From The Ashes Of Burn

Of course I love the first Burn 7 inch...and I can even hang with the Cleanse record. Yet, for some reason, when it was announced that they were releasing a new 7 inch in 2016, I found it as appealing as a poop flavored lollipop. Still there was some hype around it from a few friends, and I got sucked into buying a copy. Plus it was going to be pressed on pink vinyl, and goddamnit, if I don't own the first one on pink, I figured that I'd at least own the new one on that color.

Preorders went up at Bridge Nine back in April. At the time, I was heavily into late 70's and early 80's style Punk. I wasn't in the musical headspace to appreciate what was going on, and as soon as I placed the order, I regretted it, and wrote it off as a waste of money. Another old hardcore band that was bound to disappoint by trying to relive those glory days...and this would just be another record taking up space in my collection.

Bridge Nine saw numerous delays with pressing this record, so in July they made it available for download for those that had ordered the vinyl. I grabbed it, and really wasn't expecting much. Still, the cover art intrigued me, and I loved the inclusion of those old masks from the first record. Aesthetically, it gave off a great vibe, and surprisingly, I was finding myself more and more interested to check out what Burn had to deliver. Much to my surprise, I found myself really liking this record...much more than I expected to. Suddenly, I was very thankful that I'd bought this when preorders went up.

Once B9 got the vinyl in, they realized that the pressing plant had messed up the color...so we got baby blue instead of pink. To make up for the delay and the color mix up, they whipped up some preorder covers for the record. Hand numbered out of 210. Job well done all around.

Three Minutes To Midnight

I picked up the last two Wo Fat albums based on their amazing artwork alone. Man, those album covers are amazing pieces of art...great examples of record covers done right.

When Wo Fat released their new album, Midnight Cometh, earlier this year, I was a bit underwhelmed by the cover art...and subsequently ignored it. What can I say? I was in more of a punk rock mood, and couldn't be bothered with new releases from some Stoner/Doom band.

As summer was starting to fade, and the upcoming Saint Vitus/The Skull show was on the horizon, Doom started to creep into my playlists, and I decided to finally get off my ass and download that new Wo Fat album to see if it moved me. Well, holy shit. Surprisingly it knocked me on my ass. Quite possibly my favorite record from the band.

I was tempted to chase a piece of the sold out colored vinyl, but when I found the black vinyl at my local store, I took the easy way out and grabbed it. The only disappointing thing about this record is that the vinyl leaves off my favorite song, Riffborn. Big mistake leaving this killer track off the vinyl. Only five songs in 45 minutes. They should have stretched this out to a double LP just to include it.

I actually really dig the back cover art, and kind of wish that they used this on the front.

Troubled Mind Condition

Since buying my tickets to see The Skull and Saint Vitus next month, I've gone on a bit of a Doom bender...consuming heavy doses of the heavy. Given the connection with The Skull, it is no surprise that Trouble wormed it's way into my daily Doom playlist.

Trouble is one of those bands that I've grown to appreciate more and more over the years. It is funny how my position on them has changed as time has gone on. Initially, I was all about the first two albums...then when I heard Run To The Light, I decided that this album was "the best Trouble album". My mind changed again when I finally heard the Def American self titled album a couple years ago...oh hell yeah, this one is the best. Then earlier this year, I finally downloaded a copy of the band's final studio album with Eric Wagner, Simple Mind Condition. Fuck. Is this one my favorite now? Apparently they can do no wrong.

The album originally didn't see a vinyl pressing when it was released in 2007. However, it did finally see wax with a 2009 US pressing, and then again from High Roller out of Germany in 2010. Since the High Roller pressing looked more cool with the front cover art and gatefold sleeve, that's the one that I tracked down.

300 pressed on black vinyl.

Souls Of Summer

Summer is coming to an end as I post one of the last pieces of vinyl from my Punk Rock Summer Playlist. Man, there is something about the warm summer sun that makes me want to break out some fun punk rock to bounce around to, and Bouncing Souls fit that niche nicely. Seems like each year when the temperatures begin to rise, I find myself digging their albums out for spin. Definite summer jams. So it was perfect timing when The Bouncing Souls released their 10th studio album this past summer.

The Bouncing Souls stick with their formula of infectious sing along punk. Nothing new, yet somehow this record is still a blast.

I love the look of this clear/red split vinyl. It might be the most common pressing at 3,000 pieces, but this is the way to go as far as I'm concerned.

V is for Vitus

Buying my ticket to see The Skull and Saint Vitus this Fall pushed me to start looking online for pieces of vinyl that I'm missing in the collection. Sometimes you need to chase that immediate need that is right in front of you, and there is nothing like a touring band to call me to action.

Even though Saint Vitus is touring with their original singer, Scott Reagers...which also happens to be my favorite for the band...when I saw the Wino fronted album, V, I couldn't resist due to the $11 price tag.

Normally I would have held out for an original vinyl pressing, but since Tony Reed of Mos Generator did the remastering for this release...and I'm a huge fan of whatever Tony is involved in...I was interested in checking out this pressing.

I'd never heard V prior to this, but like most Saint Vitus releases, this one is as thick and doomy as hell. How many bands can title a song Ice Monkey, and still have it come off super cool?

Longing For The Skull

It was recently announced that The Skull and Saint Vitus were doing a Fall tour of the US. I was interested in getting tickets, but then as soon as I saw that Magic Circle were opening the Boston show, there was no turning back at that point. I had to go. Even though I've grown to hate driving into the middle of Boston for shows, I'm making an exception in this case.

While I was hanging out in the All That Is Heavy webstore a couple weeks ago, I noticed that they were carrying the new 7 inch single from The Skull. Having just purchased my tickets to see them live, it seemed like a good time to pick up the band's latest 7 inch release.

Admittedly, it took me a little while to warm up to The Skull's 2014 album, For Those Which Are Asleep. However, after purchasing my tickets to their show, I had that record spinning daily. Man, that thing finally sunk it's hooks in me and wasn't letting go. This new 7 inch follows suit. One new song, The Longing, plus a new recording of their namesake song that was originally done by Trouble back in '85. Great stuff and it has me fired up even more to see them live.

Think I Care To Trade

I've got a few pieces of Think I Care vinyl in my collection. Nothing wild or outrageous...just a couple records from a time that I rarely revisit these days. I'd had no burning desire to chase any of their other releases, but things just fell into place during a recent conversation I was having with Doug.

He had recently woken from a deep sleep to discover that he really enjoyed True Love. He'd missed out on the entire first press from React, and had mentioned how if I wanted to part with it, he was interested in my black vinyl copy of the New Young Gods record. I blew off the request initially. I mean, this was on React...the one label that I was still religiously buying everything for. But then I got thinking...hell, I like the record, but it isn't like I'm going to be chasing test pressings or tour covers for this. If I wasn't going to even try to complete the True Love collection, why the hell was I clinging to the black vinyl so badly? Fuck it. Time to let go a little.

A couple of weeks after I'd turned down Doug's offer, we were having a conversation and he mentioned gathering up some old Hardcore records from the 2000's that he was thinking about selling off. The name Think I Care was brought up, and since I didn't own the vinyl for the Dead Alive record, I said "What the hell" and asked it he wanted to trade.

I could have grabbed this record for cheap on discogs at anytime, but I figured that I might as well help the dude out, and fill a hole in my collection in the process.

While I wasn't looking for another copy of the World Asylum record, Doug did also offer up a copy of the grey/orange swirl pressing. Since I didn't own it, I agreed to take it off his hands. I don't know why. I already owned the splatter pressing, and didn't really need another copy of the album...but I grabbed it anyway.

So the end result was that, in an effort to clear some shelf space, I dumped a copy of a record that I had multiple copies of, and ended up with multiple copies of a different record.

Boot Sabbath

I do love live bootleg LPs. I've got a few of them in my collection, and when I stumble across them on my record shelves, they strike me as something special. Nothing official...fuck, anyone can buy a live album from a band, but it feel like you are part of an elite secret society when you own a live boot...as if record collecting didn't already make you better than everyone else as it is.

Well, a couple months ago, Sandwell was blogging about a few Iron Maiden boots that he'd recently picked up, and it got me itching to pick up one myself.

I'd been eyeballing an Iron Maiden bootleg from the Piece Of Mind tour, and had been tempting myself with it for a couple of weeks. It was a bit pricey, and I kept procrastinating on pulling the trigger. When I saw a new bootleg available for Black Sabbath, and at a great price, I finally scratched that itch.

According to the liner notes on this album, the recording was for the band's first show as Black Sabbath, just after they had changed their name from Earth. 1969. Before they had even recorded their first album. This bootleg really reaches back into the archives!

Very cool to hear the band live during those formative years, including three bluesy songs from the setlist that never were recorded for a studio album.

For a bootleg, the packaging on this is great. The history behind the recording, the list of equipment that the band was using that night...plus all the great old pictures. Well done.

Metal Pangea

I love when old 80's Metal bands keep the flame burning strong, and are still out there playing live and releasing new shit. Irregardless of what my parents were telling me back when I was 16, Heavy Metal will never die.

I first heard Paradox around late '89 or early '90. I picked up their Heresy CD, but as I was starting to lean more towards Hardcore at the time, I didn't really spend a lot of time with it. It was a good album for sure...but Hardcore quickly became my everything at the time, so it was quickly shelved and forgotten.

Since getting back into Metal, and spending my days hanging out in the Bravewords messageboard for the last few years, I'd occasionally hear the Paradox name dropped here and there. I was surprised to find that the band was still kicking around, but I never really looked in to what they had released. When I heard that the band had a new album coming out this year, I figured this was finally the time to jump in and check out what they were up to.

Their video release for the song Ballot or Bullet captured my attention immediately. The production gives it a bit of a modern feel, but this is 80's inspired Speed Metal through and through. I was sold on it instantly, and in my excitement, I quickly grabbed a copy on vinyl from Amazon.

Man, you squeeze this album in with the other big 80's band that have released an album this year, and it looks like the old school is going to dominate my Top 10 list for 2016.

Seems like most Metal bands these days go for the double LP with the etching on the D-side. It's a good look, and Paradox step up with a nice looking etching for Pangea.

A total of 500 pressed on vinyl.

In For The Kill

Organizing my record shelves a couple of months ago brought my focus around to the early 70's. I spent a bunch of time obsessing over some holes in my collection from that time period, and while I still had a long way to go, my attention eventually got pulled in other directions after picking up a record or three.

When I was picking up the first record from The Clash recently, since the seller was from the UK, I decided to see what else was available. Hey, when I'm paying overseas shipping, I might as well make it worth my while, right?

Seeing that the seller had a Budgie record available, it pulled me back to that early 70's frame of mind. Last year I started my Budgie vinyl collection with Bandolier, and it seemed like a great time to finally cross another one off my list.

Man, whenever I listen to a Budgie record, it immediately puts me in the mood to queue up another. This band is so damn good...and underrated classic.

While it certainly didn't break the bank, this piece of vinyl is my most expensive record from '74...and was worth every British pound that I paid.

Bat Chains

Ryan Waste, from Municipal Waste, has been letting the buzz around his new band, Bat, slowly build over the years. Releasing a demo in 2013, and then a 7 inch single in 2015, they finally drop their first album this year. Everything they have released so far has been pure gold, so the Wings Of Chains LP was one of my most anticipated releases this year.

As soon as the album was available over at Hells Headbangers, I was in the store and picking up the clear vinyl pressing.

The only downside with this album is that literally half of the songs were released on different recordings. Twelve song LP, with six of them already appearing on the demo and last year's single. Damn. This thing rules though. Awesome Venom worship.

Anger Battery

Metallica released a new video recently, and it looks like we are finally getting a follow up to Death Magnetic. Eight years between albums is a fucking joke, but I'm still looking forward to it, and the new video is a nice preview.

The only downside to new Metallica is that all the haters come crawling out of the woodwork. I get it..."Metallica sold out" and "only the first three albums are true". They took your virginity and didn't call you the next day. Yeah yeah, you've got a chip on your shoulder for how badly Metallica have let you down.

I'm not delusional, and I can certainly understand why some people only need the first four...but for this guy, I can hang will all of the Metallica albums. So in the spirit of firing up the haters, I figured it was time to cross a big win off my wantlist/shitlist for this year.

As far as the Most Hated Metallica Album goes, I'm pretty sure that St. Anger takes the crown. The recording is raw. The drums sound like shit. There are no guitar solos. It was supposed to be a return to form, but instead just sounds like the band trying to be more modern. People despise this thing with a passion, but I love these songs...and of course, because people hate it so much, it just made me want to own a copy even more.

When it came time to cross this turd off my wantlist/shitlist, I figured that I'd go with the original UK pressing on Vertigo. I had no real logic behind it, other than the Vertigo name just seems cooler than Elektra. Of course, now that I own an original pressing of St. Anger, but still don't own Ride The Lightning or Master Of Puppets, just shows how misguided and retarded I am.

I'm So Bored With The U.S.A.

I can't help it. When I'm buying a record from a UK band...especially when I'm reaching back in time for an original pressing, only a UK pressing is going to fill the need. Buying US vinyl for an old UK band, just feels like cheating and taking short cuts to me.

I've never been that big a fan of the Clash...never really understood was the fuss was all about. When I was stuck in my '77 playlist early this year, I was craving that early punk sound, so I decided to dust off an old Clash CD that I'd bought back in the mid-90's.

Man, I tried to get into that CD repeatedly over the years, but it never connected with me. It had been 8 years since I'd last given it a shot, and finding myself in a '77 frame of mind, the album started to click with me. It was a slow burn for sure. I completely expected to listen to it once, and then move on, but the damn thing ended up in my Recently Played playlist on my iPod, so it kept sneaking up on me, sandwiched between The Damned and Heartbreakers. After hearing it on consecutive days, strangely I found myself reaching for it, instead of having it just pop up randomly.

Wow. I don't know how it happened, but I think I like The Clash now.

After picking up a copy of a UK pressing through the Discogs Marketplace, I was surprised to discover that the US pressing has a different tracklist, with five other songs that don't appear on the UK press. What the hell!?!? Now I feel like I'm going to have to pick up a cheap US press at some point.

30 Years Live

There was a time when I loved Bad Religion up through Generator, but time has narrowed my view, and lately if you'd have asked me, I would have told you that the band only had three albums that were worth a damn...the first one, Suffer and No Control. That was it. Everything else wasn't really worth my time.

I hadn't listened to Bad Religion very much over the past couple of years, but when I was recently stuck in a 1990 playlist, I decided to give Against The Grain a casual listen. I didn't expect it to move me very much, but much to my surprise, that album really sunk it's hooks in me, and I was listening to it daily.

At one point in my life, I had a Bad Religion Against The Grain shirt from the one time that I'd seen them live back in the early 90's. I hadn't worn that shirt for probably 10 years, but seeing how I was currently obsessed with the band, I wanted to dig it out and wear it. The problem was, I couldn't find it anywhere.

Desperately needing a t-shirt fix, I hit up the Bad Religion store. I was really digging the "Television" design, and noticed there was a package deal with the shirt and a copy of the new live album.

Celebrating a 30 year career, there were a lot of songs on this album that I wasn't familiar with at all. I was so obsessed with the band, that I figured that I'd take a chance on it, and maybe find some hidden gems that would shine through in the live setting.

The gamble pays off, because this album is great. You know, I'm not really into the live album format, but here it works, and has got me thinking that I've got to dig into those albums post-Generator.

Red Vinyl Death

You kids and your new Hardcore bands. I can't keep up. When Doug let me know that the new Red Death vinyl was available for preorder over at Lockin' Out, I was pretty excited, and rushed to make sure I got a copy on colored vinyl. I was really looking forward to the record, as I was pretty impressed with their 12 inch that was released earlier this year. Oh wait. That wasn't Red Death...it was Blood Pressure. I can't keep this shit straight. Why the fuck did I rush to buy this 7 inch from Red Death?

I knew that I recognized the Red Death name, and looking back, I see that I bought their Permanent Exile record last year. Interesting. I don't remember a damn thing about it. So glad that I quickly dropped $6 on this two song record...he said sarcastically.

In all seriousness, this record is pretty damn cool. Sure, I didn't remember a damn thing about their Permanent Exile record from last year, but checking the blog, I can see that I mentioned that it fit in with the heavy amounts of Iron Age that I was listening to at the time...which makes sense considering that the first thing I thought of when I heard this 7 inch was, "Hey, this reminds me of Iron Age". Hopefully I can retain this information this time around, and they don't just become "another Hardcore band that I don't really listen to".

Double Spazz

I enjoy Descendents. I like 'em, and they can be a lot of fun, but I've never really gone crazy for them. When I heard that they had a new album up for pre-order, I got wrapped up in the hype and rushed to add the more limited vinyl to my cart. I added the glow in the dark vinyl option to my cart, and contemplated even going for some other colored vinyl options as well. Then I stopped and caught my breath. Why was I acting like a fiend needing a fix, when I knew deep down that I would be completely content just picking up the regular pressing from my local record store? I needed to calm the fuck down. I emptied my cart and walked away.

When the album was finally released a couple weeks ago, I casually downloaded a copy to see if it was worth buying. Yeah, it's Summer, and some new Descendents certainly fit the mood.

The new album was good, so I set out to grab a copy from the store. They had the US Indie Store pressing on white vinyl available, so I drove over on my lunch break to score one. Perfect. This copy was all that I needed.

Cool glow in the dark ink on the front cover.

Because a 16 song album isn't enough for Descendents, they also had to drop an additional 5 song EP as well. These aren't just throwaway songs here...nope, this EP is completely essential as well.

This 12 inch EP is limited to 4,000, and as far as I can tell, is only available through mailorder from the Descendents distro...which meant that I still had to place an order from them in the end.

Lookout For Monsula

I was first introduced to Monsula a few years ago, based on a recommendation of their Nickel EP. I played the shit out of that four song 7 inch...but as much as I loved it, I didn't really venture too far beyond that. I downloaded both the Structure and Sanitized albums, but really, all I needed at the time was that first Monsula EP.

Being stuck in an early 90's frame of mind recently, it got me to blow off the three years of digital dust from the downloaded copy of Structure. Holy shit. I honestly can't believe how great this band was...and I can't get my head around the fact that I'm about 25 years late to this party. How did I miss out on this for so damn long?

This album was an easy $8 purchase through the Discogs Marketplace. Hmmm...it might be time to check out the follow up album, Sanitized, as well.

Pinhead Summer

My musical tastes tend to change with the wind, and right now the warm summer breeze has blown me back to some of the more indie and poppy hardcore/punk sounds of the early 90's.

I'd honestly never thought that I'd be listening to Green Day again, but man, Summer seems like the perfect time to bounce around to this stuff. Once casual listen recently, and I was suddenly hooked, and spinning their early stuff daily.

Since the only Green Day vinyl that I own is their Insomniac record, I immediately hit up the Discogs Marketplace to see what I might want to get my hands on. Oh shit...there are early colored vinyl options...and they are as expensive as fuck. I kind of want to go down this road, but maybe I'll let my obsession simmer and see where it goes. In the meantime, I'll satiate some of that desire with some Pinhead Gunpowder quick and easy pick ups.

Pinhead Gunpowder was kind of an East Bay super group of the time, featuring dudes from Green Day, Fuel, Monsula, and Crimpshrine. I'd picked up a few CDs of theirs back in the mid-90's, but I recently realized that I'd never really paid any attention to their early 7 inches. I'd obviously been missing out, because their first two records are great!

Original pressing of Trundle & Spring on No Reality Records.

Pinhead Gunpowder's follow up 7 inch, 1992's Fahizah, is one of my favorites by them...a perfect blend of melody and grit.

Their cover of Big Yellow Taxi is catchy as hell, and has been stuck in my head for days.

Mega-dystopia

Two bands from Thrash's Big Four have released new albums in 2016...Megadeth and Anthrax...and I've fought them for months. I carry a chip on my shoulder for both bands for one reason or another, and I was convinced that they were going to flaming balls of shit that I wouldn't waste my time on. Still, the Metal community seems to be impressed with both albums, and after reading positive review after positive review for both Anthrax and Megadeth, I broke down and downloaded a copy of each.

The Anthrax album turned out to be a great surprise, but I still had doubts about Megadeth.

I never bothered with the last two Megadeth albums, and the general consensus was that they weren't all that great. I just figured that there was a lot better stuff being released from more exciting bands, so why would I bother wasting my time with Megadeth. With the new album, Dystopia, I tried to remain positive, and after listening to the download on my iPod a couple of times, the best I could come up with was, "Well, it doesn't suck".

The jury is still out on how I feel about this album. At times, it seems like a nice throwback to Rust In Peace era Megadeth, yet this doesn't really excite me all that much. I'm not sure how often I'll reach for this record, but finding it at the local record store with a sale price tag of $11, I figured "What the hell?", and I grabbed a copy.

Dead And Gold

I'm a huge fan of Articles Of Faith, so when Vic Bondi came along in 2012 with a new band, Dead Ending, I was excited to check it out. I quickly downloaded the songs for their first EP, and while I enjoyed them, I never got around to actually buying the record.

Four years down the road, and I'm finally getting it done.

When I finally got around to buying a copy, colored vinyl was the way to go. The gold vinyl looks great with the record packaging....oh hell, when doesn't gold vinyl look good?

I can't remember what drew me to the Discogs Marketplace page for this record, but once I saw the $8 price tag, it was love at first sight, and I had to make her mine.

500 pressed on colored vinyl.

UK Fireball

The seed was planted during Instagram's January Record A Day game back in 2015. On one of the days, we had to pick an album that we wanted to hear played live in its entirety. I wanted to pick Deep Purple's Fireball, but since I didn't own a vinyl copy, I was forced to make another selection.

A year and a half later, and I'm finally crossing Fireball of my Wantlist.

Last month, in the middle of an early-70's obsession, I found myself listening to the shit out of Fireball. Again, I was just in awe of how perfect that album is, and I set out to finally purchase a copy.

There are differences between the UK and US pressings...with the US version getting Strange Kind of Woman, and the UK getting Demon's Eye...and since Demon's Eye is one of my favorite Deep Purple songs, the UK pressing wins.

Plus the original UK pressing comes in a textured gatefold sleeve...and UK pressings tend to just be cooler for early 70's rock bands.

Easily one of my favorite albums of all time.