The Catharsis

Recently I bought a 7" record based purely on the description. The record was being co-released by the excellent Speedowax Records. The band was Worn Out.

 The description of the band caught my attention (as did the artwork that looked spoiler-esque) and promised a sound similar to Backtrack and Fire and Ice. 

Well, Worn Out don't really sound like either band at all really and certainly not Fire and Ice. However, the side whistled by on Afterlife and I thought 'yeah their not bad'.

I flipped over to the B side to hear more, but as the second side charged in it was clear something was wrong, this wasn't the same band. No it wasn't that they were better or worse on this side, THIS WASN'T THE SAME BAND! This band had a Converge and Every Time I Die vibe going on. I quickly looked at the label and saw a T/C staring back at me.

What I'd missed when ordering this is that this was a split release. Well sort of, as you can see the other band on this release aren't mentioned at all on the sleeve, it's more like they were thrown on to the B side.

The T/C it turns out stands for The Catharsis from Birmingham and by god they are good!

So good in fact I had to hear more and luckily for me the band were about to release their debut record Romance.

I'd wanted to pick this up on Record Store Day when it was released but as it transpired I actually didn't bother with RSD 2013. When I ventured to Music Exchange in Nottingham a couple of days ago though they as I suspected still had the record.

If I was impressed before then I'm really impressed now as the LP sounds even better. The bands sound has developed and matured and their clear influences refined. Yes you can still hear The Chariot and Norma Jean influences with maybe even a little Will Haven and Earthtone 9 at play too. But the more obvious influences have been moulded into the bands own sound. It's bloody impressive.

I don't often 'review' bands in this way but I felt I wanted to here. Anyway, I believe I managed to pick up the Record Store Day version of the record on green vinyl with the normal version being on clear. At least I think that's right.

On a side note I love the clear poly bags that all Speedowax Records releases have as the inner. Keeps the dust off a treat.

The Catharsis - a surprise and awesome find. 

Antidote

My systems are down at work so I figure I might as well post these up quickly whilst I twiddle my thumbs.

Antidote are a band that have kinda passed me by in the years I've been listening to hardcore but I picked both of these up real cheap recently. No Peace In Our Time I picked up from a record store and Thou Shall Not Kill I threw into a bundle I was buying online.

The latter is the Bridge Nine press on white of 700.

Poison Fingers

A couple of months ago a distro I've bought from a few times was having a clearing out sale, the deal was something like five 7" records for five quid. Obviously though you didn't get to pick the records, but hey, for that price I'd take the risk.
Now, three of the records were kinda Meh! Infact one of them is downright terrible. Another of the records I already had which was typical. But the fifth I was pretty pleased with.

Into Another - Poison Fingers on purple. As I've been (very) slowly trying to add to my Revelation Collection this was a welcome addition. Hell, I'd have paid a fiver for this on its own right?

The purple press is of 300. I already had the standard black press.

Rise And Hell

Here's the three other records I mentioned in my last post, in fact these were the records that had caught my attention in the first place. I bought all four records for a measly £20. I already had these records on CD or on my iTunes so this was a nice cheap way to add them to the record collection. What a score!

So first up Rise And Fall - Into Oblivion

This is a great record, I like Rise And Fall a lot. I first heard of them in around 2005/2006 when I went to see a Converge show. I bumped into a friend before the show who said that he was mainly there to see Rise And Fall (I think he was the only one there singing along to the band), so I was expecting big things. He was right they were awesome and I immediately went and picked up this album on CD.

As is going to be a similar theme with all of these records the artwork and layout to this thing looks awesome. Then again has Jacob Bannon ever done a bad layout?

This is the second press on Deathwish Inc - White and Silver mix of 719. The colour works so well with the rest of the package.

Up next the first of two records by This Is Hell. Misfortunes first

 

This was the first record I heard from This Is Hell. I actually bought it on CD for my wife as I thought it would be something she would like. She did like it and so did I. A few years later I was in a band that played with these guys which was pretty cool.

I like buying records that I already have the CD of because it almost always makes the artwork look a million times better. I'd not really looked too much at the front of this but now seeing it enlarged it looks awesome.

This is the second pressing red vinyl version of the record of 550.

Last is Sundowning by This Is Hell. This record was actually released before Misfortunes. But I wanted to save this till last as it's the best looking.

All three of these records artwork has been done by Jacob Bannon but this one looks the best. The pictures don't really do it justice at all.

The cover has a sort of embossed feel and design to it too which I've done my best to photo below. Just gives it an extra edge and quality feel.

 

I know people kinda hate on splatter vinyl and I agree some of it is ugly as hell but the kind that is done in this three colour style I think looks amazing. This reminds me of the Day Of Mourning - Your Futures End and Cold World - No Omega  records that I raved about that had been done in a similar way. 

700 on this colour-way. I love how these records look when held up to the light.

Lifetime

When I wrote about the two Lifetime records I picked up a couple of months ago, I replied in the comments that I needed to pick up the self titled later record too at some point. I only kinda half meant it. I didn't particularly care for the album first time around, it was ok but didn't really grab me like the earlier stuff. A couple of weeks ago though I was scoring some records super cheap and noticed that the guy I was buying from also had the Lifetime record, for £5 how could I refuse?

Listening to this record again I think my initial assessment was spot on, it's alright and is more than adequate melodic hardcore/pop punk but it's definitely missing something. There's probably more pop punk that hardcore for my tastes and with that some of the more interesting aspects of Lifetimes sound has gone. Also gone are the good covers on the 'Jerseys Best Dancers' and 'Hello Bastards' records, look at the cover on this thing...WTF???

I believe this is the blue first pressing of 500. I should probably try and get hold of a copy of the bands debut Background on vinyl too now right?

As I touched on at the beginning of this post, I bought some other records with this, but they can wait till next time.

Expire Live

Last month I wrote about two Expire records I'd picked up. In doing this I realised via discogs that there was only one Expire release I didn't have a version of, a live split with Soul Control. The record was given away free by Bridge Nine last year, I can't remember how you went about getting your grubby mitts on one but needless to say I missed out. I'd have to correct that.

Fast Forward a week or so and I was looking at a list of records someone had for sale and noticed it was there. I sent the guy an email and he fired one back saying he didn't really wanna sell that one and also he'd feel like a dick charging me for a record he got for free - bummer! However it didn't end there. He went on to say he would be at the Bridge Nine offices that weekend and would get me a copy and send me it for the price of postage! Turns out the guy is Leigh who plays bass in Bridge Nine signees Goodtime Boys! Legit good guy! True to his word he did nab me a copy. Thanks Leigh.

This is the Black version of 600, there's also a clear version of 100. Sonically this thing sounds fairly terrible but I had to have it.
I'm contemplating a stab at getting all versions of every release by Expire now.

Black Masses

I've been loving the doomy stoner side of the rock/metal world over the last year or so. I've always been into Sabbath and a few stoner rock bands but my love for this style has really been kindled now. Maybe it's an age thing?!?
So with this in mind I ventured to my local record store recently (they have a good stock of this kinda thing) to get a new fix. I stumbled upon a band I had often seen the name of but don't think I'd actually ever heard, Electric Wizard. The shop had a few records by the band, but not knowing where to start I opted for what looked to be not only the most interesting, but also the cheapest. This is the bands 2010 effort Black Masses, released on the always trusty Rise Above Records. Awesome layout. Double Gatefold Lp on black (180 gram??) vinyl. I was a bit bummed that this was only on black as its pressed on around 20 different colours it seems but as the record is called Black Masses maybe it's the most apt? Looking at the other pressing numbers I'd presume this is of 400.
Cool band, if anyone has any suggestion for their best stuff let me know.