Black Days

Sometimes I wonder how many other people are still actively collecting Hydrahead records that came out in the 90s. Probably not many I would guess. As a general rule, most people who are into the label's later releases probably don't care about the earlier releases, and most people who are into the earlier releases are probably old and not interested in collecting records these days. But me, I soldier on, picking up variants of older Hydrahead releases when they appear and the mood takes me.

Well, I was pretty damn stoked for this one. A test press for the 'In These Black Days Volume 5' 7":

This record is a split between Cave In and Botch, and came out in 1999, which was (with hindsight) when both bands were at their absolute peak.

I'm guessing that most Black Sabbath fans wouldn't care whatsoever about listening to a series of Sabbath cover songs, but they'd be missing out. The whole series of these split 7"s is great, and this 7" is without doubt the best of the lot. Cave In do 'N.I.B' and Botch do 'The Wizard', and it's nigh on impossible to choose which is the best song. I'd also potentially go a step further and say that these two songs are actually better than the originals. If you disagree then I would suggest that you submit an official complaint.

I now have all versions of this 7" except the regular black vinyl, which I can well live without.