and discussion around each song from every album...man, I really wanted to listen to this band over the past week. A really fun read, and I just love Popoff's books.

And since I can't help but act stupid when the camera comes out, here is a picture of me hitting the books this past week. Word.