Open Your Eyes

A wise man once wrote "I should have more Youth Of Today records in my life". There it was, a truth that so obvious that I couldn't believe that I hadn't thought of it myself. I know that I'm never going to have an impressive Youth of Today collection, and when Revelation Records reissued Can't Close My Eyes, I gave it a moments thought and moved on. When I read those words however, I knew that even though I would probably never own some of their rarest records, I still needed to buy the vinyl for one of my favorite hardcore bands of all time when the opportunity presented itself.

There has been all kinds of talk about the reissues that REV did for Youth of Today in 1997. The general consensus was that they looked like shit, and for the most part, I'd agree. So it was nice to see that lessons were learned and REV went back to the original artwork for the 2011 pressing. I don't own an original Positive Force pressing, nor do I own the vinyl for the Caroline re-press, so I can't compare them...all I've got is the Can't Close My Eyes cassette from Caroline. Maybe I'll get there someday.

443 on red vinyl, and 562 on some weird purple/grey mix marble vinyl.

Camp Records Presents

I've said it before, I'm not a fan of compilations. One song from a band, while it can be a nice introduction, doesn't really give me much of an indication as to if the band is going to stick with me or if they are disappear like so many bands from the Voice of the Voiceless comp.

When Camp Records announced they were releasing a 7 inch comp, More Than A Piece Of Mind, I was torn. Sure there were some up and coming bands that I was interested in checking out, but still, it was a tough decision to part with the five dollars for this one. In the end, my curiosity to check out bands like Truth Inside, razorXfade, and the new Caught In A Crowd song, was enough incentive to make the purchase. All of the bands on the comp are good, but the production is pretty rough and it all sounds like a demo recording...nothing amazing, but it will be cool to see if any of these bands can take the next step, and it is always cool to see kids still passionate about this style of music. Keep it up.

25 of the red vinyl came with the green cover for pre-orders. Hand numbered on the dust sleeve, and I got number 10.

DTN All My Sons

By the end of 2007, Down To Nothing had released one of the best albums of the year with The Most. Man, that LP was killer...solid all the way through. Then three years passed with nothing but some jerk-off 7 inch, and a split with an Australian band that failed to hold my attention. In 2010 they came storming back with a brand new 7 inch called All My Sons. It was released on Reaper Records, who I pay no attention to, and ended up missing out on the first pressing. At some point I picked up the second pressing, and quickly realized that DTN could still deliver the goods.

Looking back, this record should have been rated higher on my Top 10 list from last year. A record so good that I had to pick up another copy. Third press. 497 pressed on clear vinyl.

The Last Rites Of Pentagram

My third, and final, post from my latest order from Rise Above Records.

Pentagram are a difficult band to follow historically. Since the band started up in the early 70's, they have gone through close to 30 different members, broke up and reformed a half a dozen times, and didn't release their first LP until 14 years after their formation. Total clusterfuck. Recently, vocalist Bobby Liebling, reunited with the guitarist from the band's first three albums, Victor Griffin. The result is Last Rites.

Now, other than the first album, I'm not really well versed in the past Pentagram output, so I can't say how the new album compares to their previous records. I can say, however, that this new album is some classic doom metal. It took me a little while to warm up to this record, but since I've been on a doom/stoner metal kick lately, this album is a perfect fit in the playlist rotation.

I'm not 100% sure on the pressing for this album. I bought this through Rise Above, but it is pressed by Metal Blade...I'm assuming the vinyl is limited to a Euro press, and that it only saw a CD release through Metal Blade in the states. What I do know is that they pressed a few different colors, 300 pressed of each color. I picked up the "caramel" colored version.

This album also came with a huge poster for the band's 40th anniversary tour...which will stay folded up and stored in the album sleeve and not see the light of day again, regardless of how cool it looks.

True Gentleman

When I picked up the Blood Ceremony LP from Rise Above a few weeks back, the new Gentleman's Pistols album, At Her Majesty's Pleasure, had just been posted in the store as well. I didn't hesitate to grab a copy.

I clearly remember reading about Gentleman's Pistols on Marcus' blog back in 2008. Before going to bed that night, I checked them out on this website that was really popular at the time, called myspace. The songs were totally influenced by the late 60's and early 70's, and at the time I was completely falling in love with that time in rock history. As I lay there in bed that night, I had a hard time falling asleep because I had just stumbled upon this incredible new band playing a classic style.

The new Gentleman's Pistols album continues on with the same formula that I loved on the first album. The band just keeps on keepin' on...playing amazing guitar driven rock.

Oh yeah, my kids absolutely hated the album cover for At Her Majesty's Pleasure. They were interested to check out what I got in the mail, and when they saw the album cover, with the horse and lion heads on naked human bodies, my son reached up,slapped me in the face, and said it was disgusting. It kind of made me like the cover even more.

Rise Above Records typically does a limited deluxe vinyl version, called the Die Hard pressing, of the albums they release. They didn't do that for the Gentleman's Pistols LP, but they did to a pretty limited run of 100 on clear vinyl. I'm glad I got one when I did, because they are now long gone.

Sometime before the release of the LP, Rise Above also released a new single from Gentleman's Pistols. The 7 inch vinyl contains one song from the new album, plus an exclusive track called Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker. Worth it for that song alone. 400 pressed on black.

Ceremony Bloody Ceremony

Some bands I deliberately avoid. I have preconceived notions about what they will sound like, and stay away from them. After reading reviews about the first Blood Ceremony LP back in 2008, even though they were positive, I kept my distance because of two things...female vocals and a flute. No matter how many comparisons were made to Black Sabbath, those two pieces insured that I stayed away.

I believe that my musical tastes have expanded since 2008, so when Blood Ceremony were set to release their new album, Living With The Ancients, this year, I figured that I'd check to see what the hype was all about

From the heavy crashing doom riff that starts the first song, The Great God Pan, I was immediately hooked. No one is more surprised than me at how much I'm enjoying this album. The female vocals (which really remind me of the early 90's punk/emo band Junction), and even the flute adds so much texture and contrast to the traditional Sabbath sound...the whole thing is amazingly powerful. Living With The Ancients is definitely in the running for my favorite Metal album of this year.

Regardless of the high shipping fee, as soon as the vinyl was available to order from Rise Above, I immediately placed an order. 330 pressed on red with black swirl colored vinyl.

More Fire, More Ice

I'm beginning to feel like Marcus, who's blog posts seem to split between either Integrity or Rot In Hell. The man is focused. I'll give him that. I seem to have taken a page from his book, and have had my sights locked in on adding to my Fire & Ice collection.

My latest FNI additions were won on ebay at the end of May. Thinking of it now, I haven't been back to ebay since winning these records.

Other than the 2X7 inch package, this is my first colored vinyl for Grim. The pressing info lists this color as teal "Maui Wowee", and is limited to 100.

This is my seventh copy of Gods & Devils. Still, I've got 3 more copies to go to finish this collection.

First press on clear with red and silver splatter. Limited to 200.

Sign Of The Jackal

A few months ago, I was at the height of Metal passion. I was buying Metal records left and right...could not get enough of it. I took a trip over to REVHQ and what do I see listed in the New Release Spotlight section? The Beyond EP from Italy's Sign of the Jackal, which features an album cover that looks like a definite nod to a certain Mercyful Fate record...and with a description that mentions the album is for fans of Judas Priest and early Iron Maiden...I was certainly interested to check them out, and rushed over to Heavy Artillery Records to pick up a copy.

While I certainly wouldn't put them at the same level as Priest or Maiden, Sign of the Jackal are a fun listen. 70's horror imagery mixed with a musical style like those New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands from the early 80's. Great mix.

The one thing that caught me off guard, was that Sign of the Jackal has a female singer. I don't know exactly what it is, but I tend to stay away from any music with a woman on lead vocals. When I first heard this band, I thought it was some dude with a high voice...kind of like some of those early 80's Metal bands. After I start digging the band, I discover that it is a woman singing...holy shit, I was tricked! You win, Sign of the Jackal. Your female vocals are fantastic.

The record itself appears to just be something that the band threw together to hold their fans over as they go into the studio this year to record a real LP. The Beyond is just a collection of rare studio tracks and obscure cover songs. Cool enough, and certainly has me looking forward to what the band will do next.

500 pieces of vinyl was pressed for this album. 300 on black, and 100 a piece for clear and yellow colored vinyl. Looks like only the colored vinyl was numbered and I got 127 out of 200.

The band's first 7 inch, Haunted House Tapes, from 2009, is what really captures my attention. Two songs, each with their own intro, really show how much fun this Metal band can be. From the red cover, to the name of the record...it seems like a great tribute to Iron Maiden's Soundhouse Tapes.

The only place that I could find a copy of this 7 inch was at REVHQ. It was a little pricey, but I really wanted a copy. 300 pressed on black vinyl.

I've Had Enough

Okay, this is my second draft of this post. The first time I typed this thing out, Blogger didn't autosave and then shit the bed, leaving me to have to write the whole thing again. Okay, here we go again...

Enough are a Straight Edge band out of Tennessee. They play a classic style of Youth Crew Hardcore, but more importantly they play with a ton of passion. I stumbled across this band when I was downloading some new music from Keith Alert's great blog, The Price of Silence. Keith posts up a bunch of demos and stuff from newer bands, and helps keep me in touch. Enough are just one of the recent demos that Keith has posted a download link for, but for me, they stand above most of the stuff he has recently posted.

Enough self released their debut EP, When You Don't Think You Can, and it marks a nice improvement over their 2010 demo. This 7 inch has a sound similar to early Mental, but I also get a great '97 Youth Crew Revival vibe from these songs. I can see this record being a great fit with what Youngblood was releasing around that time.

You can download it HERE, and when you agree with me about how great they are, you can order it HERE. 85 on pink colored vinyl, 100 on tan/marble, and 105 on black.

The band put up a couple test pressings of this record in their webstore. I would have definitely picked up a copy, but unfortunately, I was out of town, on vacation with the family, at the time, and therefore missed my opportunity to grab one. Damn.

While I was picking up Enough's new 7 inch, I also grabbed a vinyl copy of the demo that they had available as well. I don't have the pressing info for this, but I believe there were around 200 pressed.

Nothing Done To The First Step

A few months back, I picked up a special pressing of Nothing Done's Powertrip LP, which you can check out here. I was trying to find some pressing info about the record, but could not seem to locate the pressing info on the Not Just Words Records website. I was pretty sure that I had checked that site for pressing info before, but this time out I couldn't find anything. After searching for a few minutes, I clicked the Contact Us link and fired off an email to the man who used to run the label, Ronald. Minutes later I got a reply with pretty specific directions on how to find the pressing info on the website..."scroll down to the bottom of the page". Wow. Am I lazy or just blind? Ronald and I ended up exchanging a few emails, and he let me know that he had an additional copy of the Idiot Stomp EP mispressing, and he'd sell it if I was interested.Of course I took him up on the offer. Nothing Done were so good, and I'm always looking for opportunities to add to my collection for them.

When Not Just Words received the original pressing of vinyl, they noticed that the first few seconds were missing from Side A. The label pulled 65 on black and 12 on colored vinyl for themselves, and the rest were rejected. 50 of the black vinyl were used for the record release show, while the remainder got a special cover for the record nerds to fight over.

Thankfully the whole story about this pressing is printed on the backside of the record cover.

Of the 27 copies with this sleeve, 15 are on black vinyl, an 12 are on green with pink splatter. I'm glad that I got the more limited of the two, but when you are talking the difference between 12 and 15, you'd have to be a pretty big geek to care about such things. Welcome to my world.

Right next to Have Heart's The Things We Carry, What We Know by The First Step may very well be one of the best albums released in the past ten years. Five years after their initial release date, both of those albums still sound fresh and vital. For some reason, I had never gotten around to picking up the second pressing of What We Know from Not Just Words. I asked Ronald if he had any spare copies laying around, and he managed to find one copy and agreed to sell it to me for a very fair price.

330 pressed on white vinyl.

Shipping from The Netherlands to the States was crazy expensive, so I asked Ronald to ship the records to Marcus in the UK, and then he could ship them to me and save me some money. Marcus has used me as his personal Postal Bitch a few times, so it was time for me to return the favor. Since I'd never heard of a band named Deal With It, Marcus decided to properly introduce me to the band's first album, End Time Prophecies, and slip it in with the other records that he was forwarding to me. Deal With It play some serious metal influenced hardcore in the same vein as NY bands like Maximum Penalty, Leeway, and Cro-Mags...only DWI aren't at the same caliber as the bands that influenced them. Good stuff, but it isn't blowing me away...we'll see if it sinks in after a few more spins.

Thank you, Ronald and Marcus, for the records.

35 Years, 20 Albums

Motorhead celebrated their 35th anniversary in 2010, and to start off 2011, the band released their 20th studio album. That is a hell of a run! Has there ever been another band to maintain that level of output? Sure there are a couple of clunkers in their catalog, but for the number of albums they have released, Motorhead have maintained a high level of integrity and quality.

With This World Is Yours, Motorhead show no signs of slowing down. Now, I've really enjoyed the last two albums they have released, but this new one seems to be step above them. Some of these songs can stand up next to some of their classics from the 80's. Hell, the song Brotherhood of Man feels like a more upbeat, fresh take on the song Orgasmatron.

Such a solid album from a band that seems like they will go on forever.

Nice thick vinyl. Gatefold packaging.

You're Fired

Triple B Records has a bunch of good stuff coming down the pike. New records from Stick Together, Thought Crusade, and Disengage are on the way, and as far as I'm concerned they can't get here soon enough. When the label posted that they recently got hit with some surprise fees from the pressing plant, and had to sell some BBB rarities to cover some costs, I was happy to check it out and see what they had available. When I saw they had a bunch of early pressings of the Fire & Ice stuff, I knew that I couldn't walk away. Sure, the pricing was a little too high for what they were asking, but I've been on a roll with the FNI vinyl so I went and pulled the trigger on a couple records anyway.

The first thing that I grabbed was the Sound & Fury two-pack, which has both the Gods & Devils and Grim records packaged in a special sleeve for the Sound & Fury fest in 2010. I had not seen this package prior to Triple B selling them for some extra cash, and goddamn, I'm impressed.

This thing looks amazing. The fire and ice motif is tight...from the ice blue front cover to the fire and Sound & Fury logo on the back cover. Triple B even threw in a Vinyl Noize sticker to help promote a great blog.

Wrapped in a nice heavy cardstock sleeve with the original 7 inch art work on the inside, even the colored vinyl ties into the fire and ice theme.

The other Fire & Ice record that I picked up from Triple B was the more limited pressing of the Gods & Devils 7 inch. Metallic silver out of 100.

On Tour

I empathize. I probably can't even begin to comprehend the hard work and headaches it takes to keep a hardcore label going...let alone an independent label like REACT! that releases quality record after quality record. Aram has sold off large quantities of his personal record collection to keep the label moving forward. That is some serious commitment right there...something that you just can't fuck with.

Once again, the man had to resort to selling off some of his collection, along with some rare REACT! gems from the vault. While some items may be considered a "cash grab" *cough* REACT Showcase box set out of six *cough*, if people are willing to part with their cash for some manufactured rare items, who am I to throw stones? As long as it keeps REACT! afloat, you go for it Aram.

Myself, I kept things a little light this time around. While I did throw some bids on other records that I wanted, I only walked away with the Euro tour press for the ON Double Vision LP. Visually, it isn't too appealing with the plain white sleeve with a sticker in the upper corner... and it probably doesn't help that I photographed it with a white background. Still, when the covers for this LP weren't back from the printer in time for ON's European tour, they put this "Emergency Edition" together so the band would have something to sell while on the road.

Number 124 our of 130 pressed.

Gotta Stick Together

Back in February, there was some general confusion in regards to the Stick Together pre-orders. from Back To Back Records. Like most people that ordered all three colors with the pre-order, I received two copies of white vinyl, and one on black. The label had shipped most of the orders and then noticed an unopened box of orange vinyl. At the time, it was assumed that orange was the more limited color with only 100 pressed. When it was announced that the white vinyl was actually the limited color, and the pressing info was 100 on white, 300 on orange, and 600 on black...suddenly the label fuck up didn't seem so bad for those that received two copies of white. It did however leave me in the position of having to hit up ebay for that elusive orange vinyl.

After watching a few auctions for the orange vinyl come and go, and I was able to gauge how much they were going for, I finally decided to pounce. Solid record. Just one of the bands keeping Straight Edge Hardcore fresh in 2011.

It feels good to finally have this collection complete. Next mission is to get the Disengage 7 inch from Back To Back on blue.

Not Afraid

In 2010 True Colors played their last show. In 2011, Packo and Hinkey joined up with Stief from Justice and came roaring back playing a similar style with Not Afraid.

With Powered Records down for the count, it only makes sense that Not Afraid's debut 7 inch, Be Yourself, is released on Control Records. Not a whole lot going on with the packaging...black and white...very stripped down style...just the way I like my hardcore.

Number 72 of 100 on green vinyl.

400 on black vinyl.

Gods & Devils Prerelease

From the last post to this one, we go from the Iron Boots last show press to the prerelease for the first Fire & Ice record. The dudes in this band did not sit back and take a break! From the last Iron Boots show in 2008, the singer and drummer joined up with the guitarist from Down To Nothing and produced the first Fire & Ice 7 inch, Gods & Devils, in 2009.

The latest copy to be added to my collection is labeled Prerelease on the front cover. I don't see this listed in the pressing info on the Triple B page, so I'm not sure if it is what is listed as the Fall 2009 tour press that is limited to 100. I'm stumped. I'll have to track down this piece of info.

Either way this is a solid looking record. While I don't typically buy into the whole red white and blue, stars and stripes motif, this looks tight.

Iron Last Show Boots

Why do you never bid on ebay with an even dollar amount? So when you try to snipe an auction that I'm bidding on at the last second, you don't find yourself short by two cents. Seriously, won this Iron Boots record by $0.02. It worked out for me this time, but damn, what a shitty way to lose out on a record.

I intended to get this post up yesterday, but time was not on my side. It would have been perfect, since I just noticed that it was the three year anniversary of the band's last show.

Solid looking last show cover with artwork by Spoiler. I just wish that it was printed on a thicker paper, as opposed to some quick looking photocopy job.

Number 100 out of 150 pressed.