Sunday 26 May 2013

Back to '08

I love Backtrack as you know but getting hold of their stuff seems tricky. Maybe it's just me but Backtrack just seem to be one band who's stuff just doesn't appear on the Bay much. Shit doesn't appear on peoples lists when they are selling on message boards either and if it does it tends to be the stuff I already have. Because of all that I'm fairly stoked with this one.


I had a copy of this already of course and I've posted it on here, but it was a plain old black copy and I've been wanting a colour copy for quite some time. One appeared on eBay recently so I immediately put in a bid that wasn't particularly high but I figured would be higher than anyone else would be wanting to pay for this. Turns out I was wrong and at least one other person wanted this reasonably badly, we traded highest bids a few times before I snagged it for a higher price than I'd initially wanted to pay but not an outrageous amount by any means. I just couldn't be bothered to wait for another one to appear.
 
 
This is the gold first press version of 350 and looks pretty nice. Better than the black anyway. I didn't have to deal with Flatspot Records in buying this either which is a bonus.
 
 
I remember seeing this gold version first on Marios blog and after just checking now it seems we both now have the same two versions of this. Wonder if I can beat him to a third version?


A Testing Romance

Earlier this month I wrote album the debut LP from The Catharsis entitled Romance. If you read it you'll know I've been pretty impressed by the band after recently stumbling upon them, so much so that one copy of the album was never going to be enough. A few days after writing about the record Rich of Speedowax Records who released the album tweeted that he was selling a few of the test presses of the record to help pay for future releases if anyone wanted one...boy did I.


I was pretty excited when this came through and here is my test press of Romance. This has the normal record sleeve with a sticker indicating that this is test number 8 of what I imagine is 10 test presses total? *correction 8 of 8 - thanks Jamie.
 
 
This record is great and I'm super pleased to have grabbed something like this early on. So I now have the green version and the test press, just the clear version of the record of 300 to go right? Well actually no, because Rich threw in a copy of that too.
 
 
I really wasn't expecting that and had actually already planned on having to pick up this version of the record from Rich at a later date so it's immensely appreciated. Here's a group shot of the complete set. Boom!
 
 
Now just to make me look like even more of a The Catharsis fan boy it doesn't stop there. See Rich was also selling a few test copies of the Worn Out / The Catharsis split that I also featured in my last post. And here it is:
 
 
I love that this has a different cover to the normal release this has a cover that is actually redder than it looks in these photos as opposed to the normal white cover.
 

As part of  my conversations with Rich about buying these two tests I asked him if I picked up both if he'd mind throwing in a copy of each of the bands previous releases too. You might remember I said in that last post about the Worn Out split that The Catharsis weren't even mentioned on the record sleeve and I knew that had since been changed or corrected or whatever so I wanted a copy with an updated sleeve

 As you can see the back of the record now features that familiar T/C text and song titles from the other band on the split. It was nice that the version Rich sent through seems to be a slight variant too as the inner bag was marked as 'Speckled' and on closer inspection the blue vinyl does indeed have some distinct black speckling on it.


So I'd now like to think I have a normal blue vinyl version and also a speckled blue vinyl version of this record. Here's a group shot of the three together. The new updated version of the split with the white cover you might also be able to see is clearer than the previous version too with a finer print that before.


To finish things off the haul here is my copy of the O'Recluse split with No Control
 

Black vinyl version of the record of 100 with 97 having this red text on the No Control side of the cover. 3 have a messed up splatter across the picture apparently. I love Rich's attention to pressing detail. NERD!!
 
 
Again the centre label of this is the same T/C as on the other releases. Some might think this a bit dull but I actually quite like the uniform approach to the discs.
 
 
Typically and like any good record collector I actually feel a little incomplete now and think I should try and pick up the green version of this split and a test if possible just to own everything the band have released.
 
Rich also chucked in some other releases by Speedowax with a note saying how much he liked reading the blog which always gives me a boost especially when it's from a someone actually putting quality records out rather than just collecting and writing about them. Such a good dude. I'm gonna write about those records in a future post as they are all excellent and I deserve their own write up time.

Wednesday 22 May 2013

Break Away and Randoms

As usual here at Screaming HQ the records have been coming through thick and fast. I'm never a fan of blogging about a load of stuff all at once, but as I've not got a huge amount to say about this little chunk of 7" singles I'm just gonna throw they all up here now.


I've been after this Break Away record since Mario wrote about it on his blog. The cover looked cool as hell and he had good things to say about it. I'd passed over it a couple of times but saw it recently on eBay so swooped for the Clear version of 171.

 
The same seller also had the bands follow up record The Few That Remain on Solid Bond so I figured I'd pick that up too.
 
 
Just plain old black, I haven't looked at how many of this were pressed. Cool to pick up both at the same time though.
 



Next Nothing Done and the Idiot Stomp E.P.


I remember hearing this years ago and thinking it was pretty good and it stuck in my mind for a long time because of how cool the cover with the skateboards looked. I hadn't thought about it for a while though when I saw it online and picked it up really cheap. My memory wasn't playing tricks this is a good release. Again just on black vinyl. I've since buying this seen a few rarer cover versions like the release show cover and a tour cover and failed to remember to bid on either. Bummer!

 
Let's move on next to Betrayed - Addiction EP on Bridge Nine. I've been meaning to pick up a vinyl version of this for ages and finally have.
 


Black first press of 300


How about a little compilation action next? Growing Stronger


Look at the bands on this thing, such a good representation of 1997 Hardcore I'd say

 
I believe this is the blue second pressing of the compilation
 

 

Sinking Ships S/T record from 2008 on Clear Gold vinyl
 
 
This has what seems to be a screen printed cover and is limited to 328.
 
 
And lastly Integrity - Walpurgisnacht
 

This is the grey first pressing of 1000


So there you have it some cool pick ups. I'll get back to actually writing some more about the records with my next post but it's late and I wanted to get these out of the way.


Sunday 19 May 2013

Survival In Strange Places

Back in December I wrote about the Survival 'Spirit Unchained' 7" that Carry The Weight Records put out (here). It was an awesome record that sold out fairly fast so i was lucky to get hold of one of the rarer red colours of 75. With the speed it sold a second press couldn't be long coming. I didn't think I'd bother with a second press actually but when it was announced I couldn't help but snag one.


300 were pressed. 100 on Clear, 100 on Black and 100 on Pink. I don't care for black or clear records much so I opted for the pink version. Interestingly though the black version actually seems to have sold out before the other two versions. *Correction - All copies of the second press have now sold out. On listening to this again for the first time in a few months it really is a quality release that I'd recommend anyone into their Lockin' Out style stuff to check out. I still prefer the B side though.


As I was pre-ordering the Survival record I noticed that CTW had another release up for pre-order and as they are a label that just don't seem to miss I thought I'd order that too. I didn't really need to read the description as I trust this label a lot but the little write up certainly had me intrigued 'metallic hardcore with a tinge of grunge. Think LOA but with more incense'. I like metallic hardcore and I like LOA, this could be good.


This is the debut release from Strange Places and features members of Basement and Wayfarer. It's damn good stuff too. I don't know how much grunge or LOA is going on though, not much for me, this to me sounds more like metallic hardcore mixed with doomy stoner rock. Like maybe a Black Breath with a stoner rock vibe??!?



I reckon Mike would be into this for sure. When I arrived to pre-order this the red vinyl of 100 had already gone so I was left with the standard black press of 200. Think I'll be on the look out for one of the red versions now.


The inside cover reads "Strange Places will return with : The Never-ending Road To Calbary" Can't wait!! This band could get very interesting indeed.

Wednesday 15 May 2013

Step 2 Willems Rhythm

A few weeks back I posted about Turnstiles new 7" Step 2 Rhythm here. In the post I bemoaned not picking up the green version of the record at the same time I'd picked up the white version. The white version was more limited but I think the green looks better. Luckily Willem heard my whining and left me a comment saying he had a spare if I wanted it. I did want it and after a couple of emails we struck a good deal.

 
So thanks to Willem here is my copy of Step 2 Rhythm on Green of 1000 copies. In my last post about this record I was kinda getting used to the change of direction but I dunno, it stills seems a disappointment after Pressure To Succeed.
 
Willem being a top guy also threw in a couple of other records into my package that he had doubles of.
 

 
The Bridge Nine repress of Underdogs Self Titled EP.

 
This is the red first press of 1000. I didn't have this so it was a welcome addition to the collection.
 


Willem also chucked in a copy of this:


Inherit - The Crushing Wheels Of Samsara. I'd heard of Inherit but don't think I'd ever heard them before. This one caught me by surprise actually. When I first dropped the needle on it I was kinda like ' What the fuck is this?' but by the end of the side I was banging my head along to Long Forgotten Self. I like this.


The layout for this is ace and this appears to be the mail order edition and numbered 68 out of 100

 
Green Vinyl. Thanks again for the freebies Willem.




Saturday 11 May 2013

My Fire Burns On On On

I added a third copy of Strifes My Fire Burns On to my collection a week or so ago.


This is an original New Age Records pressing on black vinyl that I scored on the Bay. I wasn't particularly seeking this out but couldn't resist adding the original press to the two other versions I have. It's a littke scuffed and what not but it's not too bad considering it's age now.
 

I'm tempted to see if I can complete the set now although I have no idea how many other versions there are or how hard they are to get hold of for that matter.
 
 
I've included the little group shot below too.
 





Thursday 9 May 2013

Metal Store Day

In my last post I talked about venturing to my local record store recently after not bothering with Record Store Day this year. I managed to pick up a couple of other Record Store Day 2013 releases that they had left along with the The Catharsis LP.

The Entombed / Evile split picture disc that sees both bands taking on Entombed's Drowned from Left Hand Path. I can't say I normally care for Evile.
 


I also managed to get the Napalm Death / Insect Warfare split picture disc.
 

 
I was pretty pleased to grab these as If I had have bothered with RSD these were some of the only things I'd have been bothered about looking for so I kinda feel justified in giving it a miss. I didn't have to pay stupid eBay prices either.