Razor To Oblivion

A month or so ago I was reading hardcoreshirt and noticed a post about some new merch Black Breath had at their big cartel when something in the bottom corner caught my eye. You can keep your new long sleeve and new joggers I'd just realised that Black Breath had repressed copies of their debut E.P Razor To Oblivion.

I'd not heard this previously, I'd been avoiding it on purpose as the record was long out of print by the time I discovered Black Breath and I wanted to hang on for a repress knowing that with the bands growing popularity one must come sooner rather than later. Glad I did as it's excellent.This band just don't have bad songs, everything they have released I love. They just get the metal hardcore balance right. Black Breath are a metal band make no mistake but they have a hardcore influence that sits nicely in the mix of their music and gives them an edge, they don't shoe horn it in like so many Metal-Core bands to make their tired metal sound more contemporary and 'cool'.

As a band they obviously hit the ground running as the songs on here sound exactly like what comes later on the bands full lengths and just as polished. The cover art on this thing is awesome too. In fact each of Black Breaths releases has a great cover. This picture looks like it comes from some historical piece from the crusades or something.

I haven't had the greatest of luck with mail from the U.S recently though as the one downer to this coming through was that like the Rival Mob record it has a ding to the top right hand corner. It's not that bad though and I can live with it.

This was pressed on Translucent Urine (gold) and black vinyl so obviously I had to go for the gold version. I don't know the numbers or which of the two if either is more limited however and both still seem to be available from the bands big cartel.

Expiring Finds

I didn't do a best of 2012 list, but if I had of done you'd have found Expire and their debut LP Pendulum Swings in the top three, maybe even right at the top of the pile. Expire have been getting better and better through their releases and they have been pretty much on tour non stop for the last few years so they deserve all the plaudits they are now starting to get.

Speaking of touring non stop I picked this up recently and have to say I was stoked with it. A 2011 Euro Tour version of Suffer The Cycle.

I missed this tour of course (and this years) because I'm an old man and seeing shows these days now revolves around work commitment and being able to find a baby sitter, so when I saw it on eBay I knew It might be my only chance to score it. I put in a decent but not ridiculous bid and won it.

 

The cover it's self is just a paper photo copy and the red ink is marker pen, so it's a pretty DIY release from either the band or label.

 

 

This one is numbered 27 of of 100

 

 

My proper copy of Suffer The Cycle is on White vinyl so it's sweet that this one is on clear green.

 

It was a good day for rare Expire vinyl because about 40 minutes later I also scored this Live At Sound and Fury 7"

 

 

Limited to 500 this record was given away by Bridge Nine with their 2012 'Mystery Boxes'. I was pretty bummed not to score one of these when the boxes were available to order. I knew Bridge Nine were giving away an exclusive live record but didn't bother ordering a box as I presumed it would be New Found Glory or some other shit I didn't care for. I opted to take advantage of their 5 records for $20 offer or what ever it was they had on instead.

 

 

Although not mega limited I'm pleased to have got one of these finally to add to the Expire collection.

 

 

The guy I bought this off on eBay was a chap called Richy who also threw into the package a copy of his fanzine 'Pre-Show Burrito'.

 

 

This was such a fun little read that I'm including this here too. Along with reviews of where to score the finest pre-mosh Mexican nosh (that rhymed) are some other interesting things including a nice little interview with Losin' It. If you see this at a show I recommend picking one up.

 

 

...and out come the wolves

Oh Rancid how I loves ya. I make no bones about it Rancid's first five albums are great. Over the last few years I think the band have kinda lost some credibility for one reason or another and the more recent output from the band hasn't helped but I think those first albums can take the Pepsi challenge with most punk bands, especially Let's Go and this ...and Out Come The Wolves.

I remember back in 1995 not liking this record initially. I'd been into Let's Go a year prior quite heavily and on the first few listens or so I thought this all sounded samey and too poppy. Eventually though I realised it was a modern punk classic. 19 tracks and pretty much all anthems in fact there's only one track which I've never really liked and that's The Wars End for the record.
This record was my summer soundtrack for at least the next 3 years in which time I saw Rancid a couple of times in Leeds in front of relatively small crowds and it always transports me back to college and lazing around with my friends and this being pretty much the only record everyone could agree on. Admittedly I don't listen to Rancid that much these days but tracks like 11th Hour, Roots Radical, Time Bomb, Journey To The End Of The East Bay etc still sound good to me on the 1278th listen.

White vinyl repress from 2010 of 640 copies according to Discogs. It's good to finally have this on this format. I have the two self titled albums (why?)on wax also. When I finally get round to getting Let's Go and Life Won't Wait I might feature them on here too.

Catching Up With Terror

In my last post there was talk of featuring new releases...we should just ignore that for a while. Seems when ever I say something like that I do the exact opposite in my next write up. So with that in mind here's two more older records that I picked up recently that are replacements for there CD counterparts I had previously.
I've been pretty slow in picking up Terror records. I love the band but I guess that's kinda the problem, because I know the records so well I'm in no hurry to pick them up, I'm getting there though.

So first up Lowest Of The Low the bands 2003 debut record.

This is the third press of the record on blue of I believe 1000 copies

 



There's really not that much to say. It's an unspectacular pressing of a great debut LP. It's really annoying that I missed the earlier pressings of some records I really like.

I also picked up the follow up full length. One With The Underdogs

I've never really understood or liked this cover for that matter. It's pretty ugly and I think if they were going for something that embodied the spirit of the 'underdog' they could have come up with something better than this. One With The Hostage's and this might have worked.

Sorry about the glare on these pictures. The shrink is still on and it's caught the light way more than I realised. I got another later pressing here on white of 570 copies.

Lastly a group shot of the Terror full lengths I have on vinyl at the moment. Probably the most interesting thing in this post.

I still need Always The Hard Way and The Damned, The Shamed as you can see.

LIfe Of Agony

Another record from the vaults here. I'll try and feature some of the new releases I've picked up recently at some point. It's cold and miserable here at the moment, it's been snowing for two days and I just wanna stay in and listen to music. This record I picked up last week is pretty suitable for the grey and bleak conditions outside.

This is one of those albums that I liked in my youth and will always hold in high regard. This came out back in '95 and I remember being blown away by it. Life of Agony were a strange band, they had a fairly unique sound with Keith Caputos distinct vocals and music that clearly had a foot in NYHC but also owed a lot to grunge and rock bands of the early 90's. I remember back then that people I knew either really liked or really disliked this band, there didn't seem to be a middle ground.

I still think Lost At 22 is a brilliant song so when I saw this on eBay I pounced on it. I have checked the Bay for this on and off over the last year or so and it doesn't seem to come up for sale that often so I'm pretty pleased with it.

The band would later have the guy out of Ugly Kid Joe sing for them and I lost all interest in the band but their first two records were great. Ironically the only time I have ever seen Life Of Agony live was minus Caputo at the first ever Ozz-fest in Milton Keynes. I don't think I even watched the whole set it was that bad.

Just standard black vinyl of course, I have no idea if it was released on any colour versions. For those that aren't familiar with Life Of Agony especially the more recent years their singer Keith Caputo In July 2011, after performing for more than twenty years as a man, announced plans to transition from male to female and is now known as Mina Caputo. This still continues to blow my mind, especially as LOA always appeared to be tough gritty Brooklyn boys

18 years on I still think this album rocks listening to it now.

Animosity For C.O.C

It's 2013 and no one cares about Corrosion Of Conformity! I have no idea if that statement is true or not, but what I do know is that I was unopposed in picking this up from eBay recently. My bid was the only bid for this thing, hell i might have been the only one watching it, because I scored this for £5. Sad state of affairs really but to my gain so hey, it's not all bad.

Like my last post this is another record I probably hadn't listened to in it's entirety in a good decade or so. It's exactly how I remember it though, thrash-hardcore crossover with a few groovy bluesy touches which nod to the bands later sound that they wouldn't really delve fully into for another 10 years. Considering this is from 1985 it's pretty hard hitting actually. I've kinda always seen C.O.C as nearly men of what ever genre/scene they've evolved into though.

This isn't an original pressing of the record as you may have noticed this is the Back On Black 2009 press. I've got a couple of Back On Black re-issues and as per those they do another fine job here. It's hard to tell from my pictures but the packaging looks awesome on this. Vibrant colours of the front cover really pop out and it's also on a gatefold sleeve.

Now, I believe this was pressed on grey and yellow vinyl. I've got the yellow version which actually looks pretty darn cool and works well with the colouring in the front cover art. Because it's 180 gram vinyl too it just makes this whole package seem really solid and well put together.

I know C.O.C released a new record last year which I had little interest in, I'm tempted to go have a listen now.

Inflammable Material

Just a quick one. The day after Boxing Day me and my brother-in-law (collects rap and hip-hop) ventured to this record shop we both occasionally go to in the middle of nowhere. It's a weird set up, there's nothing else in the old industrial town it sits in other than a big supermarket and what can only be described as a 'massive' second hand record shop. It's really good for picking up some shelf fillers and older stuff on the cheap.
I picked up some 80's metal and some punk stuff I hadn't heard for years with no intention of blogging about any of them, however as I've been listening to this quite a lot I figured I'd throw it up.

Stiff Little Fingers - Inflammable Material
I hadn't heard this for going on 15 years I bet. I'd forgotten how good it is. The songs on here still sound urgent and angry like they did in 1979. Suspect Device, Alternative Ulster, White Noise etc
When you buy a record second hand especially from this time period they can be pretty beaten up but the record is pristine and obviously been looked after as it's been taken out of the original insert sleeve and put into a polylined one. Nice.
I believe this is an original pressing but I could be wrong.

Jersey's Best Bastards

That's my favourite post title yet.

I think I've talked before a few times about how I sold all my CD's (of which I had a shit load) about a year ago in favour of records. Well theres certain albums that I need to replace still with the record version of the CD I once had and some I doubt I'll ever bother. Then there are others that I don't really think about getting they just kinda creep up on me. Here's two such records:

I was listening to Lifetime for the first time in a while via iTunes and realised I didn't physically own any of their stuff any more and naturally I had to correct this straight away. So first up is the gloriously titled Hello Bastards the bands second album from 1995.

This is the more recent version repressed by No Idea Records. It was originally released by Jade Tree of course. This is the 4th press on yellow of 500 I think.

And I also picked up my favourite Lifetime record, 97's Jersey's Best  Dancers

This is also on yellow which is actually a bit of a bummer, I'd have preferred them to be on different colours really.

Again this is the 4th press of the record on No Idea and again it's of 500. I've always liked this record cover incidentally, I can't look at it without thinking of that movie Swingers. Cool Cats!

I've always dug this record a lot and spinning it now definitely transports be back to the late 90's and loving it. Has any band ever got the blend of pop punk, indie, and hardcore so right? Both these records have really nice picture inner sleeves.

 

 

These were £8 each...bargain!

The Rival Mob

I can't believe the hype surrounding this The Rival Mob record and in particular the Seafoam Green vinyl version. By all accounts this sucker sold out in a couple of hours even though there's 400 of them which is a fair amount really for a most limited press. I'm pretty sure I only scored one because Mario gave me one of his well timed heads ups just before this went on sale. I was pleased to see that most of my fellow bloggers seemed to have scored this version too.

The packaging on this thing is pretty good, mine unfortunately came with a bit of a ding to the corner though as you can see in this picture which was a shame. Guess that's the dangers of international postage. Hopefully you other guys escaped this fate.

The record it's self is a corker and I think even with 9 months to go this is going to appear on a lot of peoples best records of 2013 list in the top spot. No frills, to the point, grimey hardcore, which whilst as clean as the band have sounded is still pretty gritty.  It's mental that before I'd even got this record through that Revelation were already announcing a second press which I dare say will be sold out in no time too.

Nice glossy inner to the record with my favourite combo of pictures of the band on the front and lyrics on the back. Look at Brendan in that picture at the bottom, you just wouldn't fuck about with that guy or you might be on the end of a 'boot party'.

 

And here is the Seafoam Green it's self.