RTA LI

When record labels started pressing stupid amounts of colored vinyl options... frustrating me to the point of giving up collecting multiple versions... Rule Them All were one of the bands that snapped me out of that mindset and had me chasing multiple copies again. I loved the band that much and it brought that collector spirit back a little bit.

With their first 12 inch, An Alignment Of Polarity, I didn't think that I'd make much progress on that collection. The record was only pressed on black vinyl, but it did see a couple of limited covers made in small numbers, so I figured that my chances were small in getting my hands on them.

Last year I was surprised to have the opportunity to pick up the Silent Majority ripoff cover from a Discogs seller, and as I was writing the blog post back in January, I decided to see if anything else had popped up there. I was happy to find someone looking to sell the limited Long Island map cover, and I quickly added it to my cart.

Discogs doesn't have much info on this one... it just lists it as "300 copies pressed", so I was happy to find that it was numbered out of 50. I wonder if I'll have any luck finding a test press for this one and completing the collection.

Majority Rule

When I first discovered Rule Them All back in 2019, I immediately fell in love with that band. I listened to them consistently over the next couple of years, and sang their praise for each record I posted here. I remember being a bit disappointed at the time when I discovered that the band's 12 inch, An Alignment Of Polarity, was only pressed on black vinyl. I loved the band and wanted something to collect for that record, but I didn't think that I had much of a chance in finding the versions with the special covers, so I just took my common black vinyl and figured that was the end of the line.

Imagine my surprise when I was checking discogs last summer and found a seller with the special cover that pays tribute to the Life Of A Spectator record cover from Silent Majority. The price didn't seem too bad, but it didn't really matter... I was buying it regardless.

Number 13 of only 30 made, with the Daze logo stamped on the center label, so I'm extremely happy to have this in the collection.

KYI / RTA

I've discovered a lot of great hardcore bands over the past few years, but on the list of my favorites, Rule Them All has to rank near the top. The band released some of my favorite shit with records in 2018 and 2019, so when I heard that they had a couple of songs on a split with Kill Your Idols coming out in 2022, I was eagerly looking forward to it.

I don't listen to a lot of Kill Your Idols. Back in the early 2000's, they were just a band that I wanted to like more than I actually did. They play fast straight forward hardcore, and they had some cool records at the time, but none of them really stuck with me in the long run. Fun to pull out and listen to once every ten years or so... but I will say, the two songs on this split are quite good. I don't know if it is the quick, short dose of KYI, but I enjoy going back to these songs again and again.

Meanwhile over on the Rule Them All side, I really enjoy the songs, but they didn't have an immediate impact like their other records. Still cool, no doubt, but maybe two songs is just over too quick and it doesn't really give me the time I want with the band. Give me more.

300 pressed on red and black split vinyl.

Doomed To Consume

That 7 inch from Rule Them All quickly became one of my favorite new records. I listened to that thing a ton in 2020, and while I try to avoid buying multiple copies of records these days, when Flatspot announced a second pressing of Dreams About, I couldn't resist. This band rules so much, and the collector bug has hit hard, and I want every fucking thing that the band has put out.

For the second pressing, Flatspot Records released an addition with a special cover that was limited to 50. Oh hell yes. I wasn't really excited about the splatter vinyl, but I was totally onboard with that limited cover.

For the second pressing, Flatspot changed up the regular cover as well, switching it from the blue on yellow to yellow on blue. Another nice touch. Thankfully we get a nice transparent red for the vinyl and not another shitty pattern. This is what I like to see. 400 pressed on red.

After picking up the two second pressing records, I had to backtrack and scoop up the purple vinyl from the first press. It was obviously sold out in the webstore, but I was able to get my hands on a cheap copy through Discogs. The postal service has been shit lately, so it literally took a month to make it up the east coast. To be honest, I'm not a fan of the purple vinyl either... I mean, who the hell picks these colors...why not a regular transparent blue for christsake... but like I said, I love this record too much to not want to buy them all. 400 on purple.

Values Rule Them All

There were a lot of great hardcore records that were released last year, and I was a little late to the party for Rule Them All. The band didn't really start to click for me until early 2020, when I was preparing to see them at the Vantage Point record release show, but man, once they got their hooks in me, I couldn't get enough. They didn't make my list at the end of 2019, but goddamn, their 7 inch definitely deserves a place in my Top 10 for that year.

I love this band so much, that when I saw they had a split release coming out this year I jumped to order a copy...even though it was just a cover song...and on a flexi.

Rule Them All got together with The Fight to release a two song flexi named Fight Them All, where they each provide a cover song. I'm really not a fan of The Fight, although they do a decent take on Discharge's Fight Back, but the Rule Them All cover of Dag Nasty's Values Here is kind of fun...you know, for a cover song. This isn't anything that I'll probably listen to that much, but it is still cool to have something "new" from Rule Them All.

All Them Rules

There was a stretch in 2019 when I was falling in love with just about any new hardcore band that I was checking out. So when I was picking up the new Sunstroke record, I decided to check out what else the label had for sale. I'd never even heard of the New Morality Zine label, but given that they were releasing the new Sunstroke, I figured that I'd check to see what their back catalog had to offer.

The artwork for the front cover of the Rule Them All 12 inch did absolutely nothing to sell me on the band, but once I dug into the description for the band, and saw that it mentioned they took the sound of Silent Majority and blended it with Revolution Summer emo, I knew that I had to check them out. I fucking love Silent Majority, so a name drop like that certainly gets my attention.

While An Alignment Of Polarity was released back in 2018, I'm still counting this as another win in discovering new hardcore bands. I don't know how accurate the Silent Majority/Revolution Summer description is, but I am loving this record.

300 pressed on black vinyl. Cool zine style booklet is included as an insert with lyrics and writings for each song. Very cool.

As I was digging in and finding out more about Rule Them All, I discovered that preorders were up for the band's new 7 inch on Flatspot Records. Given how much I was digging the 12 inch, I didn't hesitate to get an order in for the new record.

Fuck. This is a great record. After really sitting down with these songs today, it makes me wonder how I can fit the record into my Top 10 for 2019.

Blue and yellow colored vinyl is limited to 100.