REACT! Week - Part 4: Straight Razor Test

While we might have come to the end of React! Week here on the blog, I'm sure that the celebrations for this label will continue throughout the year. Obviously one of my all time favorite labels...

So of course we have to end the week on a high note, and I can't think of a better way than doing so with a test pressing of a record that isn't even available yet for preorder.

"Christ, what an arrogant, attention seeking prick...someone queue up a certain song from Alone In A Crowd for this loser.".

Okay, now that we've gotten that out of our system, lets get to how great this Straight Razor 7 inch is. Remember when Rival Mob topped everyone's list a couple of years ago? Well Radigan is fronting this band...you know, when he isn't busy with Stone Dagger, Magic Circle, Battle Ruins or Rival Mob...so you better believe the hype here. I expect to see this go down as one of my Hardcore favorites of 2015.

Number 17 of 24 tests pressed.

REACT! Week - Part 3 : Keep It Clear Test

Last year, React! released the Keep It Clear discography. While I really liked the band when I heard their 7 inch back in 2009, I'd kind of forgotten how good they were. This discography was a great reminder.

Ev from React! dropped me a line a few weeks back, asking if I was interested in any of the rarities that he had available. React! has a lot of great records on deck for 2015, and if I could help fund that by buying a couple of test pressings...count me in for doing my part.

I had a few options to choose from, and narrowing it down to just a couple that I could afford was no easy task. After sweating it for a day or so, I made a decision and got back to Ev on what I wanted...one of them being the test pressing of the Keep It Clear LP.

12/24. Xmas Eve.

Nice simple design...similar to the original front cover for the LP. Heavy duty black dust cover, spraypainted KIC across the front with stamped, hand numbered labels. Solid.

REACT! Week - Part 2: Suspect

Yeah, yeah...I was happy to receive the True Love pre-orders, but for me, this package was all about Suspect.

I'm not sure exactly why I was so hot on this release...perhaps it had something to with with the fact Suspect had ties to Deep Sleep, and I fucking loved that band.

The band have a harder edge than Deep Sleep, and that is cool with me. Fast and frantic harcore...this is the good shit.

The Suspect record was the cause of the delays with the pre-order package deal from React!, but in the end, all is forgiven because this record is a blast. I love the way this thing looks...from the design, to that sweet looking orange vinyl. In fact, the whole thing seems kind of fresh for the label, and looking ahead at what they have coming down the pike...I couldn't be more excited.

150 on orange colored vinyl, 350 on clear, and 500 on black vinyl.

REACT! Week - Part 1: True Love

After getting a big box of records from REACT! Records recently, I knew it was time to celebrate at the blog with another round of REACT! Week posts. Break out the party hats, throw your TV out the window, and lets get loose.

It seemed like most kids were rocking their True Love vinyl late last year...but since I ordered the big package deal, I figured that there were pieces that the label was waiting on. Ev and crew were probably dealing with pressing plant errors and delays, and I didn't want to add to that stress, so I just sat back with confidence that they were doing the best they could. Why get uptight waiting for your order to arrive? I just grabbed a download to tide me over until the vinyl arrived.

This record looks so good, it was worth the wait. Great layout, and a cool color combo with the vinyl.

Similar to the A Floral Note EP, True Love continue with their sound that would fit in nicely with the Hardcore scene around 2000, and draws comparisons to American Nightmare. While I'm not typically big on this style, this 12 inch is full of emotion and just rips. Great stuff.

150 pressed on mint colored vinyl, 350 on pink, and 500 on black.

Wolf's Repress

Back in December, Rise Above announced that they had repressed the first four Grand Magus albums, and they were available in the label's webstore. I was in a tight spot with money at the time, and since there weren't any cool extras with the more limited pressing, I decided to pass on them at the time.

Limited Rise Above releases tend to sell out quickly, so when I found myself in the store picking up the new Lucifer 7 inch, I was surprised to find that the Grand Magus clear vinyl pressings were still available. Since I was already buying something, it would be foolish to not add one more record to the order.

While I'm a big fan of Grand Magus, somehow I'd not heard their Wolf's Return album, so I figured that this was a good opportunity to remedy that situation.

While I initially wasn't too keen on shelling out the extra money to buy from Rise Above and secure the limited clear vinyl, now that I have one album, I suddenly have a burning desire to own the rest of them. Hopefully I can make it back to the Rise Above store before it is too late.

Oath Of Lucifer

I've been trying to avoid the additional costs of buying stuff direct from Rise Above. My mantra has been "Buy the US pressing. Save money. You don't need the most limited pressing.". I figured that if I repeated it often enough, then I might actually start to believe it is true. Yet, here I am again, unable to resist the devil's call.

Last year, The Oath blew in from out of nowhere, raced up the hype charts, quickly imploded and were gone. The band was over almost before they began. Singer, Johanna, is apparently not one to sit around, and she quickly assembled a new band under the name of Lucifer...and given the success of The Oath, Rise Above was quick to strike while the iron was hot, and released this two song debut. Solid.

100 pressed on clear vinyl.

Fuck War

While I was over at the REVHQ store, picking up the new Give EP, I was on the look out for something else to add to the cart. I saw the Longest War 7 inch, and seemed to remember a few people talking about how great it was, so I took the chance and added it to my cart.

Longest War is fronted by the dude from Chokehold, and backed by a couple guys from Despair...it is like a 90's hardcore wet dream. Man, these guys haven't missed a beat...the guitars still crunch and the vocals are absolutely vicious. It is pretty awesome that people still get this angry over these issues. "Pay for the oceans you kill, pay for the death you spill". I'm just sitting here hoping for a hardcore band to come along and scream about how much of a pain in the ass it can be to raise teenagers, as that is the extent of my rage these days.

Oh sure, I could have picked up a more limited copy of this record over at Press Gang, but in the end, I guess I just didn't care enough, and the black vinyl press from REV was good enough for me.

Give Until It Hurts

Back in 2010 and 2011, Give released a series of two song 7 inches. Each one was perfect and left me wanting more. Fast forward to 2014 and 2015, and the band gives us a full length LP, and then this 12 inch EP from Revelation...and I'm finding it is all too much.

Are these songs not as strong, or do I just need time to warm up to them? I don't know. Give is still good, and they still bring it live, but I just can't get myself excited for these last two releases.

No doubt about it though, Give gets bonus points for style. The band puts in the extra effort with the design of their record covers, and Sonic Bloom looks simply amazing. Worth it for the artwork alone.

Goblins In The Abyss

Finally. This one was a long time coming.

I ordered the new Orange Goblin LP from doooomed.com back in August. It was one of my more anticipated releases for the year, so you can imagine my disappointment when I received an email in December from doooomed, stating that their entire shipment arrived on their doorstep damaged beyond repair. The distro was going to have to wait until another shipment arrived, and that wasn't going to happen for another couple of months. I'd already grabbed a sneaky download to listen to the album, but without the actual vinyl, it meant that I wasn't going to be able to include it in with my Best Metal of 2014 photo...and with my OCD in high gear, I was feeling incomplete.

Six months after placing my order, it felt good to finally have the album in my hands.

Ghetto Justice

Add another name to the list of those that can suck it.

Back in 2013, Back To Back released the Blind Justice 7 inch. Apparently, the label fucked up when they had the record pressed, and they ended up submitting the unmastered recordings to the pressing plant. I guess I never noticed at the time, but that's what you get when you spend most of your time listening to the download on your iPod.

I pulled out the original Back To Back pressing to compare today, and sure enough, it's a mess. This new pressing from Ghetto Josh is the one you need...too bad the packaging is kind of weak. It has been a while since I've listened to these songs, and I'm still impressed with how good this is. What a great Hardcore record.

Hand numbered and limited to 200

Psych Splits

I listened to a lot of Mos Generator last year, and their Electric Mountain Majesty album ended up as one of my favorites of 2014. When singer/guitarist, Tony Reed, posted on Facebook that he had a few copies available of a new split that his band did with Isaak, I jumped at the chance to buy a copy from him. Since it was released overseas, on some Italian label, I figured I'd take advantage of the opportunity, and save myself the hassle of trying to track one down...plus there is something more cool about buying your records direct from a guy in the band.

Mos Generator typically takes a straight forward, hard rockin' approach, but these songs take things in a more atmospheric and darker direction. I love reading Tony's stories on how these songs took shape, and the influences behind them. He mentions a Voivod influence with Time & Other Thieves, and there is no denying it...man, this thing sounds like it could have come off Nothingface. Very cool. I struggled a bit with these songs when I first heard them, but the more I listen to them, the more I like them.

I'd never heard Isaak prior to this song that they recorded for the split, but this epic 14 minute trip captures my interest. At some point, I'll have to check out their LP from a couple years back.

I really like Stone Axe...no, I mean that I fucking LOVE Stone Axe. I listened to the shit out of their two albums last year, and I've been looking forward to the opportunity to grab this split they did with Wight. With Tony and Heavy Head selling a limited amount of the Mos Generator/Isaak split, I decided that while I was in the webstore, I'd grab a copy of the Stone Axe split as well. These songs aren't as strong as some of their other stuff, and are a bit more laid back, but it is still Stone Axe, so it is still cool.

The Wight side of this split features two laid-back trippy stoner jams. At first these songs didn't really excite me, but the more I listened to them, I realize that they aren't supposed to...this is more like something you listen to when you need to just tune out and chill, and I can dig that.

100 pressed on white with pink splatter vinyl.

Electric Flower Circus

After a 12 inch EP and a string of 7 inch records that, Give seemed like they could do no wrong. They played with honesty and integrity, had a sound that felt like they could have been on Dischord records back in the late 80's alongside Gray Matter and Soulside, and yet they still remained unique and had their own identity. In the current scene, there is no one like Give.

With their first full length album, and a release on Revelation Records on the horison, I eagerly awaited what the band had to offer.

Now as much as I love Give, I've always been a bit slow to warm up to their stuff. Sure, I like the Electric Flower Circus LP, and as much as I want to lose my mind over this record, it ain't happening. I love the aesthetic...I love the sound...but as a whole the album feel like it comes up a little short for me. See me in 6 months, and my opinion might be different.

I do love the personal touch with the note from the band.

Bats In The Belfry

After Christmas, it seemed like eBay was a ghost town. All the records that I was watching with the thought of "I'll take it if I can get it for a good price", were just falling into my lap. No one else was bidding, and the deals were too good to pass up. I'd already spent a lot more money than I'd wanted to this month, but then I saw Overkill's ReliXIV album on vinyl with a low starting bid...once again, I'd found myself as the only bidder.

Overkill are one of my favorite Metal bands of all time. They first released their Power In Black demo in 1983, and here they are, over thirty years later, still putting out consistently impressive albums. How many bands can you name that have that strong of a track record? Impressive as fuck.

As much as I love Overkill, my record collection for them is pathetic. I hope to remedy this over the coming year, and the first step is with their 2005 album, ReliXIV. While this album did get the vinyl reissue treatment in 2013, I made sure that I grabbed the original first press that was on some label out of Sweden. Vinyl obviously wasn't a hot commodity back in 2005, but I'm impressed to see that someone still cared enough to release it on wax.

Siren Song

It was probably about 9 or 10 years ago, when I first started going to my friend Jeff's house, and checking out his record collection. Up until that point, I'd only been familiar with the Combat Records pressing of the Sirens album from Savatage...yeah, the one with the little kids creeping towards you brandishing weapons. When Jeff pulled out the first pressing on Par Records with the blue cover, my jaw hit the floor. What was this?!?

I desperately wanted a copy, but when I checked the regular going rate on eBay, I was immediately dismayed as the price was way to rich for my blood. At the time, I had no idea that there was a market for Metal vinyl, and was surprised to find that the record was typically selling around the $100 dollar mark, and if you wanted the colored vinyl press, you could expect to pay three times that. Disappointed, I resigned to the fact that it was unlikely that I was ever going to own a Par Records pressing.

Fast forward to this month, and while I did a decent job at limiting my spending for the past month or so, I quickly lost control once the Christmas and New Year holidays were behind us. It started with a couple of really cheap records, and it just snowballed from there. When I found the Sirens LP on eBay with a reasonable starting price, I couldn't resist the urge to throw in a bid. Everyone else had their eyes on another copy of the album that was listed at a lower starting price from a different seller, and I ended up winning with the only bid...and while I still paid a very fair price for mine, that other recorded ended in a bidding war and sold for a higher price. Good deal.

Armored Saint EP

The first Armored Saint EP is another record that I've been after for a while now. I'd find myself hot to chase it, but then for one reason or another, I'd let the eBay auction end without bidding. It's not like these are hard to come by, and I've always figured that I could pick one up at any time. With no one bothering to fight with me over this eBay auction, I figured that now was a good time to pick it up for cheap.

Metal Blade reissued this EP back in 2012 with a couple of bonus songs from the original recording session. While it was tempting to grab a copy on the great looking red vinyl, there was no doubt that I needed the original 12 inch pressing. Three songs here...with Lesson Well Learned showing up on the Metal Massacre II comp, False Alarm ended up on the March Of The Saint LP, and On The Way, which only shows up here. I'd never heard this exclusive track before, so it made my day to discover this hidden gem. I do love me some early Armored Saint.

To top things off, I just found out that Armored Saint will be playing in Massachusetts with Saxon this May. You are goddamn right, I want to go.

Eternal Champion For Metal

A while back, Marcus was asking about bands that have a sound similar to Stone Dagger. While he isn't a Metalhead, even he couldn't resist how good that 7 inch is...like most of us, those two songs weren't nearly enough, and he was craving more. In an effort to steer him in the right direction, Doug made a few suggestions. One of those bands was Eternal Champion.

Doug has mentioned Eternal Champion to me in the past, but other than a quick listen on bandcamp, I didn't pay much attention. Still, the guy would not stop talking about them, and I finally broke down under his never ending praise, and sat down to really see what they were about. Damn. I don't know why I drag my feet on some of his Metal recommendations, because he always ends up being right. Eternal Champion are straight up old school Metal, and I was surprised to find that Jason Tarpey of Far From Breaking/Iron Age sings for this band. Man, he has come a long way from those youth crew Straight Edge days. He grabbed one of the Iron Age guitarists, threw in a few other musicians, and deliver these two great songs. Give me more.

While there were 800 pieces of black vinyl pressed for this 7 inch, I was surprised to find it was sold out at each distro that I checked. I started to panic, but was relieved to find a seller had one available over at discogs.

Don't Want No Rich Fat Daddy

I never really set out to collect Raven. The albums were obviously essential, but the early singles were never on my radar. When I bought the Crash Bang Wallop 12 inch, all that changed.

I was first made aware of Raven's first 7 inch, Don't Need Your Money, through the Living Fast debut, where Ryan Waste interviews John Gallagher. During their conversation, they mention these early recordings, and Ryan flashes a copy of the record cover. I'd never done any homework on the early Raven vinyl releases, and this was the first time I'd known this record existed. That record cover looked so cool, and primitive with it's black and white photo and white lettering. It seemed almost...ummm...Hardcore, and I knew then that I wanted a copy. The problem was that since it was an early Neat Records release, and carried huge historical significance from those early days of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, well, I just assumed that it was rare and an expensive record, and I didn't pursue it.

Fast forward to this month, when I'm digging around on Discogs for pressing info on the Crash Bang Wallop record, and I discover that those early Raven singles actually sell for dirt cheap. At that point, I'm all in, and I go on a buying spree grabbing whatever is available.

Unlike the Don't Need Your Money 7 inch, the Hard Ride single is boring as fuck to look at. Damn, someone didn't want to put much effort into the design of this one. Oh well, for five dollars, I'm not going to let it pass me by, and I added it to the collection.

My final impulse buy was the Break The Chain 7 inch from 1983. I don't know man, Metal 7 inches are fucking cool. I've always just focused on the band's albums, and never given much thought to the singles, but owning these three records shines a whole new light on everything.

NEAT06, NEAT11, and NEAT28.

Okay Neat, what other trouble can we get up to.

Streets Run Red

Apparently the first pressing for the new Battle Ruins LP came and went without me knowing. By the time I was aware that the album was out, the record was already commanding big money, and the label was putting up preorders for the "second and final pressing".

To be honest, I wasn't that excited for the record when I first heard it. Meh...it didn't do much for me, and I wasn't too concerned about settling for the second press. As we moved into January this year, I finally started to really pay attention to this album...the more I listened to it, the more I liked it. Now I'm at the point where I want to listen to this everyday.

RnR Disgrace Records do not mess around. When preorders were posted for the red vinyl they posted a disclaimer that if you wanted to be a cunt, and complain about how long it takes you to get your record, they would gladly refund your money and ban you from ever buying from them again. Damn!

500 pressed on red vinyl.

Mark Of The Squealer

A few years ago, I started keeping a mental list of records that I was hoping to score each year. It was pretty loose, and was basically just a handful of records that were important, but for one reason or another, I'd just never buckled down and seriously chased one. You know me...I get distracted easily, so I hoped that making this "list" would help me focus and get serious about adding certain records to the collection. This year, I decided to make that list a bit more solid, and publish it here in the sidebar of this blog. Now, the goal isn't to purchase all of these by the years end, but to at least hopefully keep me focused on crossing off some big records from my list.

Leeway's Born To Expire has been on that list since I first started mentally putting it together...in fact, it was one of the major reasons that I started making this list in the first place. For the past few years, each January would come around and I'd set a resolution for myself...this year I'm committed to finally buying a copy...and then before I'd know it, we be in December, and I'd still be sitting there without one.

With the start of 2015, and reviewing my Want List, once again I found myself committing to acquire a copy of Born To Expire. Enough of this shit. I immediately hit eBay and I found a copy that wasn't beat to shit, or with cut corners. Unbelievably, I was the only bidder with a $30 starting price. Mission finally accomplished.

Non-Stop Feeling

There was a lot of hype for the new Turnstile album. While I was initially disappointed with the band's last record, Step 2 Rhythm, it eventually grew on me in a big way. Would I experience that same kind of disappointment with the new record? Would Turnstile be able to carry that energy level across an entire LP? While I was looking forward to Non-Stop Feeling, I was still hesitant to set expectations very high.

With the new album, Turnstile continue their tradition of having the worst covers art in recent Hardcore history. Ugh...I'm not feeling it at all. No pun intended. Once we get past the cover though, all is forgiven, as Turnstile deliver the goods. The songs jump off the vinyl, and soon I'm bouncing along. As I'm listening, I can't help but draw vocal comparisons to Zach de La Rocha from Inside Out...hell, even the opening riff to Fazed Out kind of reminds me of a Rage Against The Machine song. Considering how hesitant I was going into this, I'm surprised at how much I'm loving it. Record of the year so far.

While I'm not impressed with the front cover, I do dig everything else about the packaging for this LP. The back cover looks great, the poster conveys the energy that band brings to the stage, and the lyric booklet is pretty sweet.

There was a time when I would have ordered every available vinyl option for this record, but for this LP, I only ordered the one copy. I limited myself this time around for a couple of reasons. First of all, I didn't want to repeat the experience I had with the Take Offense record from the year before, when I spent a ton of money on multiple copies, and then album ended up being a disappointment. One copy of that record would have been sufficient.

The main reason that I only ordered one copy was that I was fed up and disgusted. Record collecting is fun, but I've started to feel taken advantage of when labels churn out an endless supply of limited colored vinyl pressings. Reaper gave us three new pressing each of the two Turnstile 7 inches at the start of 2014, and I bought one of each...six new pieces of vinyl. Then as we approached the end of the year, the label was back with four more pressings of each EP...throw in shipping and I'm looking at another $50 to try and keep up...and then on top of that, we get five different pressing for the Non-Stop Feeling LP? Fuck off. It isn't fun anymore. If the reason that labels like Reaper keep flooding the market with different pressings is because people keep buying them, then I'm not participating.

300 pressed on black vinyl.