Let There Be Exodus

I've got no problem with Dukes-era Exodus. Hell, I love the band's last few albums. Now, don't get stupid on me...of course they aren't as good as the classics, and nothing is going to touch Baloff at the mic for Bonded By Blood. With that said, was there really a need to re-record the classic first album with Dukes on vocals? The obvious answer is "no". The band didn't need release Let There Be Blood, but they wanted to have some fun and do it anyway. It isn't going to replace Bonded By Blood, so who cares. Gary Holt is still playing some great Thrash, so if the man wants to revisit this classic, respect the man, and chill the fuck out.

Let There Be Blood was released in 2009, and it took me until 2013 to finally listen to it, so I obviously wasn't too interested in it. However, finding the vinyl on eBay for $10 was good enough for me. It is only going get a few listens, but for that price, it is more than welcome in my collection.

The best piece of this album is the Hell's Breath bonus track. Apparently this song was from the original 1983 rehearsals, and never properly recorded until now. Fuck, what a beast of a song! Love it.

Hand numbered and "limited" to 2,500.

Think Twice Test

Sometimes I'm easily influenced. On February 12th, I saw that Anger Battery put some test pressings up in their store. The label was looking for some extra cash to help fund future projects, and while I wanted to help out, I convinced myself to save my money and walk away.

On the 24th, Marcus posted about the two tests that he had bought.

By the 27th, I had placed my order for the one remaining test press that Anger Battery had available.

Yes, just seeing that Marcus picked up a couple of tests, was enough to break my will. Actually, I was pretty surprised that the label still had any of the test pressings available. I grabbed a couple copies of the Think Twice 7 inch last year...great stuff...so I was happy to get the test pressing for this one as well. Thanks for the push, Marcus.

Number 3 of 13.

Rebirth Of Strife

Back in the 90's, I loved Strife. As the decade went on, they moved in a more Metal direction but still held on to that Hardcore foundation. From those first two 7 inches to Truth Through Defiance...I loved it. As we moved into the 2000's, members of the band broke edge and released a turd of an album with Anger Means. Over time, I cared less and less for this band. Occassionally, I'd spin the early stuff, but for the most part, the more metallic stuff was ignored and forgotten.

When I heard that Strife was releasing a new album last year, I really didn't give a shit. There was a ton of hype, and it seemed like kids everywhere were losing thier minds over this new record, but I still had zero interest in checking it out. What changed my mind was a review over at SWNK.

"The tuning is all wrong, it sounds like the fucking First Step or something."

"It sounds too much like a straight up hardcore band."

"I’m sure someone out there will try and quote the first xStrifex record flame still burns about now, but we all know it sucked."

Okay...fuck him. My knee jerk reaction was a sudden interest to check out this record.

The album itself is better than I expected, but in the end it is just okay. It does tend to lean more towards One Truth than In This Defiance, but no one is really going to confuse this with the greatness that was The First Step. It isn't terrible, but it also isn't something that I'm going to be reaching for very often. Oh, and the guest vocals from Biohazard, Ill Nino, and Terror is a big bucket of "who gives a fuck".

Clear Chain

I've got a long list of records that each year I tell myself that I'd like to pick up, and each year I hardly make a dent in that list. Being one of the best Hardcore bands of all time, Chain Of Strength is on that list. I own a few Chain records, but I've always wanted to add to that collection since I started this game in 2005. Why have I made zero progress since then? Well, collecting Chain records is no joke. There will be no $10 wins with this band. If you want to throw your hat in the ring, you need to make a serious commitment. I vowed that in 2013 I would get serious with a number of items that have been on my want list year after year. First we knocked off original pressings from Fear, Black Flag and Circle Jerks, and then the Spirit LP from Up Front. I was happy with each of those purchases, but they all pale in comparison to this one.

Shit got crazy last year with the Chain reunion. Suddenly, everyone and their mother was selling Chain vinyl on eBay. I didn't want to get sucked into the hysteria, so I sat back and watched from afar. It was tough to not get caught up in the excitement. I saw the band play one of their reunion sets in NYC, and thinking back now to those opening notes of Impact, with the crowd screaming along, "I can't believe another year's gone by, and still nothing, as if we don't even try..."...all those voices rising above the volume of the band...passionate to be heard...fuck...I still get goosebumps thinking about it. Amazing.

Last month, I had some extra cash in my savings account and was looking to put it towards something big...something substantial. When I found a few Chain Of Strength records on eBay that Six Feet Under was selling for Matt Pike, I knew it was time to quit fucking around. I had a few options, but was happy to seal the deal on the clear vinyl pressing of the second Chain 7 inch. 500 pressed for the third pressing.

Another Answer

Back in 2010, Doug posted on his blog that he owned 22 copies of the three records from The Answer. As I mentioned in my Circle Jerks post, I love crazy over the top goals, so I knew that I had to make a run at this one.

I haven't been too focused or determined in building my collection for The Answer...it's just one of those things that I slowly chip away at. Sure I regret some eBay losses because I didn't bid high enough, but I've resigned myself to the fact that this collection will be a marathon and not a sprint.

I've been trying to avoid eBay recently, and keep my record spending under control, but curiousity got the best of me when Six Feet Under recently put up a ton of records on eBay. SFU listed a bunch of records from Matt Pike of Some Kind Of Hate, and once I saw a few records from The Answer in there, I knew that I would be placing bids before the auctions ended.

The only one that I walk away with, however, was this copy of You Had Your Chance on grey vinyl. Limited to 1,000. Six down, sixteen more to go.

Venom Die Hard

I've always been a big fan of music, but things went to the next level when I first bought AC/DC's For Those About To Rock LP in 1981/1982. This was my turning point. I was no longer a casual listener, recording my favorite songs from Casey Kasum's Top 40 radio show on the weekends. Music suddenly became personal...it was mine. My peers blindly devoured the hits that were force fed to them, while I was discovering songs like C.O.D. and Evil Walks...shit that they had no clue about. That was the start of my real love affair with music...over 30 years ago. I've listened to a lot of music over those years, and I still love a vast majority of everything that I've purchased during that time. However, with that overwhelming amount of music, sometimes bands can get overlooked, and as time goes on I can forget about how great they were.

Such was the case with Venom. Now I've been a big Venom fan since 1985 or '86, but I've largely ignored them the past 5 or so years. I've been listening to a lot of Metal this year and while I was going through my 1982 playlist, Venom's Black Metal album started playing. Holy fuck. This shit rules. I immediately headed to eBay to find some vinyl to help quiet the demons in my head, chanting "more records...hail Satan...more records".

Thankfully, the Metal Vinyl Gods could be appeased with a nice, inexpensive 12 inch single. While this purchase temporarily calmed my lust, listening to these three songs this evening, I can feel the hunger once again beginning to grow. I'll need to feed again soon.

Group Sex Three Way

When I got started collecting vinyl around 2005, it quickly became an obsession. I was spending a lot of time on the internet looking at record collection photos on the Bridge Nine messageboard, reviewing pressing info, and killing hours on end searching and browsing for records on ebay. Somewhere along the way I stumbled upon The Punk Vault. This guy obviously had some kind of connection with Frontier Records, and I loved reading about all the different variations of the Group Sex record that he would post about. In fact, The Punk Vault is kind of where I got my inspiration to start this blog. So, influenced by The Punk Vault, I've had it in the back of my head that I wanted to build a collection of the Circle Jerks Group Sex record since 2005/2006. There are a ridiculous number of different pressings for this, and I'm a sucker for big audacious goals...cough *Have Heart* cough. I bought a yellow copy back in 2008, but I then quickly stalled on taking it any further as I got distracted with other goals.

With Marcus completing his Black Flag colored vinyl LP collection, and my purchase of an original pressing of Group Sex, I was once again inspired to get back to it. Frontier Records had three different colors available, transparent red, "mystery meat", and rootbeer brown. I bought one of each, and I'm still missing about 10 other colors. I love a challenge.

In My Grey Eyes

With a new album from The Rival Mob, and the announcement of a new Down To Nothing LP, don't think that REV has eased off the gas on those vinyl repressings. They just keep on coming. Hey...wait a minute...why haven't I heard anything about Rev Record Store Day releases? They aren't skipping it this year, are they? Come on, give me a Burn or an Inside Out 12 inch, and make me happy.

This time around, we get another pressing of Nothing To Hide from In My Eyes. Grey vinyl is limited to 330. Considering that the pressing they did over the summer sold out so quick, I'm surprised that such a limited number were pressed for this run.

Get High From Painkiller

Back in the early 90's, Dive was one of my favorite Boston bands. I was just getting into hardcore at that time, and Dive's 1991 demo cassette may have been one of the first demos I ever purchased. After the band broke up, I was excited to hear that the singer, Kevin, was doing a new band. Even though the band's name sucked balls, I still was looking forward to what Get High would deliver. They released an album back in 1999, and as much as I wanted to get into it, I just couldn't. The album started off strong enough, but by the time the last song had finished, I was bored. I probably gave it more than a few chances, but in the end, it just took up space on my shelf and was forgotten.

Described as "the most unsolicited re-release in Boston Hardcore history", I'll admit that I was scratching my head when Painkiller Records added the Get High Demo LP to their webstore. People care enough in 2013 to release these demos on vinyl? It had been a while since I'd last given that self titled Get High album a spin, and with Painkiller citing influences of Swiz, Soulside, and Shawn Brown era Dag Nasty, I was interested in checking it out.

I know that Get High had bored me in the past, but I found myself really looking forward to checking this LP out. I don't know why. Maybe it was the influence of the early to mid-90's kick that I'd been on...maybe I wanted something just a little different than the standard straight forward Hardcore. Whatever it was, the time was right. I put the needle on the vinyl and as soon as the first track, Mayinga, kicked in, I was hooked. I was transported back to those days of the early 90's...back when bands didn't necessarily feel the need to sound like someone else, and they just were who they were.

Numbered and limited to 289.

Revelation Rivals

The last new release that I bought from Revelation may have been The Most from Down To Nothing. That was in 2007. Goddamn. Where have you been REV? Now, after getting bombarded with vinyl repressings for the past year, the label finally delivers a new record...and they come out of the gates with a bang. Hopefully this Rival Mob record breathes some new life into the label.

I hopped in when pre-orders went up, and was able to get the coveted seafoam green colored vinyl. This color was limited to 438 and it was sold out within a couple of hours.

I wasn't really paying much attention when I was placing my original order. I assumed that the black vinyl was the most common pressing so I skipped on ordering it, figuring that I'd pick it up at some other time down the road. A couple of weeks after that order, I realized that black vinyl wasn't the most common, and I had to head back to REVHQ to get my order in before I was too late. Crisis averted. Black vinyl is limited to 655.

Not only does the singer, Brendan, remind me of Choke in this picture, but he is also rockin' a sweet looking Motorhead shirt. Right on. Gold was the most common color for the first pressing with 1,095 pieces.

The first pressing consisted of over 2,000 pieces of vinyl...and yet two months later, just as the record was starting to ship, Mob Justice was sold out and preorders went up for the second pressing on red.

Man, those colors look good together.

Mindset Give And Take

Back at the end of January, Ev from Mindset/REACT! threw up a link on Facebook stating that the first three people to donate to support Aram's Ride To Conquer Cancer would get a copy of Leave No Doubt on clear vinyl. I was working from home when I got the message, and within seconds I was out of my chair and running to get my credit card. I tend to leave my wallet in my car, so I charged out to the garage to grab it. On the run back to the house, I tried to clear all four stairs at once only to have my slipper fly off, and to land on my hands and knees, leaving a nice gash in my shin from the stair tread. No time to address the wound now! I grabbed my slipper from the ground, and rushed back inside, quickly made my donation, and fired off an email to Ev. Blood was running down my leg, but damn it, I had secured myself a copy.

The clear vinyl pressing was exclusive for Mindset's European tour, and limited to 300. So glad I was able to get a copy by just donating to a good cause.

A couple weeks later, Mario left a comment on my Mindset post asking for my address. He said he had a surprise for me, and since I like surprises, I fired off an email to him with my info. Mario does the Across Your Face blog. He drinks, collects guns, and listens to too much oi! music...none of these things I understand...but the important thing here is that Mario is a good dude.

When Mindset came through town on their Cali tour, Mario was there and grabbed me a copy of Leave No Doubt on white. These things were only available on Mindset's tour and were limited to 100. Not only did he go out of his way to get me a copy, but he wouldn't let me pay him for it. Nope. "Just keep me in mind if you encounter any sweet tour pressing vinyl in the future", he said. Solid, solid dude.

Mario is correct. I'm just missing a test press and the record release version. After watching a record release pressing sell on ebay, I figured that I take a chance and email Ev Mindset directly to see if he had an extra copy that I could buy off him. Hell, I'd rather give the money directly to the band instead of someone just flipping on eBay, but I got no response to my question, so I'll suppose I'll have to be on the hunt with eBay.

In addition to the Mindset record, Mario also grabbed a copy of the Step Aside record that the band had with them on tour. I love a good tour pressing, and this Powell Peralta cover is top notch.

Hand numbered and limited to 50 for the Mindset/Step Aside/Counter weekend tour. This is the 8th copy of Reaching Out that I own. Wow. How did that happen?

Thanks again for the records Mario. Best of luck on your ride, Aram.

Wizards And A Heretic

Orchid's new album, The Mouths Of Madness,is one of the most anticipated releases for me this year. I love Black Sabbath, and Orchid is like hopping into a time machine back to 1971 and listening to Sabbath's follow up to Paranoid from an alternate universe. I can not get enough of this band.

As a preview of the new album, Orchid released a 10 inch single for Wizard Of War. Like their previous EP, Heretic, Nuclear Blast released this on vinyl as a 10 inch.

The 10 inch contains three songs...a preview track from the new album, a song exclusive to this release, as well as Albatross that was previously released on the band's Capricorn LP.

In addition to a couple copies of the new Orchid single, I figured that I'd throw in one of the new pressings for their Heretic EP as well.

Each one is hand numbered and limited to 250.

Beowulf: Taste The Steal

Suicidal Tendencies, Excel, No Mercy...I love those bands, and have since I first heard over 20 years ago. Somehow, over those years, I never bothered with the Welcome To Venice compilation from 1985. Back when Double Cross used to do polls, they put one up, asking readers to vote for their favorite band on the Venice comp. I'd never heard the record, but I still threw my vote in for Excel. Months went by, and I kept thinking about this compilation, curious as to what Suicidal song was on there. I finally checked it out and to my surprise, discovered it was a song I'd never heard before. That settled it. Time to download and check it out. Oh hell yeah, every single band on here is a blast to listen to. I'd never heard Beowulf before, but soon it became apparent that was I going to need to grab their first album as well.

I watch a ton of stuff on eBay...a lot of which, I don't really intend to bid on. I'll add a record to the watch list just to see what happens with the auction...holding out a little bit of hope that maybe I'll be the only one watching it, and I'll be lucky enough to score it for cheap. Most often times it doesn't work out like that, but every once in a while the stars will all align, and things will fall in my favor.

Checking popsike, it looks as though the first Beowulf album goes for $50 to $80. While I like the album, I don't know if I $80 like it. Still, I'd been listening to the album non-stop for a couple of weeks, so I figured that I'd keep an eye on a recent auction. Even though I'm trying to limit my record spending these days, there was no way I was going to walk away from this $20 win.

Move Up Front

Each new year, I mentally make a list of records that I hope to acquire over the next 12 months. Classic pieces of vinyl that I should have in my collection, but since I was late to the collecting game, I don't. Typically this list includes the No For An Answer LP, Leeway's Born To Expire, an original pressing of Slayer's Reign In Blood, and to add some more 7 inches to my Have Heart collection. Each year, I do random searches on eBay, but something else inevitably catches my eye...then by the end of the year, my list hasn't been touched.

One of the pieces of vinyl that has been on my Want List for years, was a copy of Up Front's Spirit LP. A month or so ago, I was talking to a friend about this album, and I mentioned that I needed this on vinyl. It had been a while since I'd listened to it, so I decided to give it a spin. After a couple of back to back listens, I knew that it was time to get serious, and get my hands on the vinyl. $11.00 later, I had one from eBay. $11.00? Seriously? If I had known that it was going to be this easy, I would have pulled the trigger a while ago.

I didn't care what pressing that I got of this album. I just wanted one. Now that I own the blue vinyl, it has got me thinking about an original pressing, the red/pink cover, and the white vinyl. Time for another eBay search.

Give On White

I've been a little slow to hunt down those special covers for the Give 7 inches, but I'm not going to hesitate on any new vinyl. When Deranged Records put up the North American pressing of the Singles Going Confetti LP, I was on it.

With only 100 pressed on white vinyl, I'm kind of surprised that this color hasn't sold out yet. Then again, shipping cost more than one record, so maybe it isn't that big of a mystery.

400 pressed on black.

To differentiate itself from Assault Records Euro pressing, Deranged gives us plenty of changes. The most obvious is the white lettering on the cover.

Deranged also goes with a different photo on the back cover. There is a lot of hair in this band.

Finally, while Assault gives us a nice insert, Deranged goes with a nice brightly colored dust cover for the vinyl. Well done.

GBH Impulse

I can't just go on eBay and look around. I should know that by now. Back at the end of January, I spent a couple of days in my 1986 playlist. When The Exploited's Jesus Is Dead EP started playing, I was reminded that I didn't have a copy of their Live At The Whitehouse album, so I thought that I'd just do a quick eBay search. I wasn't planning on buying anything...nope, just looking. That's when I stumbled upon this copy of GBH's 1989 album A Fridge Too Far...sealed...for $7.00. Fuck. What am I supposed to do, not buy it?

I'd never heard the Fridge Too Far album. No Need To Panic was one of the first GBH albums that I'd heard back in the late 80's, and I even enjoyed 1990's From Here To Reality. With A Fridge Too Far released right between them, you'd have thought that I would have heard it before now. Nope. It had completely escaped me. When I saw the chance to win the album for cheap, I downloaded it, and five minutes later I was giving it my first listen. Thank you, technology.

This album has a similar sound to No Need To Panic, so I was instantly hooked. I threw down my bid, and waited out the last few hours of the auction. Obviously, no one else cared, as I won with one bid.

Two Song Remission

With an incredible Verbal Assault influence, Remission were one of my favorite bands from the past few years. Their Winds Of Promise 7 inch, plus the split with Police & Thieves shot to the top of my Best of 2011 list, and I was looking forward to what the band would do next. My expectations were high for the new Pain Understood 7 inch. Produced by Don Fury, I was prepared to fall in love.

When a new song was posted on Remission's bandcamp page, I couldn't wait to check it out. Whoa, what the fuck is this? I wasn't expecting this. Remission have slowed things down and decided to rock out. Disappointing to say the least. I listened to the song one time, and moved on. Still, I loved Remission, so I didn't want to completely write it off. When it was available, I still felt the need to order the record from REVHQ.

This record doesn't come close to their past greatness, but after spinning it a few times, it is starting to grow on me. The songs sound more like something off 411's This Isn't Me LP, and less like Verbal Assault. Bands grow and change. It isn't always a good thing, but with Remission, I think that I may be okay with it.

Commandments From A Black God

If not for Marcus, I don't think that I'd have ever heard of Black God. With a strange band name, and records released on No Idea...I just don't see that they would have ever shown up on my radar. Marcus' blog post got me interested. Checking out the band's video for Everyone's A Friend had me hooked.

I picked up Black God's first 7 inch last year, and it was only a matter of time before I finally grabbed a copy of the second one.

I don't typically pay attention to the matrix etching in the dead wax, but with this second record it happened to catch my eye. Side A had rule number three, while the B side had rule number four etched. I pulled out the first record and sure enough, there were rules one and two. Words to live by.

Rule # 1: No song over two minutes.

Rule #2: No record over six songs.

Rule #3: No record larger than seven inches.

Rule #4: No cover songs.

Discography Is The Reason

I enjoyed Texas Is The Reason in the mid-90's. I owned their album, the 7 inch, plus a couple of splits. I saw them live once at a weekend fest in New Bedford, but I don't really remember their set as it also marked the first time I saw Yen Yard Fight play. No surprise that TYF made a more lasting impression on me. So yeah, while I liked Texas Is The Reason back in the mid-90's, I think that I appreciate them more today.

Last year, when I was on my early to mid-90's Hardcore/Punk kick, I rediscovered Texas Is The Reason and it was a blast listening to them again. When I heard that REV was releasing their discography this year, I was excited to grab this double LP, and to finally have a copy of Do You Know Who You Are on vinyl. This one copy will do me fine though, and I'm not going to get caught up in REV's repress game for it. Second pressing on clear orange is available now.

REV did a great job putting this together. Nice packaging, with the vinyl color going nicely with the front cover. My only complaint is that it is damn near impossible to read the discography notes on the insert.

As a bonus, Texas Is The Reason recorded two new songs to be included on their discography. I'm not sure how I feel about new Texas material in 2013. The songs are okay, I guess...in the same kind of vein as the new Supertouch material...good enough, you know, but it wouldn't leave a gaping hole in my music world if those new songs blinked out of existence tomorrow.