Slayer-Reign in blood Demos LP

It goes without saying that the majority of people I know into metal or hardcore (but were into metal first) would rate 'Reign in blood' as one of their all time favourite albums ever. I know I do. It's 25 years since I first heard it and it still does and always will reside in my top 5 list. To say it was a landmark in heavy music is a gross understatement. Anyway I really could spend all week going on about why it is so great so I'll just get to this newly unleashed bootleg of demos or rehearsals (which is what they sound more like) from the 'Reign in blood' sessions. Without the polish and big production the album has (which is a crucial factor in why it is such a classic and sounds so fresh and heavy after all this time)these songs taken out of that comfort zone are raw, more vicous sounding and frankly feel more dangerous. Like a rabid dog off a leash that will attack you at any second. Some of the tracks are without vocals and there's some extra stuff on at the end. Like most bootlegs you have to crank up the volume to get the best impact. For die hard Slayer fans this is recommended but there are only 100 copies of these I believe and a couple have gone for a bit on good ol' ebay. As you you can see it's on a marble red-ish colour but should have been just a clear red vinyl. That's the only way to release Slayer records as far as I'm concerned.

Anthrax-One last drop/Welcome 7"

I picked this self released 7" up mainly because it's a benefit for the legendary 1 in 12 Club in Bradford, Yorkshire. I've had many great nights there, seen many great bands and made some great friends over the last 20 odd years. It's in a bit of Financial trouble at the moment so lots of people are pooling together and trying to raise enough money to pull them out of the shit. Go to www.1in12club.com for more details. I, like many people would be gutted to see it closed.

IRON CHIC- Shitty Rambo 7" Red

There were two bands that I discovered last year that got played constantly on the Ipod and the stereo. They were Crusades and Iron Chic. It's funny thinking back because I don't know what made me check them out initially. They're both pretty different to a lot of the stuff I listen to but I am getting more and more broad minded with music as I get older anyway. So this is the first Iron Chic 7". I missed it when it came out but Dead broke rekids had some that they unearthed so I jumped on a copy. Mine's on red vinyl. Apparently it's from the 2nd press and there are 333 of them. As with everything else they've done, these 4 tunes are just totally rocking and extremely infectious. It's like the best bits of Samian, Seaweed etc combined. Just fucking awesome!!!!!

Ceremony-Covers 12"

2010's 'Rhonert park' was a huge surprise for me because not only was it a change of musical direction for the band it also became one of my most played things of that year. Actually it shouldn't have been that surprising really as I saw the band the previous year and they were playing a lot of that stuff anyway but I had forgotten all about that just before the record came out. Following on where they left off this one sided 12" of covers features songs previously played by the likes of Crisis, Urban waste, Eddie and the subtitles and more. Normally the idea of a record of just cover versions wouldn't excite me but this really does hit the spot. The etched vinyl looks superb too. What I would have liked more though is if they had included a cover of a full on thrash /power violence band like Infest or crossed out or someone similar- you know, to give us a reminder of what they used to be like.

EXANTHEMA/CHRONIC DECAY - Split MLP

I've been listening to and buying a lot more metal stuff than usual lately which I don't know is a good thing or not really. I've always had a soft spot for metal but I was always more of a thrasher than a death metal head as that was what I was mainly into in the 80's before I got into hardcore. I did dig a fair bit of Death metal in the early 90's like Morbid angel , Carcass and especially Swedish stuff like Entombed and Dismember. The Swedes had their own distinctive style that differed from the rest of the world therefore Swedish Death metal became a genre of it's own. This split 12" was previously released on CD back in the day but thanks to me saco un ojo records, it's now out finally on wax. As you can see in the pic there is a limited clear version available as well as the standard black. This is good ripping shit but I'm not sure that my neighbours seem to like it though. Damn students anyway, who cares!!!!!

Integrity/Rot in hell-split 7"

At least two of my other blogger buddies have done (most likely better) posts about this release so all I'll say is this my test pressing from Thirty days of night arrived yesterday so now I have a complete set (if you exclude the test press that Dwid knocked up) so here's a family photo. Pressing info is 100 on black, 100 on white, 500 on the blue/green mix and just 5 of these test pressings (mine's numbered 5/5). If anyone wants a Blue/Green one then hit me up. I have one for sale or trade. It's totally sold out from the label.

Speedwolf-Ride with death LP

I'm digging a bit of the recent stuff that Hells Headbangers are releasing-Nekrofilth, Midnight and now this. Described as 'Lycanthropic Metal Punk' you can imagine there's a big Motorhead worship thing going on. It may not be exactly original but it is rocking stuff. HH have put out a quality package-housed in a embossed gatefold sleeve with a nice poster. All copies are on black vinyl which is a shame. An extremely limited number on colour would have rounded it off perfectly.

Midnight-Satanic royalty LP Updated

Recently I purchased the Midnight LP on dark blue coloured vinyl. It was so great, like any self respecting record collector geek I decided to pick up more copies, one on silver vinyl and the other on picture disc. Here's a snapshot of the boys together.

Antisect-Tour 10"

When I first heard about Antisect reforming and playing again I thought it was weird. After all, they're not all vegetarian anymore so it seemed a bit phoney to me especially since some of their lyrics were about animal rights and stuff. I heard there was going be a self released 10" made up and sold only at their upcoming shows. I wanted one being a nerd and all and to complete the collection but wasn't too bothered about actually going to see them. Then something cropped up and I couldn't make the Liverpool show anyway. Thankfully My mate, Lee was at the show and agreed to grab one for me. (By accounts, they were very disapointing live.)
The first track '4 minutes past midnight' is previously unreleased and was recorderd back in 1982. On the flip side is a re-recording of the 1985 classic 'Out From The Void ' and it still sounds good. Antisect definately were one of the best from that early 80's anarcho punk scene (better than Crass-who musically, were fairly overrated) and definately influencial to a lot of bands. I'm not sure how many of these records were pressed. As you can see, it's nothing to look at and features two songs that could have easily fitted on a 7". It cost £8 too so it wasn't too cheap for what it actually is. I wonder if they sold many of them. I can just imagine them sitting on a pile and waiting to be sold on their next reunion tour in 2020 or something.

Enough-Something we can build 7"

It was Mike that introduced me to this band last year when he did a post about their Demo which the band had self released as a 7". There was a MP3 attached so I had a listen and was so impressed that I ordered the record (all 3 colours of it). As a demo it was better than 90% of the 'proper' releases that I had heard around that period. Sure it was original or anything but it had a sharp, clear and passionate sound that immediately grabbed my attention. So here is the band's second 7" (or first official 7" depending on how you look at it). The US pressing comes from Iron mind records. 94 were pressed on this nice orange colour apparently. Assault records are doing the European pressing. This is more of the same musically (Y'know straight up SxE HC!!) but the lyrics are super cool. Not just about pointing your finger at someone who's stabbed you in the back. Get on it!!!!!!

Burning witch-box set

This seems like I've been waiting for this forever. Southern Lord announced they were doing this ages ago-I got to thinking it would never see the light of day (on vinyl at least, the CD version came out a while ago).
It's hard to think that Burning witch were only around a year or so (1996-7)but they left such a devastating effect on a lot of today's doom/sludge bands. They featured Stephen O'Malley who I bet you own at least one record that he's on. I first heard Burning witch at the beginning of 1999. I had just got the 'towers' 12" from the legendary and sadly now defunct Slapaham records and was blown away. I loved shit like Grief, eyehategod etc but this was heavy music taken to another level.
Skip forward to 2012 and here we are-the box set finally arrives at my house. At first I thought this was a really expensive item (especially with postage costs) but I'm really pleased with it. You get the entire studio works (including the afforementioned 'towers' and also 'Rift canyon dreams'-which I only previously had on mp3) and also a live recording spread across 4 heavyweight back vinyls in individual sleeves. Also you get a lush 12" sized glossy booklet with photos of the band and some cool illustrations. There's also a DVD included which features a live show from 1996 and some sketchy looking cable show from early 1997 with them preforming a live session. If that wasn't enough early pre-orders came with a limited shirt-made up especially for this release.
In the past I've had issues with ordering stuff from southern lord but they did good this time-this came well packaged, they made sure I didn't get stung by customs and they even threw in a free Hidden hand CD and some posters. Most importantly they sent the actual item that I ordered.

Accused-Return of martha splatterhead LP repress

Jeez, it's 24 years since I first bought a copy of this album. I got the 2nd pressing of the subcore release (the first one had different artwork). It was also released here in the UK by Earache (with a truly shit cover) and now Unrest have provided us with a remastered and nice looking colour vinyl. Thankfully they used the artwork from the 2nd press subcore release and not the earache one. To add confusion this record is a repress of the 'Martha splatterhead' 12" (on Condar records in 1985) with extra tracks.
So how does it sound then? It still sounds raw despite being remastered but that's a good thing. Personally I prefer their second album 'More fun than an open casket funeral' which has also had the reissue treatment from unrest (and is on my shopping list)but this is still an essential record from that wonderful mid to late 80's metal/hardcore crossover era. This certainly brings back memories of being 16 again. Ahhh....

Best of 2011

Ok I know this is slightly late but I nearly didn't bother doing this as there was so much good stuff last year it wasn't easy picking out the best. Simply put 2011 was another awesome year for music and I bet that I've missed something out. Here goes-this is what kicked my ass in '11.

Records
Best LPs
Crusades- The sun is down and the night is riding in (It’s alive)
Ringworm-Scars (Victory)
Take offence-Tables will turn (Reaper)
40 watt sun-The inside room
Midnight-Satanic royalty (Hell’s headbangers)
Rot in hell-Pearls before swine (Deathwish)
Amebix-Sonic mass (Easy action)
Reproach-The bitter end (Deep six)
Nightbirds-Other side of madness (Grave mistake)


7”
Agitator-Walls closing in (Six feet under)
Iron chic/Pacer-split (all in vinyl)
Hope defeated-2010 demo (Endless quest)
Death evocation-s/t (Quality control)
Social cirkle-Expiry date (Self released)


Gigs
Public Enemy-Manchester (September)
Take offence-Manchester (June)
Poison planet-Manchester (July)
Social cirkle-Liverpool (may)
Iron maiden-Manchester (July)