Rot In Hell Split Tests

It's been quite a long time since I added any Rot In Hell records to my collection. Somewhere along the way they released a record and I missed it and just thought I was 'behind'. But then another record came out and the same happened. Then all of a sudden I felt that I was behind and felt annoyed with myself. Then a third record came out, and I basically just felt that I was too far behind and that I should just give up.

Well, I recently got the chance to pick up a couple of test presses of a couple of their split 7"s, both released in 2011. I couldn't turn these down, especially for the price.

Rot In Hell split 7" with Moloch. This one features Rot In Hell in their full on hardcore / smash your face in mode.

Number 1 out of 10.

The second is a split 7" with Horders, and the Rot In Hell songs on here are in their acoustic / folk mode.

Converge 7"

(((I completely forgot about this post. I had it saved in draft for weeks and somehow failed to realise I hadn't posted it for real. Whoops.)))

I used to like Converge a lot. I was listening to them from about 1995 when i read about their 'Unloved & Weeded Out' 7" in some paper publication - it was either the Very catalogue or maybe an issue of HeartattaCk zine. Whichever. But I do remember that I mail-ordered a copy of the 7" from Very and then a couple of months later I picked up the first LP. And as the years rolled on, the band got bigger and bigger and I carried on buying their records. Fortunately, because I am old and bit of a twat, I got all their records all as they were released on the limited colours of vinyl, so I have a pretty good collection that didn't cost too much, although I missed the limited pressings of the albums after 'Jane Doe' because the band were so popular by that point that the records sold out too quick. I'm not too fussed though, as I haven't been too excited by anything after 'Jane Doe' anyway. Sorry. I also haven't even heard the latest album at all yet. I do want one - specifically I want the one that has 'shards' in it. But seeing as I would probably need a second mortgage for that, I'm pretty sure that I'll probably never get one.

Anyway, enough claptrap. I'm telling you this because a funny thing happened a few weeks ago. I decided to go see Rot In Hell play in London, and by some coincidence it turned out that Converge were supporting. I managed to miss Converge because I generally always arrive so late that I miss the support bands, but I can report that Rot In Hell were slightly above average for this time of year. Anyway, I digress. Whilst waiting for the singer of Rot In Hell to finish signing girls' boobs so I could ask him for the test press that he had forgotten to bring me, I noticed that Converge had a new 7" for sale. I didn't really want one because they cost £5, and I could have used that money to buy myself a pizza... but then I figured that if I bought a record then some of the money might go to Deathwish and it might help to finance the lavish packaging required for the upcoming (for the last two years) Rot In Hell LP. So I did my bit to help out and I bought a 7". I also then went to the ATM & got some more money & bought a pizza anyway. And surprisingly, it turns out that the record is not half bad (apart from being pressed on euro vinyl of course, which I know that Tre hates even though he always pretends that he loves the efficiency).

The funny thing about this one is that I was talking to a friend about records at the show, and specifically how I sometimes buy doubles of records that turn out to be worth nothing, whereas the things that I could have bought doubles of, but didn't, always turn out to be worth good money. Well, the irony of the conversation became clear a few days later when I realised that this thing was selling on ebay for about $40. And like a clown I only bought one copy. Clearly I should have bought about five. Then I could have retired and spent the rest of my life sleeping on the deck of my yacht listening to an advance tape of the Rot In Hell LP.

Rot In Hell US Release Show LP

Can you believe that some people had never heard of Rot In Hell until just recently? I've been banging on about them on this blog for three years now, since the release of their first piece of vinyl. But now that their first proper album has dropped on a big US label, it seems a lot more people are finally starting to take notice. Good news that the band are getting more attention, as they obviously deserve it, but the slight downside for me is that there are loads more fartknockers chasing their records, which makes life harder for an idiot like me. Here's a recent example...

The band recently (well, two months ago... but when you're as old as me, that still qualifies as 'recently') played in Baltimore at the annual A389 Records jamboree. This show served as both the record release show for their LP, and also the band's first opportunity to play live in the States and confuse foreigners with their strange accents. But since I wasn't going to Baltimore, I knew I was going to miss out on the box of treats they were taking. I missed out on the most interesting record that they made, a 7" called 'Urethra' (or something like that) which came packaged in a fine English top hat. I think there was one left unsold, but old Iron Head gave it to his new best mate Stefan Sonic rather than bring it back home. And then to add insult to injury, me old mucker Sandbag got one, which he shoved on his blog and in my face. I guess that'll be one that I'll have to live without. Ah well.

For some reason, however, it seems that not all of the release show LPs sold at the event. I can only guess that when inquiring about the price, some Americans could not understand the reponses they were given in traditional Northern English and thus walked away puzzled rather than transacting. But this of course meant that a couple of the LPs came home to Blighty, so it was only right that one of them found it's way into my museum.

So here we are - the limited cover for the US release show. As is oft the case, this takes the form of a piece of card over the top of a regular sleeve:

I'm not sure exactly how many of these things were made, but must have been a helluva lot seeing as mine is number 45,150:

Mine also came with copies of two flyers for the event. A nice momento for anyone who went. And also good for those of us who didn't go. It means that we can say we bought our copy at the show when we come to sell our records on eBay in a few months to try to make a fast buck because we're moving on to our next fad.

Removing the record release cover, you get to see the 'regular' cover for the record. I'm not sure what the skull is supposed to be but I think it might be some kind of rat. I'm also not sure why it was chosen exactly, but I like to think that the original intention was to show a picture of a nice, healthy, happy rat on the cover, which the label procured in good time and put safely in a box with the recording. But then three years later when they came to actually release the album, they found that the poor rat had long since died and all that remained was a pile of bones. So they just took a photo of it anyway because buying a new rat would have taken another three or four years and by that time vinyl would most likely have been replaced by thoughts which you would have implanted in your head, hence eradicating the need for cover art altogether.

The vinyl itself is a classic example of GZ vinyl, which you are probably aware by now that I am not the biggest fan of. The colour being exhibited here is described as 'gold / orange mix' and I believe there were 300 made.

The other colour available (that I don't have) is being referred to as 'beer' vinyl, and I believe that this colour was made as an ironic tribute to three members of the band's straight edge status.

Musically this is spot on. But, to be honest, I've been telling you that for three years, so if you haven't go the message yet then I'm probably wasting my breath. It's funny though, because I sneakily acquired some kind of advance, unmastered copy of this about two years ago and I've already pretty much played it to death. But it's great to read the reviews of other fools lapping this up. Interestingly though, I don't think I've read a bad review of this yet, which (if nothing else) confirms that I was right all along and therefore means that you should pay more attention to me in future, 'cause I know what the hell I am talking about.

My record also came with a cdr which I know bugger all about. I think that this was available in limited numbers. This is a newish ep which goes by the name of 'Studies In Emerald'.

This sounds absolutely nothing like Rot In Hell that you think you know. This CD contains four acoustic songs played & sung by the guitarist who doesn't look like he could be in Blue Oyster Cult or the Bee Gees. The style of music is pretty much nothing like how the band usually sounds, but they are still fantastic . Imagine if you will a mix of Johnny Cash, Death In June and Morrissey and you're starting to get an idea of the confusion that will unfold once you spin this disc. That said, however, I'm not sure if you can actually buy this CD, as I think it was made for the US release show of the LP and all copies are gone. But I admit that I don't really know. All I can say is that if you have the opportunity to acquire these songs then you should. Oh, and for those of you who (like me) don't like CDs, then it's worth noting that two of the songs will surface on vinyl at some point in the not too distant future. In fact, one already has - it just came out on a split with Horders that you can buy from Feast Of Tentacles Records (use google). The other song was originally going to be on a split 7" with Roses Never Fade, but now I think it's intended to be released on the split 7" with Integrity that might actually come out one day if all the planets come into alignment.

Check out the band's blog if you like stuff and things:

Rot In Hell Blog

The Way To Light

The next installment of my catch up of Rot In Hell releases brings me to a split 12" with an act called The Way To Light that was apparently released in 2016. I say 'apparently' because I can't believe that it was that long ago that I fell behind in picking up Rot In Hell records... although I know it wasn't, as I did pick up their 2017 full length. So basically I have no idea how I missed this one originally.

The Rot In Hell side features only one song, which is a cover by Scorpion Wind. I don't know about any of these Boyd Rice related bands really, but this stuff is classed as 'neofolk'.

As usual, the packaging is top quality. And the grey vinyl version is really great quality vinyl... almost as if it were pressed at a good quality pressing plant in the States.

The flipside of this split features 3 songs by The Way To Light. This is very interesting stuff. Their bandcamp page describes this as Heavily atmospheric dark folk played in the forgotten corners of the earth. Doesn't seem like a bad description to me. If I were to try to describe these songs, I'd just say that it's the kind of thing to be playing late at night with the lights dimmed, especially if you're looking to chill out. Anyway, I also picked up a black vinyl copy, although I have no idea how many were made of each colour.

What's great about Rot In Hell reocrds is the attention to detail. Notice how the inserts on this copy are white, whereas they are black for the grey vinyl copy above.

In addition to the grey and black vinyl copies, I also picked up a test press. As tests go, this one is pretty nice. It comes in a handmade sleeve, and is numbered out of 20 copies.

Rot In Hell / The Process Split 7"

As far as I am concerned, the best band in the UK right now is ROT IN HELL. I've been listening to Integrity for many years now, and they are one of the few bands that I can never tire of. Rot In Hell do the same kinda sound, but reside over here. They've got some dudes in from bands you may or may not have heard of, and have managed to attract the attention of some US labels (A389 Records and Deathwish Inc), which is pretty good going. I'm stoked for them.

The latest record is a split 7" with THE PROCESS. It's called 'The Works Of Fate' and is a celebration of the Marquis De Sade. Does this mean they're all sadists? I'm not sure. But as expected, the packaging and artwork are nice, and really add to the Holy Terror experience.

The first 100 copies come with a mini zine dedicated to the Marquis De Sade, which contains lots of pictures that you probably wouldn't want your mum to see.

There's one RIH song on here, entitled "Dyonisian". It actually sounds more like Integrity than Integrity do these days. Although the fact that Dwid contributes vocals might help that a bit. This is good stuff though, and definitely one of their better songs. As time marches on, RIH keep getting better and better. I can't wait for the LP to drop.

The Process is another UK band, but one that I am not so familiar with. I saw them play once and was into it, but I just never got around to picking up any of their records. On the basis of the song on here, quite why I do not know. This band is awesome. A little bit slower than Rot In Hell, but every bit as evil. Vocals are sick. I'm sure that this sounds like some big American band that everyone would know, but I can't think of who. But anyone into heavy hardcore would be into this for sure.

Anyone who wants to order this 7" can get in touch with the label here:

http://www.myspace.com/feastoftentacles

Interestingly, the day I received this 7" in the mail, there must have been evil in the air. Even my eBay feedback was affected (it has since moved on, but I took this screen shot as a souvenir):

The Basilisk Gaze Of A Tyrant State

Back in May last year a new Rot In Hell record was announced. The band has a long tradition of split releases with other bands, and this followed suit, being a split with a UK band called Cruelty, who I had never heard of before.

Having been a longtime fan of Rot In Hell (since their first release back in 2007!), I was keen to check out this new record, especially since they have been pretty quiet for a few years. I've lost track a little in recent times, but I think I am right in saying that they have not released any new music since 'Oblivian Songs' which came out in 2018.

I got a bit carried away when this went up for order. There were 6 options to choose from, and I found it impossible to say no to any of them. So I came away having ordered six copies, which I probably wouldn't have wanted to do if you had asked me in advance. Oh well. This is how things go sometimes. The nicest looking copy, I think, is the pink vinyl which is limited to only 20 copies.

I was also able to buy a test press, which comes in a different cover and is hand numbered out of 26 copies.

The other colours are all quite dark, but this also makes them difficult to take photos of, but I did my best.

Shown in the pic are the following:

Top row: Test Press (26), Teal (18), Blue (8)
Bottom row: Maroon Marble (45), Pink (20), Swamp Green (9)

Annoyingly, after I laid these out to take this photo and write this post, it came ot my attention that there is also a black vinyl copy which was/is only available to buy from the bands. This gives me a slight dilemma, as I don't feel that I need another copy, but without it this collection is not 'complete'. Hmmmmm. What to do?

The only slight disappointment is only one Rot In Hell song on here ('The Basilisk Gaze Of A Tyrant State'), although in terms of 'value for money' it is over 6 minutes long. It's also worth mentioning that this recording is the band playing 'hardcore' as opposed to 'neo folk' (or whatever you may want to call these two styles), and this may potentially be the best song the band has ever recorded, in my opinion. The hardcore songs are usually played at 100mph and go at it right out of the gate, but this song here takes time to build, and then fades out for a while at the end. This is a useless description, I appreciate, but what excites me here is that this shows that there's plenty of potential still left in this band, if they have time to explore it. I hope so.

Rot In Hell

Pretty much the only current UK band that I am half-arsed about right now is ROT IN HELL. Heavily influenced by Integrity, who have been one of my favourite bands for about 15 years now, they've just had two 7"s come out. I just got both in the mail.

First, a split with Brain Dead:

I have another Brain Dead 7" and I like them. First time I saw them live, I asked the dude next to me what they were called, and I thought he said "GRIND EGG". I still think that would be a better name, but nevermind. Anyway, the 7" is good. The Rot In Hell songs win it for me hands down. They sound like Integrity circa 'Systems Overload'. The only thing wrong with this record is the picture of Ian Brown on the label. I never liked The Stone Roses or Ian Brown... although I did see him in London one day when I was specifically shopping for Stone Roses records to trade with a guy from IN MY EYES. But that's a different story...

Next, the "Sins Of Malice" 7", which is (I think) the demo plus an extra song. The packaging for this one is amazing. Someone's really put a lot of time into making these...

Front cover:

Back cover:

Record in dust sleeve:

Record b-side:

Numbered dust sleeve:

Check the band's myspace page:

http://www.myspace.com/mintlikeboardy

Rot In Hell / Wayfarer

Today's update is the new split 7" between Rot In Hell and Wayfarer. Rot In Hell I am sure you have heard of and heard by now (and if not, please see HERE). Wayfarer... well, I hadn't heard anything by them until I got this. And now I am kicking myself. This band is fuck good. I need to hear more.

Anyway, the 7"... there are three colours of vinyl available for all you losers. White, grey, and grey containing dirt. Each one comes in a gatefold sleeve with some beautiful artwork on it of a bird. When I was about 5 years old (i.e. ages ago) a bird flew into our house, flew around the room a bit, and then tried to fly out again... but instead of flying out the open window, it flew into the closed window at full pelt and died instantly. This taught me that birds are stupid... and I'm sure that any man who has had his heart broken by one would readily agree.

The white vinyl is the most limited, being out of 100 copies, all of which come with a booklet that is stapled shut. So if you're a dickhead like me you will never get to read it. However, since I am reliably informed that it contains "a load of old flannel about the end of the world and that" then I don't think that leaving it closed will change my life.

The only minor complaint i have with this is that the black, glossy inner sleeve does not actually fit into the record sleeve. If you are a nerd like me then this will irritate you too most likely. I recommend binning them and replacing them with ones that actually fit.

Receiving this record brought about a couple of realisations. Firstly, that I have hardly bought any new releases in 2010. Secondly, that I have no idea about any current UK bands. I need to change that if there are more bands like this out there. If you know who I should listen to and who I should avoid then please let me know so as to save me wasting time listening to crap. I don't have much spare time at the moment so any help would be appreciated.

Now, go check out Wayfarer and listen to 'Ragnarok' about fifteen times in a row like I did.

http://www.myspace.com/hailwayfarer

So that was 2011?

So 2011 is over. Not the best of years in some respects. This was without doubt the busiest year of my life with regard to work, which ended up impacting on my personal life as I seemed to have far less time to do good stuff. I feel that I haven't listened to much new music this year. Or, in fact, much music at all. And the blog... well, I think it's fair to say it was a struggle to keep it going. I had a couple of months where I did pretty much nothing, and it constantly felt like a hassle that I was behind with and just didn't have time for. And then I volunteered to help out with Vinyl Noize, which I also didn't really have the time for but wanted to get involved with. On the positive side, however, I did find the time to release the Hope Defeated 7", but it took longer to sort out than I would have like as I struggled to fit it in around my work schedule (and I still haven't put the energy into promoting it that I would have liked). Let's just say that I need to work on my time management in 2012 else I am going to go insane.

Anyway, I decided not to do the end of year graphs and analysis that I have done the past couple of years. I was always so far behind with this blog that any kind of monthly analysis would be skewed. There were quite a few things I didn't blog about until 3 months after I got them. So instead, I'm just rolling with the obligatory 'Best of' list that everyone else is doing... although given the lack of new music I picked up, this wasn't easy. I mean, I wasn't exactly spoilt for choice!

(Note - these lists are not in any kind of order)

My Top 5 7"s of 2011

Hope Defeated '2010 Demo' (Endless Quest Records) - A great hardcore 7" by a new Canadian band that I released myself. I don't think I will ever tire of these songs. If you don't have one then please help me out and order one from my online store right away!

Times Together 'S/T' (Anger Battery Records) - Fantastic 7" in the vein of Uniform Choice, but from a UK band no less. I can't stop listening to this at the moment.

Tremors 'Island Songs' (The Essence Records) - Frantic hardcore punk from a London based UK band. Expect big things from this band in 2011.

Sacred Love 'S/T' 7" (Youngblood Records) - This record throws together elements of bands like 108, Burn and Civ together, this is a great 7". Their 12" wasn't bad either.

V/A 'No Peace / War' 7" (Organized Crime Records) - A Japanese hardcore tribute featuring all the best Holy Terror bands. Came in great packaging on different vinyl colours with matching obi strips.

My Top 5 LPs of 2011

Roses Never Fade 'S/T' (A389 Records) - I've been listening to this regularly for months now and still don't know how to describe it. Not heavy at all, just haunting. Looking forward to the new 7" in 2012.

Rot In Hell 'As Pearls before Swine' (Deathwish Inc) - Finally saw the light of day in 2011 about three years after it was recorded. An ugly and aggressive record that really put Rot In Hell on the world map.

Integrity 'Detonate World's Plague' (Holy Terror) - A new Integrity record in 2011, and it was really good. Some complained about the recording quality, but I guess some people are just stupid.

Hang The Bastard 'Hellfire Reign' (Holy Roar) - Ok, this probably came out in 2010, but I only got it in 2011 and I probably played it more than any other record, so it's going on my 2011 list.

Capital 'Givers Takers' (Underground Communiqué) - Their 3rd LP, and in my opinion their best.

My Top 5 Scores of 2011

Ok, so this is kinda a dumb top 5, but when I look back on this in a couple of years I'll find this interesting. These are the top 5 hot items I added to my collection this year. The first four had been on my want list for many years, so it was good to finally pick them up.

Floorpunch 'Division One Champs' (In My Blood) - Gold vinyl

Youth of Today 'Break Down The Walls' (Wishingwell) - Blue vinyl

Uniform Choice 'Screaming For Change' (Wishingwell) - Purple vinyl

Dinosaur Jr 'The Wagon' 7" (Sub Pop) - Purple vinyl

Beta Minus Mechanic '69 Camaro' 7" (Crisis) - Test Press

And finally...

Thanks to anyone who read this thing in 2011 & a bigger thanks to people who posted comments. See y'all in 2012...

Rot In Hell UK Release Show LP

Another day, another Rot In Hell LP from a release show that I didn't go to. This version right here is from the UK release show, which took place in Manchester down the same street that Morrissey, Ian Brown and the ginger one from Simply Red all live on. Fact.

Obviously I didn't go, because I now live in the south, and what most foreigners don't know is that once you move from the north of this country to the south you are only allowed to go back twice a year, and even then only if you speak in cockney at all times so as to advertise to the locals that you are a soft southerner... at which point you will be beaten with shovels and crapped on. Once ten years have passed though, you are allowed to move back to the north, as long as you eat a lot of pies and stop shaving. Fact.

Anyway, thanks to good old Iron Hat, I was notified that the impoverished northern youth couldn't afford the £49.99 price tag on this LP, and so there were a couple knocking about for idiots with more money than sense like me, so I bit his hand off.

The cover of this one is completely different to the US release show version that I featured in my previous post. This one is all black with some latin words on it. I did latin at school for two years and at the time hated it, because when you are 12 and someone is forcing you to learn a dead language, it's hard to be interested. It was funny one time though when the teacher shouted at Andy Carroll and he responded by throwing his latin text book on the floor in an act of defiance. At 12 we'd never seen anything like that before. We all went silent and shat ourselves, waiting for some kind of combat to ensue, but probably fuck all happened other than everyone in the year dropping latin when we got to the third year.

Please excuse the shite photos, but I had to take drastic measures to get the print to show up as it is orange ink on black card.

The back of the sleeve is a foldover affair with the band name featured in a nice size.

Then, inside of the sleeve is a flyer for the show. I strongly suspect that it was designed by a 5 year old wigger with no fingers. But looking at the line up kinda makes me glad that I didn't go. I'm not sure I would have had the patience to sit through 400 bands that I'd never heard of. Most likely I would have gone for a walk to find some food, ventured onto Canal Street and decided to give homosexuality a go just to pass some time. Then you know how it goes... I'd have had to come back down south, collect my records, quit my job and then go live with my new boyfriend Peter in his cramped studio apartment, and after a while he would get annoyed that my records take up too much room, and it would end in a fight. So all in all, best I didn't go to this event.

The best thing about this LP is that the record itself comes in a bright orange disco sleeve. Now, I'm sure that if I had seen this somewhere else then I would have said it was crap, but I actually really like this. I'm sure you will agree that the bright orangeness is really different and striking and I'd say that it's worth owning for this colourful feature alone.

Also, unlike the US release version, this one came with the lyric sheet / insert. No idea what the delay was with these, but it's nice to have the complete package, so to speak.