Integrity x Nothing

The latest Integrity release (or possibly the second to latest) is a split 7" with the band Nothing. This is one of those split 7"s where the two bands cover each other's songs. Integrity do a Nothing song titled 'The Rites Of Love And Death' and Nothing do the Integrity song 'Those Who Fear Tomorrow'. It came out last year on Relapse, with the label taking pre-orders and (apparently) pressing the exact number that were ordered. Rather than the modern thing of eighty four different colours of vinyl with each one available from a different retailer, there was only one colour of this one - pink.

I have no idea how many of these were made in the end, but judging from the number of copies for sale on discogs, I think it was probably more than enough for everyone who may have wanted one.

Oh yeah, and even though all copies were on pink vinyl, it almost goes without saying that there were 100 copies on clear too... because Relapse press 100 copies of every release on clear vinyl. The clear vinyl copies are never sold to the public, but are instead given to the band and friends. But some copies always surface for sale at some point.

As usual with Integ, Dwid had a few test presses for sale with hand made covers, but for some reason these seemed to sell out quicker than usual. I was pretty bummed that I missed out as I have (I think) at least one test press for every Integrity record of the later (post 2006) era. Thankfully, Dom still had a couple left, so I was able to grab one from him instead. It came with this nice looking alternate sleeve, and is numbered out of 10 copies.

I've never listened to Nothing prior to receiving this record, but I'm instantly really into what they are doing. They play a weird and unique sound which blends a range of 90s styles, but the most common term seems to be shoegaze. I did not expect to be into them, but I get this vibe that they could easily become my next favourite band. Also, the Integrity song (which is, as mentioned, a Nothing cover) is fantastic too. So for once it seems that the flipside of an Integrity split is worth having.