25 Years: Time Flies

I once heard it proclaimed that Start Today was Age Of Quarrel for girls. Hey, I'm not looking down on the Cro-Mags at all, but for me, I go with Gorilla Biscuits every damn day. Guess I'm not that hard.

While I first heard Start Today back around 1990, and fell in love with it immediately, I've never owned a copy on vinyl. I've always been intimidated with trying to track down and drop the cash for those old REV titles, and Start Today was no exception.

With the album celebrating it's 25th anniversary this year, and REV reissuing it on vinyl, it seemed like the time was finally right for me to grab a copy. I immediately picked up the glow in the dark vinyl pressing when it was available, but REV has warned us that this pressing tends to have a lot of surface noise, so I'm obviously going to need to buy a different pressing at some point.

Embossed cover, glow in the dark vinyl, and the GB logo printed on the inner cover.

Actually, with the way the REV reissue machine has been rolling, I'm kind of surprised that it has taken them so long to finally repress the Start Today LP. However, now that we have seen this one, we can probably expect to see another colored vinyl press in about 6 months.

Pictures of glow in the dark vinyl always look like shit, but here you go anyway.

Trouble To The Skull

I've really fallen in love with Trouble this year. Sure I've enjoyed them for years, but things jumped to the next level when I bought my first piece of Trouble vinyl earlier this year. Spoiler alert: the band is going to show up on my Most Played list for 2014.

The Skull is made up of three former members of Trouble, with the main draw being the voice of Eric Wagner...so when I started to hear talk about the band coming together and starting to record an album, I couldn't wait for the release date. In the meantime though, I discovered that the drummer for the band, Jeff Olsen, now lives in my home state of Maine...living about a half hour down the highway from me. Apparently he gives drum lessons, and since my son plays drums, it was tempting to see if I could get the dude from Trouble to show him a thing or two.

The album itself is rather solid. Wagner's voice is a bit clean, and I miss the bit of edge he had with Trouble...but then again, that was over 20 years ago. Still, his voice is easily identifiable, and this album just oozes with crushing doom riffs.

Wild Life / Survival

Powered Records is on a roll...following up their Not Afraid pre-orders with two new 7 inches. For a label that disappeared for a few years, it is cool to have them back in action.

Sometimes I buy shit that I'm not really that interested in. I buy it out of some weird kind of obligation. Seriously, most of the stuff I want, falls in the realm of Metal or Rock. I still love Hardcore, and there have been some gems that have been released this year, but I've been finding that it has been a bit of a struggle to get me excited about new stuff.

When Powered put up pre-orders over the summer, for the new Survival and Wild Life records, I really wanted to ignore it and put the money towards something more exciting. But 10 years of record collecting habit is hard to break. Powered is a solid Hardcore record label, and I generally enjoy everything they release, so I sucked it up and placed an order anyway.

When the records first arrived, I tossed them into the pile of new shit that I've received. Meh...no surprise, but I was not in the mood to check them out. The time came this week, when I'd worked through my vinyl backlog, and I couldn't avoid it any longer...it was time to finally write about them. Suddenly, it felt like a like from that Circle Jerks song, Defamation Innuendo.

Hell, I never heard 'em and now I've gotta write about 'em
God, the story is due, the story's due tomorrow
What should I write? Well, they're no good

Thankfully, it didn't play out like that at all. First up, I drop the needle on the new Survival record. Even though I'd spent the day listening to Testament, Exodus, and Dio, the songs on this nine minute record are like a strong kick to the jaw. Man, even in this Metal state of mind, I can't help but recognize how good this is. Straight forward Hardcore.

Limited to 150, and hand numbered for Powered preorders.

Survival helped to whet the appetite, and things roll nicely as I moved on to check out the Wild Life 7 inch next. This one taking swings at more of a New York Hardcore sound. Goddamn, I'm really glad that I didn't turn my back on these two solid releases.

Wild Life preorders were limited to 75 on orange vinyl. Typically, Powered places the preorder sticker on the dust sleeve, but in this case they stuck it on the inside of the fold out cover. Odd...maybe they ran out of dust sleeves.

While placing my order for these two 7 inches, I figured that it was also a good time to grab the blue vinyl pressing for the Caught In A Crowd 12 inch.

Blood In Blood Out

I would have been looking forward to a new Exodus record regardless, but when you tell me that Steve "Zetro" Souza is back in the band...now I'm really paying attention.

I've never had a problem with Dukes, and I really liked the three albums that he sang on (sorry, Let There Be Blood doesn't count), but having Zetro return is like welcoming home an old friend. In addition to the first Exodus album with Baloff, I grew up on Pleasures of the Flesh and Fabulous Disaster with Zetro behind the mic. This is the sound that I know...the sound that I love.

While it has been 10 years since Zetro's brief return with the 2004 album, Tempo of the Damned, Blood In Blood Out doesn't miss a beat. Tempo hit hard and fast, and this new one follows the same blueprint, sounding even nastier and more raw than than those Zetro albums from the 80's. While other bands from those early days "grow" and their sound "matures", Exodus give you exactly what you want...pure fucking Thrash.

The First Amulet LP

Some things can't be explained or rationalized. A band will hit you just right, get their hooks into you, and give you a charge that keeps you returning for repeat listens. They aren't anything extra special...they aren't doing anything new...and when asked why you are losing your shit over them, the best you can do is shrug your shoulders, and exclaim "Because they are awesome!"...or in the case of Amulet, "Because they are fucking Metal!".

Honestly, I'm not sure exactly why I'm so in love with the new Amulet album, The First. They play strictly by-the-numbers Heavy Metal...just straight forward head banging mania...and I can't get enough of it. For some reason, it reminds me of the first Laaz Rockit album, City's Gonna Burn...maybe not so much with the sound, but just the general delivery of it's proud metal-ness.

The back cover bears a bit of a resemblance the the back of Metallica's Kill 'Em All.

There have been a lot of great Metal releases this year, and it is going to be tough trying to figure out where this on falls in my Best Of list at the end of the year.

World Full Of Hate

Last year was a great year for Hardcore, with one of the best surprises being the debut LP from Hounds of Hate. Great stuff in the vein of early Sick of it All and Killing Time. You can't ignore a band like this...well, you can, but you'd be a chump.

Over this past summer, I was surprised to see the band post up a new album, Hate Springs Eternal, on their bandcamp page. Seriously, what Hardcore bands can turn out two albums in two years? Unheard of.

Even though the band offered up a free download of the album, I still wasn't too excited over it. Digital releases do nothing for me, and it wasn't until a couple of months later, when the vinyl finally went up for sale, that I started to pay attention.

Hounds of Hate are great at what they do, and they keep doing it with Hate Springs Eternal. Man, this is the real deal. Hardcore that is loud and agressive, with a chip on the shoulder and nothing to prove. The band didn't need to rely on some well known label to get this album on the streets...no...they decided to go all D.I.Y., and release it themselves. Fantastic job too. Quality through and through.

Fire Up The Chainsaw

As the late 80's came to a close, Death Metal was becoming more and more popular in the scene. Obituary and Deicide seemed to help push things to another level of extreme in Metal, and I just wasn't getting it. I tried to hang with it, but I just didn't get the attraction. Hardcore was really starting to make some noise for me at the time, and I took that as my queue to exit the Metal scene.

Despite how I felt about Death Metal, when I was looking for something new last year...something that was ugly, violent, and utterly over the top...I decide to give the newest Cannibal Corpse album, Torture, a shot. While it wasn't something I didn't think that I'd be reaching for very often, it certainly fit what I was looking for at the moment.

When the band released their new album, A Skeletal Domain, a couple months ago, I didn't really give it much thought. At some point, something enticed me to check out the band's video for Kill Or Become...perhaps it was the promise of zombies, chainsaws and gore...whatever the reason was, I'm glad I did, because I was immediately hooked.

So while I generally don't really like this style of Metal, for some reason Cannibal Corpse does it for me. I hit play, and my eyes roll back in my head, my fingers immediately go to devil horn formation, and I bang my head, wishing that I had long straight hair that I could thrash around. When I found that I couldn't get enough of A Skeletal Domain, and that I kept spinning it daily in my iPod, I knew it was time to get the vinyl. The only problem was that it seemed the only vinyl option in the US was a shitty looking picture disk. No thanks, I'll pass. Thankfully, the Nuclear Blast webstore offered an import vinyl option, and I quickly snatched it up.

500 pressed on this sweet looking green and black colored vinyl that matches the Nuclear Blast logo.

Sentenced To Death

Earlier this year, Rise Above put up preorders for the Death Penalty 7 inch. Apparently, this was the new band that the guitarist from Cathedral put together, so people were pretty excited to check it out. Me? I'd never really bothered to check out Cathedral, and the thought of yet another female fronted Doom band made me simply shrug my shoulders and move on. Not interested.

A few months after the release of the 7 inch, Death Penalty followed it up with their self titled debut LP. While it was easy enough to ignore a two song 7 inch, I figured that I'd put the effort in and at least check out the promo video for the song Immortal By Your Hand. Whoa. I did not expect that it was going to sound this good! I was so impressed that I immediately preordered the Die Hard pressing from Rise Above.

The album, as a whole, isn't as mind blowing as that first song I'd heard. It is still pretty solid, but some songs seem to drag a bit, as doomy female fronted songs can do at times.

The vinyl for this, comes as double LP, with an etching on side D. The Die Hard pressing was limited to 100 on clear vinyl, and looks exceptionally nice.

Also included in the Die Hard edition was a bonus 7 inch, with two unreleased songs, plus a patch. Die Hard is obviously the way to go.

Perfect Midwaste

Rune over at Just Another Day Records has done a great job resurrecting the label. First he brings the long lost Resolve 7 inch back from the dead, and now he follows it up with a brand new release from Perfect People.

I'd never heard of the band Perfect People, but as soon as I saw Rune's tribute to The First Step with the preorder cover, I knew that I needed to check them out. TFS are one of my favorites, so if you are going to come at me with this cover, you've immediately got my attention. Great choice, and well executed.

Preorder cover was limited to 30.

I've been a little slow to gravitate to many Hardcore releases this year, but like the Protester 7 inch, this one is an immediate kick in the nuts. I love this record, and after only a couple of listens, I can tell that it is going to quickly climb my Best of 2014 list.

As I was listening to this, the singer's voice was so familiar, it was driving me crazy trying to place it. I was sure that he had sung in another band that I'd listened to. I checked in with Rune, but wasn't familiar with any of the bands that he was listing. Then it hit me...Ruiner...the singer sounds just like the guy from Ruiner.

The original plan was for Just Another Day to have 100 pressed on a peach colored vinyl. According to the note from Rune, the plant had some problems mixing the color, so we ended up with an orange/black smoke color. Truth be told, I think this color probably looks better, and compliments the cover art nicely. Great mistake.

Rog & Pip Revolution

I trust Rise Above Records on most of their releases, and I've taken chances on some albums just because it has their logo on it. However, when the label announced they were going to be releasing an album from Rog & Pip, even I approached it with extreme caution.

Even with the Rise Above bio dropping big time names like Zeppelin and Sabbath, I was going to need to check out a full download before I ventured into Rog & Pip territory. It took a while for it to show up on Soulseek, but once I finally heard it, I was immediately sold.

It might be a bit of a stretch throwing around the Zeppelin and Sabbath names...I suppose I can hear a bit of the influence hear and there, but I find Rog & Pip to be more comparable to Sweet, and man, I absolutely love Sweet.

Bare chested dudes named Rog and Pip. I would have never imagined that this album would rule as much as it does.

Rise Above does a great job with the packaging, and the big booklet is a nice touch. Tons of old photos, and history on how these two dudes from the late 60's/early 70's came to record an albums worth of amazing songs that I would imagine very few people had heard prior to this...oh and apparently they liked to take their shirts off too. Pin up material.

On With The Show

Lately, it seems like whenever I swing through the All That Is Heavy store, I'm end up grabbing some vinyl for one of Tony Reed's bands...either Mos Generator or Stone Axe. Both of those bands have been in constant rotation for me all year, and I've been slowly adding their vinyl to the collection.

Nothing new here for the Stone Axe side, as the song On With The Show also appears on the Stone Axe II LP...however, this is limited to 100 on green vinyl with the reverse image of the cover, so obviously I grabbed one when I had the opportunity.

The flip side of this split has a song from a band called Sun Gods In Exile. I'm not too familiar with them, but their song on here kind of caught my attention, so I started looking for info on them and was surprised to find that they reside in my backyard of Portland, Maine. Very cool. I'm going to have to check out more of their stuff.

The highlight for me with this purchase was the Until There Was Rock, You Only Had God 7 inch...mainly because of the song When I Came Down. For those that don't know, this was a song written by Norman Haines, and one of the first songs that Black Sabbath recorded. The Sabbath version has never been released, so it is very cool to hear this version from Stone Axe.

Limited to 300 pressed.

20 Have Heart 2003

A couple months back, REV added four new pieces of colored vinyl to their distro for the Have Heart demo. The Bottled Up pressing history for the Have Heart is full on ridiculous, and in trying to contain my record spending, the last thing that I needed were four more copies of this thing. While I already had stupid amounts of Have Heart vinyl, I had lost all desire to try and keep up any longer. Fuck it. I quit this stupid game.

That was my line of thinking when I ignored the new pressings available over at REVHQ. A few months later, Rune over at Droid Rage posted up an article on record collecting. Marcus and Lins participated in the interview, and since I've known those dudes for a while, I figured that I'd check it out. As I read through it, and saw the photos capturing the idiocy of everyone's collections, it ignited that old spark of doing stupid shit and having fun. Did I need more Have Heart records? No. Did I want more, and increase how dumb I could get with my collection? Oh hell yes.

By the time I'd returned to the REV store, two of the four new pressings were sold out, so I grabbed what was available. 150 pressed on mint green, and 200 pressed on red vinyl.

It was stupid how excited I was to receive these two 7 inches. It was a complete waste of money, and I had much better things to buy...but I don't know if anything else would have put a smile on my face the same way that taking this group picture did. 20 copies of the Have Heart 2003 demo, and I have still barely scratched the surface.

Pocket Hurts

These days, it seems like I'm continually playing catch-up with Chris over at Unwavering Spirit. I'll see him post about a new record, and then about a month later, I will have worked through my vinyl backlog, and finally get it up over here. It seems to happen quite a bit lately, and here we are with a post on the new Soulside reissue from Dischord, and of course it has all been done before. Either that dude needs to calm down, or I need to get my shit together and catch up on my backlog.

The reason why Dischord reissues are better than most, is evident with their latest offering of Soulside vinyl. Even though I'm trying to save the money, and stay away from needless repressings, with the label adding the three songs from the Bass/103 7 inch, and updating the cover art...it made this release too tempting to avoid.

Honestly, I'd forgotten how much I love these Soulside songs until I dropped the needle on this vinyl. I bought this reissue because "it just looked nice", but this ended up as a nice reminder as to how great the band was. If I'd received this kind of wake up call a few months ago, I may have made an attempt to make a trip to DC to catch the band play a reunion show with Moss Icon in December. Man, that show is going to rule.

Into Another Repress Round From REV

I gave up on the Revelation repress game a while ago. Shit got out of hand, and took something that once was fun, and turned it into a bank breaking chore. I don't mind collection ridiculous amounts of vinyl for some bands, but when you try and do it for every band, lines start getting drawn in the sand. Hey REV, when die hards like Marcus start to struggle justifying it, it might be time to check yourself before you wreck yourself.

I'd never purchased the Ignaurus LP from Into Another, so I was okay with the label repressing this one. I already own three different pressings of the self titled debut, so I didn't feel the need to grab the newest pressing for that one, but Ignaurus...yeah okay, it's not like I was going to bother chasing down an original pressing any time soon.

While this album was originally released in 1994, it took me until last year to finally check it out. Yeah, I was late to the Into Another party. I hated them when I first heard them in the early 90's, but time has been good to them, and I find that I'm digging them more and more these days..

Four dudes in a bed. Hawt.

Yawn. Another pressing of the Inside Out 7 inch...this time on green vinyl. Just one of the bands that I feel compelled to keep buying from REV.

While picking up these reissues, I spotted the On Point 7 inch. I'd downloaded this demo a few years ago, and seeing the vinyl available from REV for $2.00, I figured that I'd go nuts and buy a copy. This is surprisingly very good, and well worth the price of admission.

Your Kid's An Asshole

Sometimes when I'm posting stuff up on my blog, my enthusiasm over a record ebbs and flows based on where my head is at musically. I suppose it is a natural reaction. I'll buy a record, and like it, but when it comes time to post it, I'm just like "meh" because I'd rather be jamming something else at the moment. Such was the case with the last Iron Reagan album, Worse Than Dead. I've already posted my apology here, so I won't repeat myself, but with a new LP due this year, I was primed and ready for it.

My Metal mood certainly helped put me in the right place for it, but with the release of their Eyeball Gore video, I was rabid with anticipation. I'm squeamish when it comes to the eye, so it was a tough video to sit through, but man, I loved every eye popping part of it. Even the video for Miserable Failure helped set the tone that this album was going to be a fucking blast.

So, unlike their last album, with The Tyranny Of Will I can say that this album rules from the very start. Fast and aggressive...easily one of my favorite Metal records for the year.

500 pressed on red/black swirl vinyl.

React! And Powered Extras

With my recent Not Afraid orders from React! and Powered, I took the opportunity to grab a couple additional records that I've had my eye on.

First up is the Double Vision LP from ON. This was released back in 2009, and Powered had so many issues getting their shit together to mail this out, kids were nailing them to the wall left and right. Here we are, five years later, and the label seems to be getting it's feet back under itself. The Powered store lists a copy of the Double Vision LP on white vinyl, and I figured that I'd finally grab a copy. Ugh...nice job...this isn't white vinyl.

While it wasn't white vinyl, it did still put me at nine copies of this LP. Might as well take a group photo!

From the React! distro, I ordered the Appraise 7 inch. I'd heard good things about them, so I figured that I'd check 'em out. This is the vinyl pressing of their 2012 demo...pretty solid hardcore out of Spain.

Second pressing. Limited to 300.