Open Mouth Kiss

While I like to think I'm pretty open minded within hardcore and metal genres...I mean, I enjoy the self titled Warzone album, Token Entry's Weight Of The World, and Metallica's St. Anger...there are also times when I can be a bit prejudiced and rigid. It took me until just a few years ago to finally listen to Dag Nasty's Wig Out At Denko's record simply because it had that guy singing that wasn't Dave Smalley...and it wasn't until this year that I finally listened to Ozzy's No More Tears album, because I incorrectly assumed it was past his prime so the record was shit. The same kind of short sightedn view held true for Leeway as well.

I've only really acknowledged Born To Expire and Desperate Measures in the Leeway catalog. I know they had other albums, but I'd heard some negative reviews at one point so I never bothered to check out anything else from the band.

I was listening to some station on Spotify a couple months ago, and the song Foot The Bill came up in the playlist. I had no idea what this song was, but I had to immediately check to see who the band was, and I was floored to discover it was Leeway. The band released Open Mouth Kiss back in 1995, and given how much I enjoy bands from this period like Black Train Jack and Bad Trip, I should have kept my mind open and checked this record out earlier because this album falls in line with those bands that were doing their own thing at the time, and doing it well.

The timing couldn't have been better to introduce this album to me. While it was originally released in '95, it didn't get a vinyl release until this year. 200 pressed on black vinyl from Reality Records.

Awakening Of Sacred Reich

There is no denying how big Sacred Reich were to me in the late 80's. Ignorance is one of my favorite thrash albums of all time...I can clearly remember sitting in the parking lot at college, and listening to the Surf Nicaragua EP between classes...and then for those car rides home from Boston shows, I'd crack open a can of Jolt Cola, pop a couple of No-Doz, and throw on the American Way album to stay awake for the ride home. Man, I loved that band.

I always assumed that Sacred Reich would be one of the few bands that would never reunite and record new material. I could have sworn that I'd read years ago, that they would never do that...but here we are. Every other band seems to do it, so why shouldn't they, and in these days of Trump and political insanity, we need bands like Sacred Reich.

While the new album, Awakening, isn't as biting and angry as I'd hoped, it is still a solid album from a band that hasn't see a new album for over 20 years.

Because it is 2019, there have to be a ridiculous amount of pressings for each album. There are eight different vinyl pressings for Awakening, but I just went with the "haze" pressing. Limited to 500.

In A Crucial Place

I'm pretty stoked on hardcore right now, so that means that I'm buying hardcore records. I'm not only taking chances a checking out new bands, but I'm also having some fun dusting off some older shit that I haven't thought about for years.

At some point last year, I saw a post on Instagram about the Onward album, In A Different Place. I remember that it stood out to me because the cover photo was different than the original CD pressing from '93. I thought it looked pretty sharp, but at the time I wasn't really into chasing new hardcore records, so I shrugged my shoulders and quickly forgot about it.

Recently, that Onward record caught my attention again. I don't know why, since it had been years since I'd listened to the band, but I was feeling really drawn to that album cover. Apparently the original artwork and layout was lost, so for this reissue, the label had to pull together a new design. I'm digging it.

I remember getting the original CD back in '93, and comparing it to We're Not In This Alone...okay, looking back on it, that is kind of a stretch, but as a young edgeman, I was stoked on this album. Still, I'm glad to see this finally get a vinyl release, and it has been fun to revisit it.

While I was picking up the vinyl release for In A Different Place, I decided to add another copy of the Onward 7 inch to my order. It was kind of the spur of the moment, dumb decision that you would expect from record nerds. I mean, I only have a common black vinyl first pressing of this 7 inch, so it's not like I'm "collecting" this record...but with the red cover looking so different from the first press blue cover, I just grabbed this without thinking.

Apparently Crucial Response did this gold vinyl pressing for some kind of Record Store Day release. I'm not sure how many were pressed or if they actually made their way to a physical record store, but hey, I'll take one.

Glow In The Dark Thieves

My collection for Police & Thieves is damn strong. Colored vinyl and test pressings...yeah, I have them. There may be only one or two records that I'm missing, and the biggest hole was the record release pressing for the first 7 inch. When I saw one pop up on Discogs for four dollars, I didn't hesitate to finally grab a copy.

The record release pressing of this 7 inch comes with a special cover that was made with glow in the dark ink. The bright yellow ink on the white stock makes it a bit hard on the eyes, and I'm assuming that there is shelf life for this ink because this copy doesn't seem to glow in the dark anymore.

It has been a while since I've listened to Police & Thieves, and picking up this 7 inch was a nice reminder of how much I really love this band.

Number 16 out of only 50 made for the record release. Damn, with all those leading zeros, you'd think there were hundreds of thousands pressed. Also, my copy seems to be missing the magnifying glass that I'm going to need to read that lyric sheet.

Hello Operator

In the early to mid 2000's I was looking for something that was a bit different musically. The majority of what I was spinning was hardcore and punk...I was starting to get back into metal, but I was still searching and looking for something outside of what I normally listened to. That was when I stumbled upon The White Stripes, and they really gave me what I was looking for at that time.

I loved The White Stripes up through their final album in 2007, but at some point I kind of played them out, and the last five years I've kind of ignored their records. It has been fun revisiting the band recently, and since I was still missing the first two albums in my record collection, I figured it was finally time to pick them up on vinyl.

The self titled album was originally released back in 1999. The band started out with that red and white peppermint theme and rode it all the way to the end.

The album has seen a number of reissues since it's original pressing on Sympathy For The Record Industry. I grabbed this one from Amazon and I'm thinking it is the 2010 repress. I've owned the CD for this forever, but it is nice to finally have the vinyl.

The second album from The White Stripes, De Stijl, was released in 2000, and while it is impossible to pick a favorite from the band, this is probably the album that I reach for first out of their catalog.

Another 2010 repressing that I recently picked up from Amazon.

Gret Zeppelin

I had no idea who Greta Van Fleet were, but suddenly I was hearing all kinds of criticism of the band. I didn't know where the hate was coming from, and honestly, I wasn't really paying attention...but once I discovered that people were complaining that the band sounded like a Led Zeppelin clone, I figured that I'd give them a chance. Hey, I love Led Zeppelin, so you can bet I was interested to hear if a new band could pull off that style in 2019.

I'll admit, I was skeptical going into this, but I queued up Highway Tune to see what everyone was talking about. Holy shit. The Led Zeppelin comparisons are valid. I wanted to make sure it wasn't a one song deal, and I checked out the entire From The Fires album, and this shit holds up. In addition to the Zeppelin comparison, the singer's voice also has hints that remind me of The White Stripes, and that is all good in my book. It might be cool to hate on this band, but this is some great late 60's / early 70's hard rock.

From The Fires was originally released in 2017, but the album finally saw a vinyl release this year. I'm down with this record, so I'll gladly add it to the collection.

Saxon Singles

When I'm buying records from overseas sellers, before I check out, I'll check to see what else they may have available...and this usually pays off when I'm looking for NWOBHM stuff. When I was picking up the Iron Maiden single for Running Free, I quickly checked the sellers list, and was happy to add a couple of cheap singles to the cart.

When it comes to Saxon, it seems that most people tend to overlook their debut self-titled album. It is understandable, and the band didn't really hit their stride until their follow up, Wheels Of Steel. Still that debut is a solid rocker, and I was happy to grab a couple of early singles from that record.

I love that live shot of Steve Dawson on the front of the Backs To The Wall/Militia Guard single.

The Saxon logo kind of obscures what is going on in the cover photo for the Big Teaser/Frozen Rainbow single, but it's still a nice one to own, since this is the only pressing for the single that came with a picture sleeve.

These two Saxon singles were part of the Heavy Metal series from Carrere Records. They don't offer anything new, but I really like the look of these, and would love to get the rest of them. AC/DC, Montrose, Van Halen....and Stingray!?!? No idea who Stingray is, but they ended up in some good company.

Running Free

The place that I work, offers a sabbatical program that provides employees four weeks of paid time off. The thought is that it gives people that have invested some time in the company the chance to unplug and pursue some personal goals so that you are refreshed and prepared to come back to work with new energy. I applied this year, and was selected to participate, so I couldn't be happier to use the month of October to hike some mountains, and spend a bunch of time reading and listening to records. That said, I have a backlog of about 28 posts for this blog, and it would be nice to finally get that cleared up this month...you know, so that I'm using my time off wisely.

When I first started to get into collecting records around 2005, I got it into my head to try to collect all the Iron Maiden 7 inch singles. I made a pretty good run at them but eventually let it incomplete and focused on records that were more important to me at the time. Given my obsession with the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal this year, and especially targeting some early singles from that scene, I figured that it was a good time to get back to Maiden.

Outside of the self released Soundhouse Tapes, the first Maiden single with EMI was for Running Free b/w Burning Ambition. With the b-side a non-LP track, I've never really been that familiar with it, so it was great to give Burning Ambition a spin.

Everything about this single is perfect. The single cover art, the black and white live photo with Eddie the 'ead as the stage prop, plus those custom center labels. Damn. If you were a metalhead back in 1980, even then you had to know that Iron Maiden were destined for big things.

I'm still missing some of the early Maiden singles, but it feels good to get Running Free into the collection.

No More Room In Hell

Earlier this year, a few old blogger friends were going nuts over the new Possessed album. While I loved the Possessed records from the 80's, I just couldn't get myself motivated to check out the new one, Revelations Of Oblivion. Part of my resistance was that I absolutely treasure Beyond The Gates and The Eyes Of Horror, and I was afraid that I would be left disappointed with the new record...and the other reason for my foot dragging was that I really only wanted to listen to hair metal and stuff from the early 80's. I figured that I'd get around to it sooner or later, but I was just in no hurry.

As I was digging into a few older thrash bands, like Death Angel, Flotsam & Jetsam and Overkill, that had released new albums in 2019, I figured that it was finally time to check out that Possessed album that everyone seemed to be losing their minds over.

While Jeff Becerra is the only original member from the 80's, this new record totally captures the band's sound from those days. Guitarist Daniel Gonzales comes into Possessed from the band Gruesome, where he nails the sound from the early Death records, and here he makes you believe that Revelations Of Oblivion would have been a natural follow up to The Eyes Of Horror in the late 80's. Believe the hype, because this album slays.

I had options for more limited pressings of Revelations Of Oblivion at my local store, but the red vinyl just seemed like the better option, so I went with it.

12 Years In The Tomb

I love the Scott Reagers era of Saint Vitus. I was lucky to catch the band live in Boston a few years ago when the band reunited with Reagers after 20 years...and man, the band could still fucking deliver live. I figured that they would play a few shows, and maybe do a small tour, and that would be the end of it. When I heard that Vitus were doing a new album with Reagers, I was over the fucking moon.

Reagers sounds as good as he did when Saint Vitus released their self-titled album and Hallow's Victim back in '84 and '85. His voice ranges from doomy to absolutely maniacal, and fits the songs perfectly while Dave Chandler and crew keep cranking out some amazing doom.

I was pretty excited for this new album, and most of these songs deliver the punch that I want from Vitus. There are a couple of times when things slip for me, and would have preferred to have some of the padding trimmed off, but overall, this record is fantastic.

Crystal clear colored vinyl is looking sharp, and I was able to grab a copy locally, so that was cool with me.

Keep Your Edge

The 7 inch from Bystander was a nice surprise at the end of 2018, and even made it's way into my Top 10 for that year. With Greg Bennick from Trial on the mic, I had high expectations, and Bystander was able to meet them. The band still sounded relevant and intense in '18. I was surprised to see the band following up that debut EP so soon, but I was still onboard and quickly preordered a copy.

Between the German pressing on Goodwill, and the US pressing from Safe Inside, there were five different pressings to choose from. I rarely order from Deathwish, but when I saw that they had the record available through their distro, I grabbed the pink vinyl pressing from them. The vinyl looks more red than pink, but it is still a good look.

150 pressed on "pink".

Bystander keep things rollin' with their newest 12 inch EP, Where Did We Go Wrong. This is hardcore, and this is what I want to listen to when I'm in the mood for hardcore. I've only listened to it a handful of times, so I can't say where it will land overall, but this is some good shit.

New Organon

There has been some cool new metal records released this year, but one of the more anticipated records to come out, for me, has been the new Slough Feg album. The band released a teaser with the New Organon single last year, and I have been itching for the band to give us the full length album since then.

It has been about five years since I first heard Slough Feg, and I was introduced to them with the Digital Resistance album in 2014. That record came out of nowhere for me, and I was blown away by the band. I committed to diving into their back catalog at that point...covering eight albums...and while I loved what I was hearing, for one reason or another, I never pulled the trigger on more vinyl. I love this band, so it feels really good to finally add another record to the collection with New Organon.

But seriously...I need to get off my ass and get a copy of Down Among the Deadmen or something soon. My metal collection will be better off with more Slough Feg in it.

Slough Feg have such a unique sound, and I can't think of another band that sounds like them. I love this record. I'm not sure where New Organon is going to land in my Top 10 for the year, but I guarantee that it will be slugging it out somewhere in the top five.

Blood Red Pressure

Recently, I was on a big kick for newer hardcore bands. Triple B has had a solid string of releases, and I definitely spent most of my time immersing myself into those records, but there is more to hardcore than Triple B, right? What the hell else is going on out there?

While I was trying to figure out what else was going on in hardcore scene, I saw a post on Instagram for the latest Blood Pressure record. I'm obviously out of the loop, because this record was from 2018, but I had no idea that the band had released a follow up to Need To Control from 2015. To be honest, I didn't remember anything about the last Blood Pressure record, but fuck it, I was itching to check out more hardcore, so I checked the songs on Spotify. Oh damn. If this was released this year, it would top my list of 2019 hardcore albums. This albums rips and rages, and fires me up the same way that the first Boston Strangler record did.

I was so excited over the Surrounded record that the regular black vinyl pressing wasn't going to cut it. The red colored vinyl was limited to 150, and was long sold out from the label, but I wanted one bad enough that I paid a ridiculous price for one through Discogs. I considered the higher price to be my punishment for sleeping on this when it was first available last year. Thank you, sir, may I have another.

Long Stick Goes Boom

Early this year, and completely on a whim, I picked up the Hardware record from Krokus. I really wasn't expecting very much, so that fact that it has ended up as one of my most played albums this year is a testament to how much it surprised me.

Shortly after buying Hardware, I was in another record store and happened to find a copy of The Blitz from '84, and suddenly I was diving into a lot of the Krokus back catalog.

I'm fairly certain that my brother or I owned the cassette for One Vice At A Time when we were young metalheads, but I didn't really remember anything about the album. I feel like we quickly pushed those Krokus albums aside as our musical tastes were getting heavier and heavier...and it is a damn shame because albums like Hardware and One Vice At A Time are fucking fantastic.

This stuff is pure AC/DC influenced heavy metal. If I'd heard this stuff back in '82 and '83, I imagine that I would have been rocking this stuff right along side Powerage and Flick Of The Switch.

When I was checking out the Krokus discography on Discogs, I noticed that the Swiss pressing of the Hardware album came with a much nicer insert than the shitty record label advertisement insert that came with my US pressing. Suddenly, my copy wasn't good enough, and I vowed not to make the same mistake when I started chasing other Krokus records. When I was looking for a copy of the One Vice At A Time album, I noticed that the album art was a bit different for the overseas pressings...and when I discovered a Switzerland pressing that included the fan club insert, I knew that was the one to have...even if the price was a bit higher than most people would have paid.

Tyger Bay

I've picked up a few solid New Wave Of British Heavy Metal records this year, and I've been itching to finally pick up some big names. Some of this stuff isn't difficult to find, and the prices are reasonable...so it really just comes down to me getting off my ass and getting it done.

The Tygers Of Pan Tang were a pretty big deal back during the early days of the NWOBHM. After releasing their first EP on Neat during the label's early years of '79, the band was quickly picked up by a major label. By the time they released their second album, Spellbound, in '81, they had a new singer and a new hot shot guitarist by the name of John Sykes (who would go on to play in Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake and Blue Murder).

Spellbound may be my favorite album from Tygers, and the deciding factor on that is because the song Gangland is just so fucking good. When I was looking to pick up my first Tygers album on vinyl, Spellbound was where my attention was.

When I started looking around for a copy on Discogs, I noticed that Spellbound originally came with an autographed poster. Of course every available copy at the time did not include the poster, so I threw it on my Want List and played the waiting game. As soon as I got the notification that there was a copy up for sale that included the poster, I jumped on it...and the $15 price tag didn't break the bank, so I was happy.

It should go without saying that I needed a copy of the album with the merchandise insert as well.

Thrashard

I've been chasing a handful of different record collecting goals this year, but one of my favorites has been those albums celebrating their 30th anniversary. When the year started, my collection for 1989 was pretty pathetic, however, the past nine months has slowly seen me pick up some top tier stuff...many of my favorite metal albums from that year. It has been a few months since I've grabbed a classic from '89, so it feels great to pick up another one.

I was still a metalhead in 1989, and while I was buying albums from Sick Of It All and Cro-Mags, I was probably still a year away from really discovering the hardcore scene. The Thrash Zone album from D.R.I. was pretty big transition album between the two worlds for me.

Shortly after a group of me and my friends took a trip to Boston to catch Testament at The Channel, I discovered that D.R.I. were playing in Providence in early 1990. It was a good three hour drive to Rhode Island, and when a couple of friends bailed on the trip, I decided to make the trip alone. This was before GPS and smartphones, I packed a state map in my car and headed in the general direction of Providence with no real idea where I was going. I stopped at various gas stations to ask for directions and drove through some sketchy parts of town, but eventually found the club. Growing up only knowing about big arena shows...to be up front, stagediving with Kurt Brecht putting the microphone in my face to sing along to Suit And Tie Guy, and then having the entire band come out on the floor to talk with everyone...that shit was life changing. This was the real deal, and soon after I was travelling to see Agnostic Front and Slapshot play live, and from there, there was no turning back.

It had been a while since I'd given the Thrash Zone album a spin, but diving into my 1989 playlist this year, I've rediscovered how much fun this record still is. Hey, it is no Dealing With It or Crossover, but fuck, this album is a blast.

Humanicide

There are a number of old school thrash bands that are still around and releasing quality albums. Overkill and Flotsam & Jetsam have already released new albums this year, and it is good to see Death Angel on the attack as well. No lie...the new Death Angel albums are heavier and faster than their Frolic Through The Park and Act III albums from the late 80's/early 90's. I'm not saying they are better, but there is a level of intensity and anger that I don't remember from those early days.

Humanicide is the sixth album from Death Angel since they reunited in the early 2000's, and this thing definitely hits hard. Mark Osegueda's voice is absolutely vicious...it doesn't sound like he has lost anything since the metal glory days of the 80's. Mad respect for this band.

I didn't want to mess around with colored vinyl when I picked up this album. Black vinyl gets the job done here. Nice looking etching on the d-side.

I Am The Ugly American

I thought it was just a year or so ago that I had rekindled my relationship with Big Black, but checking the blog for details, it turns out that it has been over three years since I picked up the Atomizer album. Damn. I remember being very excited about buying that album, and I really wanted to pick up more from the Big Black catalog for the collection. Three years have passed with zero progress...until now.

When I was obsessing about Big Black back in 2016 I somehow missed giving the Racer-X EP a spin at the time. I don't know why. I guess that the song titles didn't jump out at me, so I didn't bother with it. When I got the itch this year for some more Big Black, I decided it was time for some Racer-X. I don't know how I couldn't have forgotten these songs because they are absolutely killer. I've had such a good time revisiting this EP that I needed this record in my collection as soon as possible.

I loved the look of the original Homestead pressing, with the exploding car on the front, so that's the one that I stepped up for. I found a copy at a great price on Discogs and I quickly pulled the trigger.

When the package arrived, I quickly ripped open the box to check out the record, and at first I was puzzled. When I first saw the record cover, it wasn't what I recalled buying. I did some research and discovered that the seller sent me the Touch And Go repress from 1992. I was bummed. The record only cost me $14, and I really hate to complain over that small dollar amount, but I reached out to the seller anyway. Thankfully, the seller was very accommodating, and he told me to keep the pressing that I'd received, and he would send out the correct one right away. Two records for the price of one!

It's nice to have both pressings, but damn, this Touch And Go pressing is ugly.

World Shaker

It has been fun digging into some newer hardcore records lately, but it ain't like I'm going to stop chasing some great new metal as well.

Back in 2013, Asomvel released one of my favorite metal records of the time. That Knuckle Duster record was so damn great, I'd be willing to bet that of all post-2000 metal records, it still sits comfortably in the top five. Their infectious, Motorhead influenced sound is just that good.

Shortly after releasing Knuckle Duster, the singer left the band, and band seemed to be in flux for years leaving me to wonder if they were ever going to recover. Then, in 2016, the band came out of nowhere with a new video for a song called The Nightmare Ain't Over, and then in 2017 we got the World Shaker video...now in 2019, we finally get a new album.

While World Shaker doesn't quite knock me on my ass like Knuckle Duster did, this record is still a ton of fun. Even with a new singer/bass player, they still keep that Motorhead vibe going. They keep the hits coming.

I took the easy way out, and ordered the black vinyl because it was available from a US distro, but now I'm wishing that I'd held out for the white vinyl.