Pummeled Again

For someone that claims to no longer play the game of buying multiple copies of records, I've certainly been buying multiple copies for a lot of records. I don't know if it is because I've recently been obsessed with newer hardcore bands or what, but it has been fun picking up some additional copies of some of my favorite records from the past couple of years.

Pummel are a newer hardcore band that flies the Boston Hardcore flag. Given the band name and that horrible cover art for their 7 inch, I would have normally ignored them... however, they were playing the Vantage Point record release show that I went to back in January last year, and after checking out thier live set I was impressed enough to pick up their record from Atomic Action. This record really grew on me, and it quickly became one of my favorites last year. With four songs clocking in under ten minutes made it real easy to throw the record on for a quick blast.

I've been itching to pick up the blue vinyl pressing for a while now, and being in the Atomic Action webstore for the Chain Reaction record recently, gave me the push that I needed. 400 pressed.

Chain Reaction

Chain Reaction feature guys from big name Belgian bands like Congress and Rise And Fall, so there was some hype for this band right out of the gates. I honestly have never heard either of those bands, so it didn't really do anything to draw me in initially. There was a bit of attention being given to the new Chain Reaction record on Instagram, and since I was down to check out some new hardcore, I decided to give them a shot.

Chain Reaction play some straight foward aggressive hardcore. It's funny...I'm not really drawn to listen to this record, but when I do I really dig it... and the video for Power Corrupts is kind of cool too.

Atomic Action in the US was selling the purple vinyl pressing for the Figurehead 12 inch so a grabbed a copy. Good stuff.

Doomed To Consume

That 7 inch from Rule Them All quickly became one of my favorite new records. I listened to that thing a ton in 2020, and while I try to avoid buying multiple copies of records these days, when Flatspot announced a second pressing of Dreams About, I couldn't resist. This band rules so much, and the collector bug has hit hard, and I want every fucking thing that the band has put out.

For the second pressing, Flatspot Records released an addition with a special cover that was limited to 50. Oh hell yes. I wasn't really excited about the splatter vinyl, but I was totally onboard with that limited cover.

For the second pressing, Flatspot changed up the regular cover as well, switching it from the blue on yellow to yellow on blue. Another nice touch. Thankfully we get a nice transparent red for the vinyl and not another shitty pattern. This is what I like to see. 400 pressed on red.

After picking up the two second pressing records, I had to backtrack and scoop up the purple vinyl from the first press. It was obviously sold out in the webstore, but I was able to get my hands on a cheap copy through Discogs. The postal service has been shit lately, so it literally took a month to make it up the east coast. To be honest, I'm not a fan of the purple vinyl either... I mean, who the hell picks these colors...why not a regular transparent blue for christsake... but like I said, I love this record too much to not want to buy them all. 400 on purple.

Infinite Purple

I've never really spent any time with the newer Deep Purple albums... and by "newer", I mean "the past thirty years"... however, when the band released Whoosh! last year, I decided to give it a shot. I'd been riding a Deep Purple wave through most of 2020, and was unexpectedly interested in checking out their newest release. I was surprised with how much I liked the album, and it eventually pushed me to check out some of the other Purple albums that were released after 1990.

One of the newer Deep Purple albums that caught my eye was their 2017 release, Infinite. That album cover is stunning. I love the concept incorporating the DP into the infinite symbol, plus the colors and cover artwork look great.

For a modern Deep Purple album, I really like Infinite. It is pointless to try and make comprisons to the classic Purple years, but when I want to listen to something a bit different from the band, newer albums like this really hit the spot. Ian Gillan was in his 70's when this album was recorded, and it puts a smile on my face to hear the guy still belting out fun rock songs like these.

Hallows AFI

Some people really love AFI, but I've always kind of been lukewarm on the band. I enjoy some of their stuff, but I've never really taken to them the way some people have. I tuned into them sporadically in the late 90's when tough guy shit started to take over the hardcore scene, but the band never hooked me the way that bands like Good Riddance and Bouncing Souls did at the time. I still have downloads for the early AFI stuff, and when I was going through my playlist for records that came out in the year 2000, I queued up their Art Of Drowning album, and surprisingly I was digging it. As I usually do when I'm listening to something that I'm enjoying at the time, I immediately started checking out vinyl options.

I seemed to remember at some point that Newbury Comics might have done some exclusive pressing for some AFI stuff, so my first move was to check out their online store. Surprisingly the 2019 Newbury pressing for The Art Of Drowning was already sold out, and listed on Discogs for stupid prices. Having missed out on taht one, I happened to notice a colored vinyl option for the All Hallows EP was available through Newbury Comics, and given the cheap price for the 10 inch, I figured "what the hell" and bought it.

While it was sold by Newbury Comics, I don't think it is one of their exclusive pressings. Either way, this is a cool little EP...with three original songs and a great Misfits cover. It is just long enough to keep me entertained, and not get bored with the style. Good stuff when I want to listen to something a little different.

2,000 Posts And Years Of Decay

Two thousand posts! It blows my mind to think that I've posted here 2,000 times. When I started this blog 15 years ago, it was just something to kill time and feed my record collecting obsession. I never had grand plans or goals, so to be sitting here typing out a milestone post like this and thinking about the hours and years that I've spent taking pictures and trying to come up with clever (and usually not so clever) things to say...it is kind of mind boggling. Time truly flies and I'm glad that I have this online document that tracks my years of collecting.

When I first noticed that I was approaching the 2,000 mark back at the end of November, I immediately started planning which record I should buy to celebrate the occasion. It was a tough choice, and since I'm never topping my 1,000th post, I decided to go with a record where the title would be a fun play on words for what I've put into this blog. The Years Of Decay.

I've been after the fourth Overkill album, The Years Of Decay, for years. Released in 1989, I didn't think that it would be too difficult to get my hands on a copy, but the task has proven to be tougher than I expected. Strangely, there are very few US sellers for this album, and if someone is selling it from the States, they have it listed at a ridiculous price or it is a cut out. After waiting a couple of years with this on my Discogs want list, I finally decided to focus on a Euro pressing where the prices were a bit lower and there were more options from sellers. Given how much I've wanted this record, and for how long I've been looking for one, it feels good to finally get my hands on one.

I ordered this record back in November, and it legit took two months to land in my mailbox. The postal service has been incredibly slow with the holidays, and I was starting to wonder if this was going to arrive in time. Fear that this record may not arrive pushed me to seek alternate records to fit the 2,000 post title, so I had ordered some back up records just in case The Years Of Decay fell through. Thankfully it finally got here, and was able to proceed as planned.

Four Year Circus

Good riddance Trump. We are done with your antics, hostility and arrogance. You managed to make every concern that I had when you first became president come true, so thanks for living up to my expectations. It is such a relief to not have to worry about what insane will come out of your mouth going forward, and if we are lucky, maybe today was the last time I had to argue with my dad on Facebook about supporting this fucker. While I don't belive that Biden will magically fix the systematic failures in America, the future is definitely brighter.

I was recently on Instagram and saw that someone posted a 25th anniversary pressing of the first Good Riddance album. The colored vinyl and silver foil for the band name on the cover looked amazing and I immediately started searching online for more info and where I could get my hands on one. I don't keep up with Fat Wreck releases and reissues so I was happy to find that they still had some in stock in their webstore, and I quickly grabbed one.

I'm not a big collector for Good Riddance records but there was a time when they were my favorite band, so I'm really happy to add this record to the collection. I don't really spend a lot of time with For God And Country these days, so this is a good reminder to listen to it more often.

Flesh And Blood And Records

I was stuck in a Whitesnake obsession for most of 2020. There was a lot of depressing shit going on and Coverdale and the band provided the levity that I needed to not lose my fucking mind. While my interest in the band tends to focus on everything up to Slide It In, I did find myself giving some of later stuff a chance. It isn't nearly as good as the earlier stuff, but surprisingly, I don't find it to be terrible either. I had downloaded their latest album from 2019, Flesh & Blood, but I'd never really been hot enough on the record to pick it up myself.

As we were getting closer to Christmas, my mom asked if there were any records that she could buy me for a gift. While this used to be an easy question to answer, it isn't so simple these days. It's not like I can go, "yeah, I'd really like the silver label Megaforce Records pressing of the first Anthrax album." I can't just point her to Discogs or eBay because that would probably cause her head to explode, so I played it safe, and sent her a link to Amazon for this Whitesnake album.

While this record isn't going to blow your mind, and it can be cringeworthy with song titles like Shut Up & Kiss Me and Hey You (You Make Me Rock), I'm not too serious about it and I can still get down and have a good time with this album. I'm glad that I didn't have to buy it, but I'm still happy to have it in the collection.

Tape Heads

I really have no use for cassette tapes these days. As a kid, cassettes were huge for me until CDs came along, and I still get a kick out of flipping through the box of old tapes that I still have, but buying new tapes doesn't make any sense to me.

When React Records released the For My Brothers tape from Ancient Heads back in 2013, I ignored it. Ugh...fucking tapes...I grabbed a download of the songs and that was good enough for me. A few years after its release, I really looked at the cover photo for this cassette... holy shit... that is me in the black No Tolerance t-shirt... goddamn, now I'm going to have to own a copy!

I finally got around to grabbing a cheap copy off Discogs last summer, but since it is a tape, I kind of tossed it in a corner and forgot about it. When I recently uncovered it from a pile of records recently, I figured that it was time to post it up on the blog. Shame that these songs only saw a cassette release as they may be the best Ancient Head songs.

Paint By Numbers

Triple B must know my weakness for alternate covers. I try to avoid buying multiple copies of records, but reissues with artwork variations are sometimes too tempting to resist.

I really liked the One Step Closer 12 inch from last year. I've seen them play live a few times, and each time, they left me feeling excited about hardcore. Now that I think about it, One Step Closer is probably the band that I've seen live more than any other over the past few years... it wasn't planned, but they just happened to be on the bill for the few hardcore shows I made it out to.

For the fourth pressing, Triple B changed the cover to a paint-by-numbers variation. I think it is a cool and different...although since I've seen this One Step Closer cover, I guess that Chubby and the Gang did the same kind of thing with their recent reissue. Not sure who had the idea first.

I love the colorway for this pressing. 200 pressed for this tri-stripe color.

I already had the original blue cover, and the tan variant, so I obviously needed this latest cover as well. Looking forward to the new album later this year!

To Whatever Alternate Cover

While I don't many moves to collect multiple colored vinyl pressings these days, I do seem to be a sucker for pressings that use an alternate cover.

I absolutely love the Magnitude album that Triple B released back in 2019. It really draws from the 90's straight edge hardcore sound, and I can't get enough of that shit. I already owned a first pressing of the To Whatever Fateful End record, and I thought that it would be enough for me...but when Triple B dropped the third press this year, swapping out the blue cover with green, goddamn, they certainly had my attention. While I wasn't originally a fan of the front cover art because I thought it looked too "metalcore", I've really grown to love it, and the new green coloring looks fucking great. I managed to go a couple of months of repeatedly adding it to my cart and then deleting it before I finally just said "fuck it" and I bought the damn thing.

500 pressed on the green and white colored vinyl with the green cover.

Second Vantage Point Pressing

Back when I was picking up that Speedway 7 inch from Triple B, I couldn't resist the urge to pick up a couple newer pressings for some of the label's other releases. I really try to limit my involvement in the game of buying multiple pressings, but sometimes I can't resist.

The Vantage Point EP that Triple B released at the end of 2019 was one of my favorite 7 inches that year. Four songs in just over eight minutes, and it just rips with hardcore aggression. This band makes me excited for hardcore.

Having already picked up the first press on red vinyl, plus the record release pressing, I felt like I might as well pick up the latest press...it is Triple B, so of course it is on splatter vinyl. 500 pressed.

Where Snipers Come From

I spent the majority of my hardcore years kind of ambivalent about Naked Raygun. I thought a couple of their songs were good, but I would lose interest if I tried to spin a full album. It wasn't until I was in my 40's that it finally clicked. Naked Raygun didn't fit the standard blueprint for hardcore punk music as I knew it. They were doing their own thing, and unfortunately it took me way too long to finally understand it.

I spent a lot of time during the last couple months of 2020 listening to Naked Raygun. I'm not sure what it was exactly. Trump lost the election, and even though his fanatic fanbase is still a concern, it still felt a rock had been lifted off my chest and I could breathe again. It felt like it was time to celebrate...and the Naked Raygun albums just fit that mood perfectly. I listened to them daily...over and over again.

As much as I love Naked Raygun, Throb Throb was the only record that I actually owned from them. As I was going through my obsession over their albums, I found a copy of Understand available for a good price on Discogs and quickly added it to my cart. One of my favorites from the band.

Records In 2020: A Truth We Still Believe

To say that 2020 was a weird year would be a fucking understatement. While I fully understand the impact to people's lives during the COVID-19 pandemic, and acknowledge that some people struggled hard during these times... for myself, the quarantine life was a nice change of pace. I was lucky enough to be able to work from home, and during a year of serious political turmoil with a full-on Trumpster fire in the White House, I was quite content to not be around people.

When all was said and done, I added 191 new records to the collection these past twelve months. I came out strong with 19 posts last January, and while I continually had a backlog of records to post up on this blog, I don't think that I ever really fell into a hole like previous years. December is usually a mad scramble to get things posted up here, but this year, I didn't have that same problem. Let's see if I can keep this consistency going in 2021.

I was all over the map with what I was chasing this past year. Don't get me wrong, it was a ton of fun being totally random, but looking back at those twelve months, I'm not sure that I really accomplished much when it came to adding some crucial classics to my collection. I loved chasing those Japanese singles for MTV hits, but it probably kept me from focusing on something more important. Either way, I picked up some cool shit, so here are five of my favorites.

1. One King Down 'Bloodlust Revenge' first press - Holy shit. This One King Down record may have been my favorite thing that I listened to all year. I've always liked Bloodlust Revenge, but I hadn't really listened to it for a number of years. I gave it a casual spin earlier this year, and it hit me hard. I listened to it again and again and again, and was very happy to pick up the first press on colored vinyl.

2. Vantage Point 'An Answer You Won't Find' record release - The Vantage Point record release was the last show that I went to in 2020. It had been a long time since I'd gotten myself out the door and on the road to a hardcore show. I've come to really hate driving and parking in Boston, so I've missed out on a ton of shows over the last five years or so. It felt great to be back in a small room and watching live bands play again while kids jumped all over each other. Fuck. I'd missed this. Every band playing that show was great, and I committed myself to getting out more often...and then COVID shut everything down. Buying this record release cover felt special.

3. AC/DC 'High Voltage' Aussie first press - I was able to grab a few really cool AC/DC records this past year, but an Australian first press of their first record felt like a real accomplishment. Adding this one to the collection means that I now have the first four AC/DC albums covered.

4. Foundation record release and tour press - I don't really consider myself a collector of Foundation records, and yet I keep finding myself buying them now and then. The two that I picked up this year were grabbed on a whim, and when they arrived I was in awe over how fucking cool they looked.

5. Scorpions Japanese pressings - I obsessed over Japanese pressings this year, and picking up three Scorpions records with the OBI felt pretty cool. I had always been content with Scorpions records that were cheap and common, but these Japanese pressings changed my outlook on collecting this band. I definitely want more, and hope to grab a few more in 2021.

Back in 2019, my desire to search out newer hardcore bands was reignited, and I chased that feeling all through 2020. While not as strong as the previous year, 2020 still delivered some great hardcore records. The new Ecostrike easily took the top spot in my Top 10, and I couldn't get enough of their 90's straight edge hardcore vibe. I probably listened to the new As Friends Rust more than anything, but with only two songs, I could only go as high as the number two spot...I really hope the band has more to give. Surprises of the year go to Chubby & The Gang as well as the new Higher Power record...both of them kept getting better and better with each listen. Add in a few other hardcore gems, and it wasn't a bad year at all.

Thing were pretty cool with metal bands as well. Nothing was going to beat the new Testament record this year and I still get a charge listening to it. Blood Star came out of nowhere and were one of the few surprises...even their digital EP with Dokken and Uriah Heep covers was a blast...I can't wait for their full length in 2021. Considering that I never bothered with the last Midnight album, I was surprised with how much I liked this new one. Even older bands like AC/DC, Cirith Ungol and Deep Purple still manage to keep things exciting for me. Solid stuff.

For a fucked up year, finding new bands and checking out new records brought a bit of normalcy to everything. Who knows where things will go for 2021, but whatever happens, I'll still be here talking to myself. If anyone else is still listening, I consider it a bonus, and I thank you for hanging out and following along with this nonsense.

Don't Sleep With Revelation

It has been a long time since I've been interested in a Dave Smalley band. When I was fresh into hardcore during the early 90's, I loved the triple D's...I'm talking about DYS, Dag Nasty and Down By Law, you pervert! Eventually, the Down By Law records started to lose their punch and I stopped paying attention...and there is no need to speak of that DYS reunion song. When Smalley got a new band together with Don't Sleep and released an EP a few years ago, I wasn't interested and stayed away. I'm not sure what sparked my interest when I saw that the band released a new album in 2020, but I must have been caught on a off day from being old and jaded, and I give the songs a spin on Spotify. Not bad...not bad at all. Surprisingly I was kind of digging some of the album, but I still wasn't sure if I wanted to fork over the money for the vinyl.

When I saw that Marcus posted about the album a few weeks ago, I decided to revisit it and see if it really interested me or if my initial reaction was just a passing whim. Damn, some of these songs are too much fun to ignore, and I've got to move and sing along. I gave the album a few more spins and then finally decided to grab a copy before the end of the year.

I ended up grabbing a copy from the REVHQ store on Discogs. They had listed it with a cheap price because of a "crushed corner". I exchanged a couple messages with them and determined that it really wasn't that badly damaged, so I bought it. REV had it listed as the yellow vinyl which was a REVHQ exclusive, but when it arrived, the vinyl is definitely more orange than yellow. Is it really the "canary yellow and red apple" pressing and they listed it wrong, or is it some transition color that REV is famous for with their greens and greys? I honestly have no idea, but it is still a fun record, so I'm happy to have one.

Mil-House

At some point last year, someone recommended that I check out Mil-Spec. I listened to two songs, shrugged my shoulders and moved on. It didn't do anything for me, but to be honest, I didn't like the band name, so I had already written them off before I'd even started to play that first song. When the band was due to release a full length album this year, I decided that maybe it was time to give them a chance with a more open mind.

This record clicked with me right away. I'm obviously going to have to go back and check out the songs from the 7 inch again, because this album is really good. Of course I was a little slow to check out this record, so by the time I went to buy a copy, there was only black vinyl left. That wasn't going to cut it for me, and I figured that I'd playing the waiting game over on Discogs and pay a stupid price for the cream colored vinyl. Therefore, I was thankful when Marcus gave me the heads up that Lockin' Out had added a few more copies of the colored vinyl to their webstore, and I didn't hesitate to grab one.

327 pressed on cream colored vinyl.

Nights Of The Dead

One of the last big concerts that I went to, before Covid shut everything down, was Iron Maiden's Legacy Of The Beast tour. That show was so much fun. The setlist was fantastic and the stageshow was amazing. Damn. I miss shows. We are talking about Iron Maiden, so of course they released a live album to document the tour.

Honestly, I'm not sure that we needed another live Maiden album...I think this is number nine in their discography... but since I had such a great time seeing this tour live in Massachusetts last year, of course I was excited to pick up the album release... and really... it's Iron Maiden, so I was obviously going to buy it. I'm not a fan of the Eddie cover artwork, but I can't say enough good things about the packaging for this live album.

The thing that made this tour so special was the track listing. To hear some deep tracks... like The Clansman, Sign Of The Cross, and For The Greater Good Of God... as well as some older classics that haven't been in the setlist for a long time... like Flight Of Icarus, Where Eagles Dare and Revelations... this setlist was entertaining as hell.

The live photos on the inside of the triple gatefold look great.

Got to have all the tour dates listed so that I can find the one show that I went to.

The dust sleeves show the three themes that Maiden used for this tour, War, Religion and Hell. Each theme had songs that fit the subject matter and with a stage set that matched. Each theme gets its own slab of colored vinyl and the dust sleeve has cool writing about the songs and what was happing on stage at the time. These details take the packaging here to the next level. Quality.

Goddamn you, Iron Maiden, for forcing me to buy from Walmart.

Triple B Speedway

Triple B was huge for me in 2019. I was introduced to so many great bands through that label last year, but as we started to close out 2020, I felt like they really fell short compared to the year before. Sure, they released a couple of great records this year, but overall, there was a bunch of stuff from them that I just didn't care about. Still, I try to check out most of what they release to see if it catches my attention, and when I was in their webstore recently, wringing my hands over if I should buy a couple of repressings, I saw the Speedway record and I decided to check out the songs.

Triple B lists Speedway as "premier Swedish hardcore". I wasn't sure what made them "premier", but I figured that I'd check them out. Initially I thought the songs were okay...not great, but still good enough that I threw the 7 inch in my cart when I was picking up some other records from the label. But the more I sit with these songs, the more I dig them...and the video for Endless Stride really made me sit up and pay attention. I don't know...there is just something about young bands that play hardcore with passion...that shit still moves me.

I was way too late to get the limited pressing, but Triple B still had the purple vinyl in stock, so I grabbed that one. 400 pressed.

Triple B was running a special over Black Friday where all orders get a free flexi of the latest Mindforce song, Reign Of Terror. Flexis are kind of dumb, but this song is great, so I was glad to pick one up.

Virtual XI Japan Tour

Iron Maiden have a ridiculous amount of live albums, and yet I still find myself chasing the occasional bootleg because, apparently I need more of them. I've been seeing a few live bootlegs posted on Instagram recently, and it has really fueled my need to acquire another one. When I saw something from Maiden show up in the Hells Headbangers webstore, I jumped on it.

While Iron Maiden might have around nine live albums, there has been nothing officially released for the Blaze Bayley years. Those five years of the band's history were a dark time, and some fans can't hang with the Blaze albums. I happen to love the raw and dark feel of them, so when I saw Hells Headbangers was carrying a live bootleg from the '98 Virtual XI Japan tour, I was excited to get my hands on it.

I've heard countless times about how weak Blaze Bayley was singing live for Maiden, so I was curious to hear how painful this live set was going to sound. Well, fuck all that because this shit is great. The setlist contains eight songs from the Blaze albums, so it is really cool to hear those songs live, and while I thought that Blaze might be a bit shaky on some of the Dickinson-era songs like Heaven Can Wait, he does the job well.

I love that Maiden haven't completely disowned those two Blaze albums, and will occasionally bring a Blaze song into their current setlist, but man, this full live album from '98 is a real treat to hear.

Dream Evil RSD

A couple years ago, the Dio camp started releasing a picture disc single for each Record Store Day. At this point, I was four singles deep, so when it was announced that the fifth in the series was going to be released for the Black Friday RSD, I knew that I was going to have to chase it down.

Not wanting to deal with any crowds, or end up waiting outside if the store was over capacity, I casually did a drive-by of the store on the afternoon Black Friday. It looked quiet, so I pulled in to check it out. No crowds...no lines...I was in and out in less than five minutes, and the latest Dio single, Dream Evil, was mine.

Like the other Dio picture disc singles, this isn't giving us any wild unheard tracks. All we get here are two live tracks from Donington '87, which coincidently was the same show the Metallica songs were taken from for their recent 7 inch that I posted the other day. Funny how that worked out...completely unplanned.

I really wish that they would stop using this "first time on vinyl" bullshit. These two songs have been released before...you know, on the Dio At Donington album that was released in 2011. I'm going to buy this stupid single anyway, so you don't need to try and suck me in with some marketing scam.