Never Enough

The last couple of years have been a little rough for this blog. I've been doing this for 19 years, with over 2,500 posts... and while I don't want to say that I was burned out on keeping up with this thing, I have been struggling to set aside the time for it and post counts have dipped considerably. Not counting December, with a bunch of panicked posts to try and catch up on new releases before the year's end, I haven't hit a double digit post month since July of 2023. We have been limping along for two years. Fuck.

That said, I've been excited about collecting shit again recently and it feels really good to get 13 posts up here this month. Plus, as of right now, I have 42 more posts in the queue to write up... so hopefully this is the start of a productive few months.

Depending on who you talk to, Turnstile is either the most loved band in hardcore... or the most hated. The band have changed their sound since their early 7 inches, but to me it has never felt forced or for the purpose of seeking a larger audience... and it has seemed to be a natural growth that has seen their popularity soar. Sure, I prefer their first few records, but I still really dig what they are doing now... so preordering their new record, Never Enough, was an easy choice.

Never Enough is an extension of what Turnstile delivered with Glow On (how was that four years ago?), and the band continues to grow and diversify their sound. The new record doesn't quite measure up to their last one for me, but it is still a good time... it just spends a bit too much time floating around, but I still enjoy it.

Once again Turnstile release an album with a boring cover (got to stay consistent with Glow On, I guess), but thankfully once you slide the gatefold sleeve out of the slipcover, it all looks so good. I went with the blue "jet ski" colored vinyl, hoping that it would work best with the cover and I think it looks good.

Complete Crusade

Earlier this year, I started to really get back some love for hardcore. Not that I ever lost it, but the last few years I just found myself more excited to listen to other things... but the tide started to shift back to hardcore back in January when I discovered and started obsessing over Disembodied... and then I was pushed even further when picked up a record from Thought Crusade. I was struck by how much I'd missed that level of energy and aggression and I needed more.

Buying that record release version of Thought Crusade's It's Our War highlighted how close I was to completing the collection for the band. All that I was missing was a couple of test pressings, and while I don't typically chase those for a full collection, the tests for Thought Crusade seemed like they might be easy enough to pick up. I'd already managed to get one of the tests for the Common Man 7 inch, so I had hope... and when I started digging around on Discogs, it came together too easily to pass up.

The Common Man 7 inch has two different test pressings... the accepted test that I picked up few years ago, and the rejected test which has the wrong matrix etched in the deadwax.

The other test that I picked up to complete the collection was the It's Our War 7 inch that was released on Triple B. Nice touch with the green with black streaks colored vinyl test, but no special cover here... just the printed text on the dust sleeve. Numbered out of four made, and for $10 I was happy to grab this.

Felt good to finish this Thought Crusade collection and was a nice reminder of how fun the game used to be before labels started to flood the market with an endless stream of reissues.

One Assassination Under Manson

There seems to always be something during the year that makes me shake my head and say "well, I didn't see that coming"... bands that I never expected to like, sneaking into my brain and planting seeds that bloom into obsession. Well, this year I have spent more time than I ever thought that I would listening to Marilyn Manson. Honestly, checking the stats as of today, I've listened to Marilyn Manson more than any other band this year. Shocking.

I had a very brief period around 2000 when I tried to get into Marilyn Manson. I was listening to some nu metal stuff at the time like Slipknot, System Of Down and Limp Bizkit and Marilyn Manson seemed to be in that same circle... and while I downloaded a few albums at the time, none of them really stuck with me. Last year, my friend Sarah shared the song New Model No. 15 with me and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I casually listened to a few songs through 2024, and while I liked what I heard, it wasn't anything that I intentionally queued up. Then in January this year, Sarah sent me a message asking if I wanted to "listen to the worst Manson album" with her... where we would dedicate a week getting to know Born Villain and then circle back to share our thoughts. Surprisingly, I found that I was having fun with it, so she shared a couple of other songs from his discography, and before I knew it I was obsessing over all of The Golden Age Of Grotesque. It was heavy and had an attitude and there were so many hooks that I had it in constant rotation for weeks. All of this eventually brought me to the point of checking out the newest Marilyn Manson album, One Assassination Under God, that was released last year.

Marilyn Manson has no right releasing an album this good this late in the game. I'm not sure if it's because I've been riding a Manson high, or if the album really is that good, but I love this record... and when Sarah told me that Amazon had it listed for under $20, I jumped to order myself a copy.

Ghost Of New Model Army

New Model Army is one of those bands that when I listen to them, that all that I want to listen to. I'll not listen to them for months, and then from out of nowhere a song will jump into my head and then that's the rest of my day sorted... time for a NMA marathon.

New Model Army are a band out of England, and while I very much consider them to be a punk band, they don't really fit the 80's English punk mould... or at least what I tended to gravitate to for punk in the 80's... but the aggression and emotion on their early records is so addictive to me. I've been slow to build a NMA collection, and I can't believe that at this point I didn't own The Ghost Of Cain already.

Like Trouble, New Model Army was an important common thread that ran between Tim, Jeff and me... so it was a nice gesture when Jeff pulled this album out of Tim's collection and handed it to me free of charge.

Wild Side Chicago

Back in May, I ended up taking a trip to Chicago to see some friends... none of whom I'd met in real life before. A friend of ours was getting married and the group of us made quick last minute plans to make the flight, book an Airbnb, and spend a couple of days together before going to the wedding celebration. As awkward as that sounds like it could be, it was a great time to see and hangout with people that I've only ever talked to online.

The first day there, we planned on spending the day in Chicago and visiting various book and record stores. I had high hopes in finding some cool shit, but unfortunately I didn't see a lot of used stuff for sale... but as we were getting ready to leave Bucket O Blood, I noticed a small rack of 7 inches hidden away in the back corner. Thankfully they had one record that I could pick up as a souvenier of my trip.

I first picked up the Wild Side 7 inch when I saw them play at the Triple B's America's Hardcore fest back in 2019. At the time I was under the impression that it was only pressed on black vinyl, and was okay with the one that I'd bought. I was quickly corrected and informed that there was a mint green colored vinyl version of the 7 inch and I knew that I needed it. Five years later, I was stoked to find one in the... ahem... wild. I've been listening to Wild Side quite a bit since picking up this 7 inch and the band still holds up. So good.

100 pressed on green.

Last Year's Pest

I really liked the Pest Control album from a couple of years ago, but when it was announced that they had a new EP out last year I didn't bother with it. At the time I had my head stuck in clouds made up Modest Mouse, The Cure and Karate, and just could not get in the headspace for this crossover/thrash band out of Leeds.

At one point earlier this year, I was searching through the new music that I'd downloaded over recent months and saw the songs for the new Pest Control EP. I gave them a quick spin and it hit me immediately. Yeah, I'm definitely in the mood for this shit now, and I rushed over to the Triple B store to pick up a copy.

Pest Control keep doing what they did with their Don't Test The Pest LP, and Year Of The Pest continues to rip hard and fast. Four songs to get me thrashing.

Limited to 300 exclusive to Triple B on "biohazard spill" colored vinyl.

The Skull

As Jeff has been going through Tim's old record collection, every once in a while he will pull something out and give it to me for free. A band or a record that is a strong common thread between the three of us, and is just something that Jeff figures that I need on my shelf. Trouble is that kind of band. They were an important band for Jeff and Tim while growing up, and much later as Jeff and became friends, Trouble was a common bond between the two of us.

Of the four classic 80's Trouble records, from Psalm 9 through the self titled on Def American, the only one that I was missing was The Skull (which was the name that Eric Singer used for his last band before his untimely death during covid due to complications... and Jeff were lucky enough to have seen them live in Portland back in 2019). All of that, to say that Trouble and The Skull are a special connection for Jeff and I, so I was very happy when he handed me a copy of the album to fill the hole in my collection.

The cover of this copy shows a bit more wear than I typically like, but the vinyl is mint and it means a lot to have Tim's copy.

Level 4 Outbreak

I love The Nerve Agents. There are even days when I think that Days Of The White Owl might be on my list of favorite hardcore records. Yet somehow the self titled Nerve Agents EP has been a hole in my collection for a long time. Any time that I'd see it listed on Discogs, I'd think that the price was too high, and I'd let it pass me by, certain that a more reasonable priced one would come along. At some point I should have just bitten the bullet and grabbed on when I could... but then when Revelation recently announced they were doing a reissue campaign for The Nerve Agents, I figured that I'd check it out.

I own Days Of The White Owl and The Butterfly Collection, so didn't feel the need to buy another copy of them, but that self titled EP... with the OBI strip... looked too cool to pass up.

419 pressed on clear vinyl.

The packaging on this is really good. The OBI strip is a really cool touch, but the booklet insert is really nice as well, with some images of flyers for Nerve Agents shows and various writings from different people around the scene on the impact the band had at that time. All of this is really cool, but it would have been nice to get some perspective and words from the band themselves.

Of course the version that I was most interested in was the special Linas Garsys black sheep cover for the EP, but that was sold out before I was able to place an order. I figured that I was fucked and would never be able to get my hands on one, so I was surprised last week when I saw once listed on Discogs for only $30. I didn't hesitate and quickly added it to my cart and checked out. So happy to have scored one.

Number 38 of 131.

Test Press To Fade

When I was picking up that $9 Danzig record from Wanna Hear It, I felt the need to add something else to my cart. As I was scrolling through their webstore and saw a Violence To Fade test press, I figured that I'd act like the record collector that I used to be and pick it up.

Violence To Fade had ex-members of Alert, and when they released their first 7 inch in 2013, I was at the height of my record collecting mania... so of course I bought three copies of the record. Having the opportunity to buy the test press 10+ years later was just too good to pass up.

25 test pressings... numbered and with a great looking special cover.

This is a really good 7 inch, but over time it just got lost in with all the other music that I consume and I haven't listened to it a few years. Seeing this test press made me dust these songs off and it feels good to give this a spin again. Straight forward hardcore that does not disappoint.

Blackacidevil

Nine years ago, I had this really dumb idea to buy some albums that are generally regarded as shit by most, but that I happen to really enjoy. Stuff from bands that are usually well loved, but that one record that most people love to hate. I don't mean to be contrarian, but I like what I like, and sometimes when a band surprises me and does something different, I find that I really enjoy it.

Earlier this year, my friend Sarah and I were talking about Danzig and discussing favorite albums (Sarah preferred III while I leaned more towards II), and she suggested that we both take the week to really check out what is considered Danzig's worst album, 5: Blackacidevil.

This was a difficult album for me to open my mind to. It is just so distinctly not Danzig sounding. Like if you'd played that first song for me, without telling me who it was, there is no way that I'd guess. It is so rough and industrial... this is Glenn really trying to be Nine Inch Nails... and immediately my brain shut it down. Nope, I wanted Danzig and this was most decidedly not that. But I'd committed to the project and listened to it off and on over the week, and surprisingly there were songs that started to stand out, and then I came to appreciate just how unique it was... and now I'm giving it a spin when I want something different. I think that I kind of like this album.

In April, Marcus gave me a heads up that Wanna Hear It Records was having a big sale, and that I might want to check out their online store to see if there were any deals that caught my eye. Of course that Danzig 5 album was staring at me, and for $9 how could I refuse. Nine dollars! A true sign that no one else appreciates this record.

Dedicated To Frank

I've really enjoyed Sunstroke since I checked out their first record back in 2018. It seemed that they were flying under the radar for a while, but then they had a couple of limited lathe cut records come out during covid that proved to be difficult to get ahold of... and then Revelation is releasing their latest record this year, so hopefully people are paying attention now. Band is so good.

In addition to the lathe cut records for I Wanna Be Ignored and Cryin Wolves I thought that I'd had a hard time getting my hands on the Frank 7 inch as well. However, looking at discogs there are a stupid amount of colored vinyl options for this record, so I probably don't know what I'm talking about... but in any case, when I recently saw the 7 inch available through Sky Valley I quickly grabbed one.

The song Frank is dedicated to Frank "Skip" Candelori of Turning Point fame... yeah, I guess he was in a few other bands as well, but I've never bothered with anything beyond TP... but the b-side here is a cover of a Memorial Day song, and apparently Skip sang for that band as well. The whole package here is well done.

Blue vinyl limited to 115.

Sabbath '75 Bootleg

Today is the day of Black Sabbath's final live performance. I was kind of excited when I first heard the announcement that the original four members were going to be playing one last show, and I thought how cool it would be to make the trip to Birmingham to see it. I knew that I wasn't going to go, but it was a nice thought. Tickets sold out quickly, and then came the news that this was more of a Sabbath celebration and that there were a number of big name bands that were going to be sharing the stage to help send Black Sabbath off into retirement. I wasn't sure exactly what that was going to look like, but for me it suddenly became less interesting... then things got worse as it started to spin into more of a spotlight on Ozzy, and that he was going to also be playing some songs from his solo career. Oh for fucks sake. Look, I'm sure that as a tribute to Black Sabbath, it will be a very cool event... it just isn't what it was initially promoted as. So instead, I'll pull this live bootleg from my blog backlog and post this up today.

This bootleg isn't one that I was searching for. I just did a favor for my friend Jeff, and as a way of thanks, he asked if I was interested in taking this live boot from '75. Hell yeah, I'm not going to turn down a free record.

I'm surprised with how great this Sabbath live bootleg sounds. Pulled from the soundboard for their set in Ashbury Park, NJ in 1975, this sounds so good. Possibly the best live Sabbath set with Ozzy that I have from those early days... and the setlist is absolute fire. I'm very happy to have this.

Collateral Scheme

Last year, Scheme Records released the Wreckage 7 inch, Self In All, and I managed to miss out on both colored vinyl options. I love that record and don't want to settle for the black vinyl, so I've been waiting for one to show up on Discogs. I'm still here, 10 months later, still waiting empty handed. So when I was looking at the Scheme webstore again recently, bitter about missing that Wreckage record, and saw that they had a colored vinyl 7 inch from a band named Collateral, I bought it to heal old wounds.

I'd never even heard of Collateral, but Scheme seems like a hot new label, so I was interested to see what else they may be pushing... and with the description stating for fans of Straight Ahead, Outburst and Step Forward, they definitely had my attention.

This is a great hardcore record. 7 songs in 10 minutes... it comes in hard and fast and doesn't overstay its welcome. It's kind of perfect for right now.

Second press on green vinyl and limited to 250.

Frost Return

While I was very excited to raid Tim's collection and get my hands on Into The Pandemonium, the real Celtic Frost highlight was a couple of early EPs.

I think that the Tragic Serenades EP was my introduction to Celtic Frost. I bought it on cassette back in the day because the cover art was so rad... I don't know, there is something about the stark black with the skull in the center that just looked so cool to me... plus there were only three songs here, so it was cheap enough for me to take the chance on it. I don't think that Celtic Frost made much of an impression on me at the time. I mean, all I owned was this EP and Into The Pandemonium, and that album was too much for my teenage brain, so I think it just some some extra time for me to fully appreciate this band.

Sure these songs appear on other Frost records, but these new versions are cool enough to check out... plus that skull cover still looks fucking cool.

I've had the Emperor's Return EP from Celtic Frost on my wantlist for a long time, mainly because I'm basically still a 16 year old kid, and I thought the cover art was so great. I've been holding out for an original German Noise pressing, but with the Metal Blade version in my hands, it was impossible to say no. Plus, I still have a soft spot for those original Metal Blade axe labels.

I'm very excited to add to my Celtic Frost collection. Maybe I'll get one more before I finish with Tim's collection.

History Of A Time To Come

It is always such a charge for me when I add an old 80's thrash record to the collection. There is just something about that classic thrash period that I connect with deeply. From those formative years of about 16 to 20, thrash metal was my entire personality. Band t-shirts, my CD collection, and endless scribbles of lyrics and band logos on my school notebooks. It was everything to me. Because of this, it always feels special when I pick up an old thrash record.

1988 was a huge year for thrash. Every band in the Big 4 dropped an album that year, but it felt like a ton of other bands were popping off that made the Big 4 sound tame in comparison. On of my favorite records that year was History Of A Time To Come from British thrashers, Sabbat. I specifically remember listening to this album on the drive back and forth from college in the Fall that year. The vocals were unique and the lyrics sounded evil... plus the songs were nice and fast for me to headbang behind the wheel on my drive. It was such a perfect album and it still rips today. So good.

I kind of wanted an original German pressing from Noise for this album, but I guess the US pressing straight out of Tim's collection will do the job... even if the corners are crushed to hell. Plus, I kind of really dig those US center labels.

No Good At Goodbyes

There are some bands and styles of hardcore that just don't work for me. When I was going to a lot of shows, there were some bands that I did not like based on the crowd they drew. A lot of really hard and tough shit I just didn't hang with. I preferred high fives and stagedives over demonstrating my style. So when Triple B starting putting out records that seemed to fall more in line with that tough guy style, I stopped paying attention.

Gridiron was one of the bands that turned me off when I first saw their No Good At Goodbyes record in the Triple B store. Meh, the album cover was giving bad Agnostic Front vibes and I wasn't interested in checking them out. At the end of 2022(?) the guys on the 185 Miles South podcast were talking high praise for the band in their yearly recap, and so I finally broke down and checked them out, and to my surprise they weren't bad. They play hardcore mixed with a kind of hip hop swagger that reminds me of Biohazard... and I've never really liked that band... but here and now, I could appreciate the fun and ignorant (not derogatory) vibe that Gridiron brings.

After sitting with the songs on this record for a while, I finally decided that I did need to own this. No Good At Goodbyes is just such a fun time. Fuck the hard stance and tough attitude and lets just have a good time with this record. I've got friends in Pennsylvania, and they like sports things, so when I saw that Triple B was doing a pressing on "Eagles swirl" colored vinyl, I thought it would be a fun tribute to my PA pals and I grabbed copy. 250 pressed.

Belly Of The Beast

I really liked the first couple of Combust records. They have a great NYHC vibe in the vein of early Cro-Mags and Killing Time, and while I really liked those records when I bought them, I haven't really spent a lot of time with them over the past couple of years because I've been pulled to listen to other things. So I wasn't sure how a third Combust record was going to land with me, and I kind of expected to feel indifferent towards it.

I've slowly been getting back into a hardcore mindset this year, and the new Combust has been a big part of that. I didn't really expect much with Belly Of The Beast, but surprisingly it has been a bit of a catalyst that is reigniting my love of hardcore. I don't know what it was... but this record has a swagger that just hooked me and made me want more. It's hard. I has some groove. I just makes me want to move. I didn't even know that I needed this, but here we are.

The colored vinyl is your typical Triple B pattern with a few different colors all filtered through a 5th graders imagination of what looks good. Red and bone white on one side and a black splatter on the other. Limited to 300.

Siamese Pumpkins

Over the past couple of years, I've come to really like The Smashing Pumpkins... well, I've come to really like Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by The Smashing Pumpkins and a bunch of random songs from the band. However, it seems that most fans tend to view Siamese Dream as their favorite Pumpkins record... and while there are some songs here that I really like, I've never spent enough time with the full album to appreciate it as a whole.

Earlier this year, my local record store posted that they were taking preorders for a special RSD edition of Siamese Dream on "red smoke" vinyl, and I figured that it was time I took the plunge and committed fully to the album. As a bonus, if I didn't have to go out on Record Store Day to fight crowds for it, even better. Supporting record stores from the comfort of my home.

Okay look, I can see why people love this record, because it is a great album... for me it still isn't as good as Mellon Collie, but that's cool that people still ride hard for this one because it is deserved. I can't believe that I'm actually writing about a Smashing Pumpkins record on this blog... never saw that coming.

Lastly, the vinyl for this looks amazing. Man, remember when all colored vinyl looked this good and not some shitty splatter pattern on cheap plastic. I guess big bands like this can affort to use the best pressing plants.

Candy Relapse

If you ever wonder just how much my friends mean to me, and how much I value and listen to what they say, just take a look at my record collection. I picked up this Candy record because of the influence of two different friends.

I was talking to my friend Alex a couple of months ago, and she mentioned that she needed to listen to something aggressive. When I was curious about what she was reaching for, she told me it was the Candy album It's Inside You.

Now I was familiar with the Candy name from when they did a couple of records with Triple B, but I never really gave them much of a chance. With Alex's recommendation, I figured that I'd give them a spin and yeah, this is raw and delivers on the aggression. This record is hard to pin down and define. Yeah, there is a definite angry hardcore vibe going on, but I also feel a bit of a nu metal influence. It feels unique and not like any other band that I'm currently listening to. I'm sure that I would have hated this 5 years ago, but today this definitely hits me square in the fucking chest.

I wasn't sure if I was going to buy this record so quickly after first hearing about it, but then I noticed it was released through Relapse and there was a clear vinyl version available on Discogs. I know that for Relapse releases, Marcus will only buy the clear vinyl because A) it isn't a shitty looking splatter pattern from the label, and B) the label only presses 100 copies and they aren't available to the general public. Seeing a clear vinyl copy available for a good price on Discogs had me very interested and I quickly scooped it up so that I could be a bit like Marcus.

Not For You

Earlier this year, I made it out to a show to see Municipal Waste play. There was a local hardcore band, Corrective Measure, that was opening the show, and I was surprised at just how good they were. Seeing them play kind of reinvigorated my love of hardcore. I've been so wrapped up in discovering other kinds of music the last couple of years that I think a part of me forgot how great hardcore is and how excited it can make me feel to hear that straight forward no frills style of music.

After seeing Corrective Measure live, I quickly picked up their 7 inch... and then when I noticed that Refuse Records out of Europe was releasing their latest record, Not For You, Not For Anyone, I quickly ordered a copy of that as well.

9 songs in 10 minutes is exactly what I want here. Angry hard and fast is how I like my hardcore.