Survival Instinct

Somehow I completely missed out on the Morning Again 7" that came out on Revelation back in 2018. Or rather, I intenionally let it pass me by because the limited colour version sold out super fast, which I was surprised about at the time. I figured that one of the more limited colour copies would come up for sale on eBay or discogs soon enough, but it seems that it took a lot longer than I thought that it would because I ended up with it this year, which is somehow now 4 years later. Madness.

I used to like Morning Again back in the late 90s. They played metallic hardcore but had socially and politically aware lyrics, which in my mind helped them stand out. It was no real surprise to me back then when they got signed to Rev (this was when Rev was probably the biggest label and the one every band dreamed of being signed by), and it seemed like validation that they were doing the right thing. But then it also felt that the band just faded away. So it was then equally surprising when they reformed twenty years later or so to release a new EP.

Red vinyl is the more limited colour of this one with 315 copies, whereas grey vinyl was out of 835 copies.

'Survival Instinct' was released as a 4 song 7" or a 5 song digital release. I remember being sceptical when it came out as most bands that release new music many years after they broke up fail to recapture their old glory. But this record comes out hard right from the start, and sounds fresh and current. This to me sounds like a band who took a short break and carried on, rather than a band who got back together after 30 years and tried hard to copy what they were doing before.

After enjoying this 7" I then realised I had somehow missed a red vinyl repress of their LP on Rev, so I had to put that straight and pick one up. There were 518 copies of this one, pressed in 2018. I'm not convinced that red was the best colour choice, but it is what it is at this point.